6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Go on a thrilling journey above the Emerald Isle in Over Ireland in High Definition, previously seen on public television. Glide gracefully over the tops of rugged seaside cliffs, see medieval castles from the sky and float above the mysterious basalt columns of Giant's Causeway — all in spectacular high definition for Blu-ray!
Documentary | 100% |
Nature | 78% |
Video codec: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0
None
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
There’s probably not a more preternaturally beautiful land on the planet than Ireland. Even more interestingly, perhaps, is Ireland’s cultural sway on Western art, music and literature, an impact surely inversely proportional to the island country’s relatively minute size. Both of those elements come into play in the excellent aerial travelogue Over Ireland, another in the long series of Over titles which air regularly on PBS stations (especially during pledge drives), and which have made up a major part of niche distributor Topics Entertainment’s catalog. The Irish gift for gab lends itself rather well to Over’s penchant for flowery narration, and while narrator Brian Munn’s lilting brogue waxes lyrical, with such evocative phrases as “the sea scribbles lines of white next to the cliffs,” it’s really the visuals that make this an outstanding hour or so of entertaining visions.
Even Irish clouds are beautiful.
As with most of the Over series on Blu-ray, Over Ireland receives a decent to excellent transfer in 1080i via a VC-1 encode. This piece is strongest in terms of color and general overall detail. Long shots resolve very well most of the time, showing a depth of field that can be awesome, with such items as far off birds seemingly miles away readily visible. Colors are strong and lifelike, with very well saturated blues and greens throughout the piece. There is some annoying artifacting some of the time, typically on things like overly busy rock facings, where a good deal of shimmer flashes on and off.
The Over series really hasn't moved into the high definition era aurally speaking, typically offering a standard Dolby Digital 2.0 track, something Over Ireland also offers. There's not a whale of a lot of ambient sound mixed into the omnipresent music. In fact, ambient noises were rare enough that I actually noticed them, in scenes like a soccer match where the players calls were heard, or a flyover of a boat when the engine's roar was faintly noticeable. Mostly this is just Munn's narration, front and center and clear as a bell (if lilting in that wonderful Irish way), and Rojo's score. There really isn't even dramatic stereo separation here, but the recording has excellent fidelity and dynamic range.
As is usual with these budget priced Topics offerings, no supplements are included.
Over Ireland is one of the better Over episodes I've seen, due to both the inherent beauty of the land and the poetic narration of Munn and enjoyable score of Rojo. It might have been nice to have had a narration-free audio option, so that "return visits" could have just been with the music, but other than that and the occasional artifacting noted above, this is a solid effort in this series, and armchair travelers should be delighted by it.
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