7.4 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Narrated by Robert Redford, this documentary tours the awe-inspiring landscapes, historic sites, and untamed wilderness of America's great parks.
Narrator: Robert RedfordDocumentary | 100% |
Short | 29% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.43:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: Dolby Digital 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
DD tracks=BD/3D disc; DTS tracks=UHD disc; Atmos shared All Atmos tracks have a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit) core
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Digital copy
4K Ultra HD
Blu-ray 3D
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Shout! Factory has brought the 2016 Greg MacGillivray film 'National Parks Adventure' to home video in a single package that includes the film on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3-D as well as 4K UHD. The former two presentations share a disc while the latter earns its own. The film is classic MacGillivray, boasting exceptional large-format IMAX photography of breathtaking locations, this one focusing on several of the most spectacular National Parks across the United States. Each video presentation is unsurprisingly of reference quality while the Dolby Atmos audio track is equally superb. The package includes a handful of brief supplements.
The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.
The 1080p Blu-ray presentation is unsurprisingly terrific, the first of three top-flight visual delights to be found in this collection. Very fine grain is
visible, particularly across blue skies, but the picture is otherwise crystal-clear and capable of reveling complex details -- notably rock formations and
close-ups of bears and prairie dogs -- with impressive ease and clarity. The picture maintains a well-defined crispness and clarity throughout. Every
frame is tack-sharp and a delight to watch. Colors are bold, from blue skies to punchy natural greens. Earthen colors are stable and realistic. Nighttime
black levels are wonderful and human close-ups reveal both colorful clothes and skin tones with delightful accuracy. No source or encode flaws are
immediately apparent.
The Blu-ray 3-D presentation, which shares a disc with the 1080p Blu-ray, ranges from good to great. Large-scale natural vistas -- overhead shots of
various wooded areas, rock formations, the shots that appear on the screen over the film's opening -- are not breathtakingly expansive. It's in some
more
intimate spots where the image generally shines. A shot featuring Conrad, Max, and Rachel picking up camp about five-and-a-half minutes in reveals
excellent separation of near filed grasses and hanging leaves against the more distant background elements. Viewers can peer into the tent, which
showcases a very natural sense of spacial volume inside, while the landscape appears to stretch on back a good distance from the camera. A similar
shot introducing Devil's tower at the 10:46 mark shares these same characteristics. A scene featuring Rachel balancing on a tightrope tied between a
couple of trees represents the best 3-D in the program, with the line appearing to extend straight out of the screen and the background appearing
appropriately distanced. Another shot of note is one featuring a log jutting out of the screen at the 27:25 mark. There are numerous spots and scenes
that take one's breath away in 3-D, including the scene featuring the
climbers scaling Devil's Tower moments later. Even vintage photographs appear to have depth to them when they appear on the screen. Graphical
overlays also seem to hover atop the display. Mild, but regular, crosstalk effects appeared on the review Sony XBR65Z9D.
The UHD version includes two options, one with HDR and one without, so there is more like 3.5 versions of the film in one collection rather than three.
The added color depth seems immediately vital...to a point. The pluses to contrast, depth, detail, and nuance that HDR color palette brings to earthy
rock faces, blue skies, and green wonders are often striking in the sheer intensity visible. There is a downside, though, namely that a few scenes look
too heavily processed and artificial. Look at a
shot of Three Penguins at the 4-minute mark. The way the dark clay-like earthen lines meet the dark blue sky looks horrifically artificial, like the range
was inserted in front of the blue, or the blue dropped in behind the range in a computer. The problem appears to be that the colorist went a bit
overboard on contrast
and color depth, issues that extend to some scenes throughout where the palette runs very hot, leaving various shots and scenes almost
looking like a red-hot Michael Bay film. This
can extend to human clothes and skin textures, too. Otherwise, the increased resolution brings a new level of textural complexity to the various natural
wonders. Finer rock face details, more definition to grasses and prairie dogs, sharper and more complex tree trunks, and other natural wonders enjoy a
healthy upward boost in
clarity and complexity over the Blu-ray. When viewing the film in 4K with SDR colors, the relative lack of punch is rather striking, especially in a
comparative back-to-back viewing. It's also like the HDR colors are too much, at times, and the SDR colors are not enough. Still, the 4K/SDR
combination might be the
best bet for those who cannot watch the 3-D version, which many may consider to be the overall best option of the three (or three-and-a-half).
The program's primary audio selection, a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, constructs and delivers a terrific listening experience that is in every way perfectly complimentary to the material. Wonderfully immersive woodland ambience, such as singing birds and hooting owls, dot the listening area with seamless placement. Winds blow from anywhere and everywhere around, and above, the listener. These are gentle touches that are critical in defining more serene moments, and while not big sounds, they make a big impact in finalizing the experience. Music, contrarily, is large and majestic, boasting excellent, stage-stretching width, seamless surround integration, and a quality low end pronouncement. Lyrics, as they are utilized, gently encircle the listener with an integral, but never overwhelming, surround engagement. Raging waters pour through the stage with powerful saturation and impressive low end intensity while roaring fires pop and crackle with frightening surround implementation and bass extension, the two making for some of the most dramatic sonic moments in the film. The overhead channels don't play with much discrete usage with these aforementioned big and small sounds, but the fuller experience is obvious and the channels are vital in shaping a sound field that is able to match the visuals' majesty. Redford's narration is crisply delivered with firm front-center placement while in-film dialogue and subject thoughts are conveyed with equal clarity and attention paid to position and prioritization.
National Parks Adventure 4K contains a number of brief supplements on the 2-D/3-D disc. All of the supplements are also included on the UHD
disc in 1080p/SDR (as well as a few 4K trailers). A digital copy
code is included and this release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
National Parks Adventure is classic MacGillivray. The film is partly educational and partly conservationist but its primary focus is on pointing its cameras at some of the most spectacular natural locations around the United States. The film is exemplary in visual construction and its only drawback is that it is too short to give the parks the full attention they deserve. Nevertheless, Shout! Factory's triple play release offers viewers the opportunity to view the film across three reference and near-reference quality presentations, including a spectacular 3-D image and a breathtakingly complex and colorful (albeit sometimes too overdone) UHD. The Atmos soundtrack is just as good and the included supplements, while relatively brief, are welcome additions. Very highly recommended.
2017
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2015
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2012
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2014
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2008
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2010
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2012
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2013