7.5 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The story of the real-life, U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena from 1947-70.
Starring: Aidan Gillen, Michael Malarkey (I), Laura Mennell, Ksenia Solo, Michael HarneyHistory | 100% |
Mystery | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.00:1
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (192 kbps)
English SDH, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 2.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
It’s pretty glaringly obvious that the creative types behind Project Blue Book perhaps desperately wanted to offer a “new, improved” The X-Files, with part of that perceived “improvement” being the implied imprimatur of a name that, while probably not known to the general public at large, has become something of a legend to those interested in whatever “truth” may be “out there”: J. Allen Hynek, a real life professor and astronomer who became an analyst for decades working with the Air Force to (supposedly) investigate paranormal phenomena, albeit phenomena typically linked to the ever popular unidentified flying object. Part of the problem with Project Blue Book is that it purports to be based on "real events" (as evidenced by a bold text card at the beginning of each episode), but it does in fact (sorry) wallow in so-called “dramatizations” (as evidenced by a somewhat less bold disclaimer at the end of every episode mentioning that very aspect). There absolutely is some fascinating history to be explored with regard to the “official” United States government response to the spate of sightings of UFOs that started to crop up in the wake of the end of World War II, but as seems to be its wont, History (the channel, not the concept) doesn’t feel compelled to simply provide a documentarian approach, instead stuffing this frankly kind of odd series with all sorts of bogus sidebars that may tend to deflate whatever its central thesis is supposed to be (more about that in a moment).
Project Blue Book: Season 1 is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films and History with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.00:1. There isn't one whit of technical data online that I've been able to ferret out, but this is a rather nice looking series from both a production design standpoint but also courtesy of some nicely evocative framings. Fine detail can typically be very good in close-ups, and the palette offers nice bursts of color, especially with regard to some of Susie's outfits. Perhaps because Lionsgate chose to cram all ten episodes on one BD-50, there are some prevalent occurrences of banding, ironically often noticeable during scenes featuring UFOs, since those sequences often feature burts of light somewhere in the frame. In that regard, some of the CGI, including but not necessarily limited to UFOs or even "normal" flying objects like American planes, can look pretty soft at times.
Lionsgate continues to baffle me with their audio codec choices of late. Not only doesn't this release have a lossless track, even its Dolby Digital track is only stereo, and this would seem to be one series designed with artful surround effects in mind. What I guess would be LFE in a more forceful track does waft through several of the flying object moments, and even with regard to some sinister sounding effects. A lot of sequences almost cry out for a lossless surround track, as in one episode where a flying object comes crashing into a forest and explodes. All of this (complaining) aside, the Dolby Digital 2.0 track on this disc at least has decent fidelity, with dialogue rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, but I continue to be disappointed in Lionsgate's recent trend toward only lossy audio on its Blu-ray releases.
With ten episodes stuffed onto a single BD-50, it's perhaps unsurprising that this release offers no supplementary content.
One of the first labels assigned to me when I joined the writing staff here was A&E, and so I saw a lot of History Channel offerings drift across my review queue. In that regard, it was positively quaint (in more ways than one) to see the helpful "History HD" banner among the production company mastheads on this disc. Unfortunately, this series shows some of the rebranded History's worst tendencies, including taking a perfectly reasonable and even potentially exciting nook and cranny of America's history and then twisting it almost unrecognizably at times for no really good purpose, other than to recall other shows with shadowy conspiracies and the occasional unidentified flying object. Further exacerbating things here are some compression issues, lossy audio and no supplements.
1982
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Limited Edition to 3000
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30th Anniversary Edition
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