Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.0

Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown April 6, 2015

BBC Home Entertainment is dipping its toe in the 3D Blu-ray waters... just as the majority of studios are scrambling to get out of the pool. There was the December 2013 release of Doctor Who: The Day of the Doctor, BBC's only notable 3D title to date, but it seems little else has lent itself to the format. Until now. Enter Planet Dinosaur, Tiny Giants and Wings, a trio of natural history documentaries hinging their 3D bets on some additional pop and visual punch. Unfortunately, despite each documentary boasting (varied) value, there are a few caveats. Tiny Giants is essentially a truncated, 43-minute cut of two episodes of BBC's three-hour Hidden Kingdoms series (available since July 2014, and at its current price, a steal), while Wings is simply a re-release of Winged Planet 3D, available since March 2014 as a Best Buy exclusive. However, Planet Dinosaur is completely new to Blu-ray... it just isn't all that remarkable.

More dinosaurs were discovered in the last decade than the preceding 200 years, and you can find them here in eye-popping 3D. 'Planet Dinosaur 3D' will transport you back hundreds of millions of years to meet T Rex's bigger, meaner, weirder cousins. Scarier than any movie and stranger than your wildest fantasy, you'll discover a completely immersive visual experience studded with curious facts and jaw-dropping action. Travel back in time and witness a world like nothing you've ever seen.

Gotta love those official synopses. To read it, Planet Dinosaur sounds like a thrilling natural (pre)history documentary, promising revolutionary CG and the latest, greatest discoveries about the creatures that once ruled the planet. Instead, the film is a meagerly animated, dryly conceived trek into the ancient past that doesn't offer a lot in the way of fascinating new information, engrossing visuals or staggering revelations. Younger children might be entertained by the cartoonish dinos -- for a time -- but older kids may find themselves snickering at the wide-eyed, stiff-armed, lumbering beasts of burden subbing in for the dinosaurs of their daydreams. Planet Dinosaur may as well be a museum documentary; not a grandiose IMAX presentation, mind you, but one of those free educational videos curators have on loop in small theater nooks nestled neatly between exhibits.

If you're able to look past the animation, though, and are willing to settle for an unremarkably routine rundown of modern paleontology's more recent hypotheses and conclusions concerning the rise and fall of the dinosaur, there's enough here to justify fifty minutes of your family's time. Narrator John Hurt lends gravitas where it's needed most: the science, which not only hails from 2011 -- positively ancient by internet standards -- but is occasionally a bit too lightweight, especially compared to other productions. (It was also originally a six-episode series, making this version a truncation of 180-minutes of material.) Since much of the information conveyed is glorified guesswork (some having already been revised or overwritten in the last four years), the moments involving game-changing findings are given the necessary attention and presented in context with the larger understandings paleontologists have begun to introduce. Moving from era to era, dino to dino, the documentary debunks old myths, clarifies amended science, and sticks to the facts above all else. Riveting stuff? Not exactly. But for those who don't keep up with the field and its latest discoveries via the internet, Planet Dinosaur will at least hold your attention for the duration. It never hurts to learn something new. Well, something new four years ago, anyway.

Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Blu-ray release of Planet Dinosaur 3D features a decidedly decent 1080p/MVC-encoded presentation that delivers in many areas in spite of the film's lackluster animation. The problem? Though it very well may be a faithful presentation, it doesn't boast much pop or punch. Colors are somewhat dull and dusty, contrast is a tad weak, and black levels range from satisfying to smoky. Detail isn't all that impressive either. Some shots are crisp and refined; others, surprisingly average and borderline soft. It doesn't help that the 3D experience doesn't add much value. Depth is commendable, particularly when the documentary follows dinosaurs through the forest, but other environments are too flat and sparse. (Scenes that take place during rainstorms or following meteor strikes may as well be in 2D.) Dimensionality is better, but again, dinosaurs in the forest look better than those in the desert or the wastelands. That's not to suggest either presentation is riddled with issues. They aren't. The encode is precise and pristine, without any significant artifacting, banding, ringing or noise. Some aliasing haunts the CG animation, but it's almost certainly source based, and some ghosting (on displays prone to crosstalk) occasionally plagues leafy underbrush, treetops and other background objects. None of it amounts to a major distraction, thankfully, and BBC's encode does the best it can with what little it has to work with.

Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Planet Dinosaur's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track isn't all that memorable either. The soundfield takes welcome advantage of the rear speakers, expanding the various environments with engaging ambience and accurate directional effects, but the ensuing mix isn't as full, convincing or enveloping as those featured on other natural history documentaries. Likewise, while John Hurt's narration is reasonably clear and intelligible, the tone of his gruff, grandfatherly voice hasn't been taken into account as often as it should, and sporadic prioritization issues creep in. It's not a complete loss by any means -- low-end roars, rumbles, stomps and chomps keep the LFE channel busy, and the whole of the experience isn't hindered by any serious issues -- but it rarely claws its way from serviceable to above average.

Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Planet Dinosaur 3D does not include any special features.

Planet Dinosaur 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Planet Dinosaur 3D originated as a six-episode, 180-minute BBC series, and it's that longer, more detailed documentary that would have been welcome on Blu-ray. This shorter version presents some interesting discoveries (circa 2011), but speeds along from dino to dino, only to end unceremoniously, without leaving much of a mark. BBC Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release is rather forgettable too. Its video presentation, 3D experience and lossless 5.1 audio track are merely decent, rarely ascending to greater heights. If this were a bargain priced release, it might be easier to recommend. As is, it's overpriced and underwhelming.