Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie Review

A rare warm blooded shark is the focus of this excellent special which aired on National Geographic.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 21, 2010

There’s some unspoken good news in Icy Killers: Secrets of Alaska’s Salmon Shark, a very interesting special which has run on the National Geographic Channel. In a series of stunning aerial flybys, as well as some great underwater footage, we’re introduced to some of the over 1600 species which inhabit Alaska’s Prince William Sound, and all of them seem to have withstood the devastating ecological aftereffects of the massive Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. That fact may give at least a little solace to the victims of the current Gulf of Mexico oil debacle. While this special focuses on salmon sharks and their prey (salmons, just in case you were wondering), a huge variety of other wildlife crops up throughout the 50 or so minutes of the presentation, and it all seems remarkably robust, considering the fact that the Sound was once awash in sticky, life threatening petroleum product. In fact the area looks largely pristine throughout this special, with the only perhaps alarming ecological element the long lingering shots of glaciers literally melting before our eyes. If it’s not one ecological disaster, it’s another, is perhaps the salient lesson to be taken away from Icy Killers, for indeed the salmon shark means certain death to one out of every four salmon who swim into the Sound to attempt to find their spawning grounds.

The salmon shark.

Prince William Sound is so far north that even in the robust sun of May, its waters barely get above 32 degrees. This ice strewn region may seem barren to the naked eye, but pausing for moment reveals a wealth of wildlife, perhaps none more adapted to this region than the salmon shark. This is the only species of shark which is fitted, so to speak, to survive in waters this frigid, and it’s for a fascinating reason. In one of the most compelling segments contained in Icy Killers, we’re shown that salmon shark are actually warm blooded, with a very unique heat transfer setup within their circulatory system whereby heated blood transfers that warmth to the cold water coming in through the shark’s striking looking side gills.

One of the enduring mysteries of both the salmon shark and salmon themselves is how exactly these two linked species “know” to return to Prince William Sound. In fact neither the shark nor the fish are parented, as Icy Killers makes clear. They are, instead, “programmed,” to use the verbiage of the deep and resonant tones of the narrator, Hakeem Kae Kazeem. This programming allows the shark to return to the Sound when it’s about five years old, after having spent time in the sunnier climes off the coast of California. The fish return to their spawning grounds by a similar instinct, managing to find the place they were hatched (if they make it that far), and then, after spawning, meeting their demise. It may seem an odd way to perpetuate a species, but it’s no less intriguing for being so patently odd.

While there are evidently around 400 different types of sharks, the salmon shark makes for a very compelling focus. With keen eyesight and a rather alarming “intelligence” (if it can truly be called that), these rabid killers know to wait at the entrance to streams where the salmon must pass. As the trickle of spawning fish slowly turns into a torrent, the sharks manage to pick off about a fourth of the incoming hoards. It’s almost mind boggling to realize that the poor salmon, even if they manage to escape the jaws of the sharks, then have to contend with bears, who also forage for the fish in the shallow waters upstream as the salmon finally draw near to their original spawning grounds.

This is one of the most visually striking pieces to air on National Geographic, with a really epic feel as the helicopter glides over some of the most glorious scenery contained in the United States. Beautiful fjords and glaciers offer a stark kind of a paradise around which everything from sea otters to brown bears frolic. The underwater photography is generally very crisp, though as the narration explains, plankton actually turns the water a milky green color, so there are some cloudy shots which actually work to Icy Killers’ benefit, as sharks suddenly appear “out of nowhere” to a thumping, quasi-Jaws score.

These salmon sharks, which can grow up to 500 pounds and reach nearly nine feet in length, are able to feast on the salmon with only a few competitors, like the Orca, trying to hone in on their territory. While that may help to preserve the species, the salmon shark’s peculiar adaptive proclivities are really what Icy Killers excels in explaining and depicting. Nature may not always be kind, especially to salmon, but it makes for some very compelling viewing.

Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Though Icy Killers doesn't quite have the depth and texture of something film, its high-def video is one of the better looking nature documentary Blu-rays to come down the pike recently, especially since its delivered in full 1080p via a VC-1 codec (in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). As noted above, some of the water shots are a bit murky, with a sickly green tint, but for the most part sharpness, clarity and depth of field are exceptional. Some of the aerial shots of Prince William Sound are absolutely breathtaking, with glassy, placid water reflecting awesome mountain peaks. The shots of animals like bears and otters also reveal a wealth of detail, to the point where you can see that one bear obviously hasn't been eating well for a while, looking haggard and with ribs beginning to stick out. There is one really gorgeous segment toward the end of Icy Killers that shows jellyfish feasting on the salmon eggs and it will knock most videophiles' socks off. Colors are resplendent in both that segment and many of the shots of the salmon, which feature really interesting red tints on their scales.

Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Topics has really stepped up to the plate lately with its Blu-ray releases. For a budget line, Topics is regularly giving us choices in lossless audio, and this release is no exception. Along with a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 mix, we get two uncompressed stereo mixes, an LPCM 2.0 and a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix. The Dolby mix is fine if you're not equipped to handle lossless audio, but both of the uncompressed tracks sound fantastic. While narrator Hakeem Kae Kazeem's voice may be a bit too ominously deep for some (think James Earl Jones with an accent), it sets the tone for the special quite admirably. While the soundfield is narrow here, it is filled with a wealth of ambient environmental effects, including some excellent water sounds as the sharks and salmon jump out of the Sound and plummet back into the water. Everything is clear and precise here, with excellent fidelity and very good dynamic range.

Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included on Icy Killers.

Icy Killers Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have been increasingly impressed with Topics releases, especially the ones coming out this year. What started as a sort of niche budget line is blossoming into some of the most consistently interesting and excellent documentaries and short form pieces available in the Blu-ray format. With a fascinating subject like this, as well as stellar video and audio, Icy Killers is definitely recommended.