Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.5

HD Moods Rise Blu-ray Movie Review

Ambient television comes of age with 'Rise,' one of Topics' new "A Matter of Substance" releases.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 26, 2010

You’ve no doubt seen Topics titles if you browse the budget Blu aisles of your local Best Buy or Wal-mart. This niche label which operates out of Washington state has assembled some really interesting product over the past few years, including the Over aerial travelogue series which you might catch on your local PBS station (especially during pledge week), and a lot of more “ambient television” (in my own coinage, for which I think I deserve to be awarded a trademark) titles that often fall under the heading of HD Moods. While these HD Moods offerings are never less than inviting, with some sumptuous imagery if sometimes less than appealing soundtracks, nothing previously released (including such titles as Trains and Aquarium) really prepared me for the gorgeous imagery and excellent music choices of Rise, a new HD Moods offering which also is simultaneously branded with the acronym AMOS, for “A Matter of Substance”. (What is it with these manifold names for these digital wallpaper releases, anyway? I also review the Living Landscapes releases, which are often saddled with a whole subset of alternative brands, including Digital Environments and Earthscapes). Rise has a very specific aim in mind, something a bit different than a lot of other ambient television releases which tend to focus on one item, or genre of imagery. Instead Rise is more of a visual (and aural) “mix tape” which presents several short segments which are there to help you get up and at ‘em each morning. While that’s the ostensible raison d’etre for Rise, what you may find yourself doing is actually sitting back and watching and listening to this video, something kind of ironic given this idiom’s penchant for being something akin to background noise.

A water droplet graces a flower.

Rise gets off to a magical start with some gorgeous time lapse photography of water dripping onto various flower petals, as well as various buds opening to the light. It’s all set to one of the most famous classical pieces ever to gain fame in a late 1960’s film. You trivia guessers may jump to 2001 conclusions and assume I’m talking about Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra, or even that other Strauss, Johann (no relation to Richard) and his Blue Danube Waltz, but I’d refer you to a little remembered Swedish film from a year earlier, Elvira Madigan, which suddenly made Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (or at least its second movement) a Top 40 hit. This langorous movement, whose theme famously traces a major triad, is perfectly in synch with the graceful images.

A panoply of other brief segments follows, including some gorgeous scenes of the Northern Lights bathing environments in their eerie green glow. Some landscape scenes feature some really stunning views of light magically refracting through a waterfall. Enya-esque vocal music greets several segments, including one featuring icebergs, penguins and seals, and, later, some lazy clouds wisping through a deep blue sky. We get a nice variety of locales on Rise, everything from Africa to the American southwest, and some appealing Koyaanisqatsi-like time lapse photography of cities, where cars rushing from traffic light to traffic light resemble nothing less than mechanized ants attempting to get back to their hive. (There is another segment with actual ants before a looming harvest moon).

One of the more fanciful segments presents several children frolicking on a playground, which is then supplanted by adults in a cityscape completely confused by bubbles which are floating down around them from some unseen source. It’s a surprisingly potent meditation on how growing up can stunt some people’s sense of wonder. Rise closes with a cool segment of massed satellite dishes, filmed upside down, which turn in unison like robotic ballet dancers, which is then followed by some up close imagery of birds flying that is very reminiscent of the iconic shots in Winged Migration.

The music which accompanies these segments is similarly varied, including the moments listed above, as well as some evocative ethnic musics from around the world. We get a nice balance between traditional approaches (including old hymns like “Good Christian Men, Rejoice”) and more modern fare in a sort of techno-trance mold.

While I was blown away by the quality of this outing, there are a couple of niggling issues I have with this AMOS release, the most pressing of which is the stupidly incessant usage of a “bug” (meaning a logo) for AMOS which appears in the lower right portion of the screen at the beginning and end of each segment (you’ll see it in several of the screen captures included in this review). It’s a silly and unnecessary branding element that really begins to annoy after a while, especially since the imagery is is so overwhelmingly beautiful.

HD Moods Rise Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is easily one of the strongest releases yet from Topics in terms of image quality. Indeed, there are many breathtaking moments throughout this AVC encoded 1080i presentation (in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). From the first moments of the time lapse photography, we're greeted by a startlingly sharp and gorgeously well saturated image, with some truly impressive detail. Some of the flowers in fact seem almost sewn together, so clear is their organic make-up. Depth of field on the scenic environment segments is excellent, and contrast and black levels are both top notch. There is occasional shimmer, which is most likely attributable to the interlaced video, but that is the only artifacting which is noticeable, and it's relatively minor. For a video which is probably meant to be paid attention to only in passing, you may find yourself stopping for more than a brief moment or two in front of your flatscreen to stare in awe at the gorgeous imagery Rise provides.

HD Moods Rise Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Topics also steps up to the high-def plate, at least partially, with two (count 'em) lossless options, albeit "mere" stereo, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 stereo option. Also on board is a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 track. These are robust and supercharged sonic offerings which are abundantly clear and well realized throughout. In fact, the Mozart which kicks off this outing is surprisingly full on the low end, so much so that I actually turned by receiver down a bit when the video started. There's a really appealing mix of music on Rise (strangely, Herb Alpert's iconic hit of the same name isn't included, probably for licensing reasons), and it is all presented with excellent clarity and brilliant dynamic range. Persnickety listeners are no doubt going to complain about the lack of a surround track, but what's here is robust and extremely enjoyable.

HD Moods Rise Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are featured on this budget priced disc.

HD Moods Rise Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Well, well, well, who woulda thunk that a niche market like "ambient television" could come up with something this involving and fun to watch and listen to? Kudos to Topics and their producing partners for offering one of the strongest releases in this fledgling idiom. If you've wondered what all the fuss about digital wallpaper is all about, I can't think of a better way to find out than Rise, which comes highly recommended.