Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.5

Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 30, 2016

The supposed romance and the frankly unbridled insanity of the whaling industry were probably nowhere more perfectly captured than in Herman Melville’s immortal Moby Dick, with Melville more or less ripping the scab off that perceived “romance” angle to reveal the festering sore of madness underneath. More than a century after Melville’s novel appeared in 1851, a rather remarkable album appeared called Songs of the Humpback Whale, a completely unexpected major success that in turn spawned a huge environmental movement to stop the whole scale slaughter of these magnificent mammals. (Moby of course was not a humpback, just for you curmudgeons out there about to dash off a private message to me.) The almost pathological need by Mankind to impose dominance over the various other species inhabiting this planet provides part of the backdrop to the appealing IMAX film Humpback Whales, a relatively short but quite informative and often almost balletic view of these almost impossibly huge creatures. The film begins with a brief testimonial from Roger Payne, the guy who introduced the world to Songs of the Humpback Whale, albeit a testimonial tied to an investment company which uses a whale as its logo. Then the first of several almost mind boggling views of a whale is presented, one which skews point of view so that the viewer is not quite sure of where the whale is and where the top (bottom) of the water in which it’s swimming is. As with many of the McGillivray Freeman IMAX presentations, the photography in Humpback Whales is often awesome, even inspiring, but this is a commendable effort not just for its visual allure.

Ewan McGregor’s sonorous narration kicks in during this first look, detailing a laundry list of facts and figures about the humpbacks, including offering a few referents (like school buses and Lear jets) in an attempt to adequately describe various aspects of the creatures. But what’s so amazing about this opening scene, and many later ones, is how incredibly graceful these behemoths are when they’re simply “dancing” about in various watery environments. That awe inspiring beauty then gives way to some shocking interstitial views of whaling practices from long ago (though, frankly, not that long ago), with a series of archival films and stills filling the screen with some pretty horrifying examples of how the hunting of whales was seen as an almost epic “sport.” When McGregor mentions the invention of “exploding harpoons”, some modern day curmudgeons might be prompted to think of the oft-repeated mantra by even some hunters that AR-15s are really not that necessary to bring down a ten point buck.

After that disturbing detour, Humpback Whales documents the rather incredible discovery of the whales’ vocalizations, and the subsequent Songs of the Humpback Whales album which helped to usher in the whole “Save the Whales” movement, a movement which in fact has had some significant success over the past few decades. Almost all major nations have now outlawed the hunting of whales, though there are still a few notable exceptions. As Humpback Whales later gets into, however, the fact that humans are no longer chasing after the creatures with harpoons (exploding or otherwise) doesn’t mean that they’re completely out of danger. Whales still tend to get entangled in nets that have been dropped to catch other denizens of the deep waters, and, interestingly, there’s a somewhat newer concern about noise pollution and how that affects the whales and their incredibly evocative vocalizations.

The fact that the McGillivray Freeman cameras manage to get so close to the whales may imply that our knowledge of the creatures is absolute, but McGregor’s narration makes it abundantly clear that in many ways humpbacks still continue to offer some rather enigmatic mysteries for scientists attempting to investigate and document their behavior. This is probably nowhere more apparent than in the still unknown elements about how exactly whales mate. What is shown in Humpback Whales is the rather appealing nurturing quality of mother whales with their newborns, “babies” who literally hang around Mom for around a year after they’re born until they take off on their own. Again, some of the footage of parents with offspring in this piece is truly amazing.

In a way Humpback Whales can almost be seen as the documentary “flip side” of outings like The Cove, for while it does indeed show some of the inhumane treatment of whales at the hands of men, it also shows that humankind is able to learn and progress, letting these magnificent creatures simply “be” without us getting in the way. While humpbacks are probably back from the precipice of actual extinction, their population is nowhere near what it probably was back when whaling was considered an epic adventure for the stout of heart (and/or stomach). Unlike The Cove, however, there’s at least a glimmer of hope in Humpback Whales which suggests that if we continue to be concerned about this (and other?) species, we may be able to rectify some of the mistakes of the past.

Note: For those wanting either a 3D or 4K UHD version of this documentary, Shout! is also releasing Humpback Whales 4K + 3D. (The 2D version of the film is included on the standard Blu-ray disc along with the 3D version.)

Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Humpback Whales is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. As should be expected given the 70mm source elements of this documentary, Humpback Whales offer superior detail levels, and in fact some of the underwater footage is really impressive in this regard, with a level of clarity that almost defies the fact that these sequences are underwater. There's still a bit of variable sharpness at various times, and some of the quick views of humpbacks jumping above the water line look just slightly coarser than the bulk of the presentation. Colors are splendidly suffused and saturated, but there's simply no getting away from the fact that this is by and large a "blue" looking documentary.

Note: Shout! provided the 4K UHD + 3D package for review purposes, and so the tenth screenshot shows the menu for the 2D/3D Blu-ray. My assumption is that the 2D Blu-ray menu will simply not have the 3D option on it.

Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Humpback Whales features a great sounding Dolby Atmos track, one which provides a rather surprising amount of surround activity given the fact that a lot of the film takes place underwater and much of it is a narrated presentation. The documentary's enjoyable score provides a glut of spill through the side and rear channels, and an opening scene that ventures into outer space for a moment (don't ask me) features some wonderful panning effects as various planets zing by the camera. The gurgle of underwater bubbles and/or those almost indescribable whale vocalizations are often quite redolent as well, and offer at least some surround activity. McGregor's narration is anchored front and center, and is just very occasionally slightly buried by the music.

Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of (1080p; 17:07) has some fantastic shots showing how various sequences were filmed, along with some good interviews.

Additionally, Trailers (which I never count as part of the supplement score) for other IMAX films are included.

Humpback Whales Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Humpback Whales is, like many IMAX offerings, a visual wonderland, but this is also a documentary that doesn't shirk on the informational side of things. Humpbacks continue to be one of the great mysteries of our planet, and Humpback Whales does a good job in detailing what contemporary scientists are attempting to learn about them, while also showing how humans have not always respected this magnificent species. Technical merits are first rate, and Humpback Whales comes Highly recommended.