Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Journey to the South Pacific 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 16, 2018

The more you understand a reef, the better you can protect it.

Greg MacGillivray has made some of the finest large-format Documentaries in the world: Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk, Coral Reef Adventure, National Parks Adventure. His films often preach conservation without being preachy while framing the plea within a grand view of the world, with endlessly beautiful shots of the world at its most magnificent, fragile, and, for many eyes, unseen and unknown. Journey to the South Pacific focuses on the threats on and the preservation of coral reefs around West Papua, an Indonesian province.

It's a beautiful world.

The story unfolds through the perspective of a 13-year-old boy named Jawi who has been selected to spend two months on board the Kalabia, a colorful education-oriented ship that sails around nearby reefs and teaches students about the ecology, ecosystem, and the importance of preservation. As Jawi sails about, the film relays the need to protect the ecosystem from poachers who are taking "the big fish," a population that lately dwindled by 90%. Jawi also learns about giant sea turtles and preservation techniques.

Journey to the South Pacific shares a soulful journey to a beautiful corner of the world where simplicity and good cheer are on full display but where the realities of the world -- poaching and a degrading ecosystem -- are reshaping the area, and the globe. Even as the natural majesty remains, there are darker truths that are endangering the area and the life in it. The film contrasts the harsh truths with the beautiful images of the natural wonders that remain, punctuating the idea without overselling it.

The film is narrated by Cate Blanchett, whose delivery is a complimentary match for the film. Where the film proper is colorful and educational, Blanchett does not inject herself into the film, merely shaping the story's narrative needs and allowing the sights, sounds, and local flavors to dominate the film. And that's the proper approach. The film offers a grand vision of its focal area, both the people and the environment in and around which they live, while also telling the story of the threats to the world and the people's way of life.

Though nature documentaries are a dime a dozen, this one is particularly well made, fun, and dynamic. Plus, it never gets old discovering new things about this beautiful world. The film nicely balances its messaging with its striking photography and relaxing scenes of underwater beauty and grace. The message is nicely integrated into the film and is made the central plot point -- Jawi leaves on a study to learn about the reefs -- rather than it being simply forced into the narrative to get it out there.

Journey to the South Pacific 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Note: 'Journey to the South Pacific' has released to the UHD format with the HDR10+ color encoding. Unfortunately Blu-ray.com reviewers are currently not equipped with a playback device capable of decoding it, so this review pertains to the standard HDR10 color only.

Generally speaking, Mill Creek has delivered a striking, beautiful image. The HDR-enhanced colors are bold and vibrant from the beginning. Blue waters are strikingly rich and incredibly well saturated, a deep, intense blue that is the unequivocal highlight the release. The colors around the Kalabia are likewise intense and leap off the screen. Natural vegetation is terrific and character skin tones appear true to life. Underwater, colors find prominence with intense shades on various sea creatures, with barrages of reds, oranges, and ocean blue amongst the many finely saturated standouts. The image is fairly sharp, perhaps a bit unnaturally so. Edge enhancement is visible in places throughout, such as at the 1:01 mark around distant terrain on the left-hand side of the screen. The following shot appears a little jerky and the swimming fish seem to bring globs of water alongside them; the flow appears very unnatural. A few shots look artificial; look at a school of fish at the 22:05 mark. At the 19:42 mark, and again at the 32:13 mark, some compression artifacts are visible. Despite these caveats, the image does impress a good deal. It's big, bold, and very clear. The movie looks terrific on UHD. While there remains some room for improvement there's no mistaking the image's high end qualities, particularly its colors.

Despite a few reservations about the UHD presentation, there's absolutely no questioning its vast superiority over the Blu-ray. The increases to both sharpness sand detail are amazing. The adds to color richness, boldness, and nuance are the most obvious upgrades but not to be dismissed is the vastly superior clarity and definition on display. Note that because each video section received the same score does not mean the images are comparable. The scores are based on how they look independently and against other titles on their respective formats.

Journey to the South Pacific 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Journey to the South Pacific features a DTS:X soundtrack. There are some fun overhead components, such as when children dive into the water near film's start; it practically feels as if they're leaping in from above the stage. Immersive underwater sounds fully envelop the listener, and that extra top end layer contributes a good bit to the sense of fullness and pressure below the surface. Music is very aggressive, offering intense surround usage and total listener envelopment. Environmental effects, such as playing children, are nicely integrated, and ambient effects, such as falling rain in the six-minute mark, offer impressive full stage saturation. Narration is clear and center focused.

Note: The bundled Blu-ray contains the same audio and subtitle options as the UHD.

Journey to the South Pacific 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Journey to the South Pacific includes three supplements on the UHD disc. A Blu-ray copy of the program (with the same special features) and a Mill Creek digital copy code are included with purchase. The release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Trailer (1080p, 1:50).
• Featurette (1080p, 4:33): A quick behind-the-scenes piece that explores shooting locations, story and the film's purpose, and more.
• Webisodes (1080p): Brief, focused pieces that look at various components of the film and the filmmaking process. Included are Film, Sweat and Tears (4:23), The Floating Classroom (3:30), Last Stand of the Leatherback Turtles (4:35), Swimming with Whale Sharks (3:50), and Music of West Papua (4:17).

Journey to the South Pacific 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Journey to the South Pacific is a fairly standard MacGillivray documentary which means it's well put together, informative, entertaining, and the message is folded into he narrative structure rather than forced into the conversation. Mill Creek's UHD is very good. It's problematic here and there but big and bold and a large step forward from the included Blu-ray. Audio is great and the few included supplements are fine. Recommended.