6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
his natural history television series is about amazing creatures of the sea. Utilizing superb High-Definition imagery, engaging stories, and leading marine scientists the series takes viewers on extraordinary journeys of discovery! Danny Mauro has developed and filmed over 100 programs about the marine environment. He began production of his first High-Definition series in 2003, The Blue Realm. The eight-part series began airing in 2004 on Discovery HD Theater, Discovery Canada, Discovery International HD and National Geographic International.
Director: Danny MauroDocumentary | 100% |
Nature | 69% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
None
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 3.0 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
The bigger and more dangerous the shark, the better.
Name it, and it probably has some reality television show or some religious-like following of fans, people who just can't absorb enough information on it,
or some curious collective who are drawn in to learn more about a subject for whatever reason, based off of whatever exposure. Maybe it's dinosaurs,
perhaps it's astronomy, but for many people it's sharks. Unlike dinosaurs that vanished millions of years ago or stars which exist millions of miles
away,
sharks are only a boat ride and a dive from first-hand contact. What's so fascinating about these extra-large creatures from the deep? Jaws certainly has something to do with it. Or perhaps it's something a
little more inspirational, like Soul Surfer. Maybe it's news coverage, the thrill of danger-close, or
mere amazement at the biology, the study of what is perhaps the ocean's most feared creature, the dominant species of the other part of the
earth's covering. Sharks are certainly an attraction for many, and Shark Divers efforts to take viewers closer than ever before to the feared
species, to both show man's interaction with beast and examine some of the top varieties of shark that are fit for study, pleasure watching, and thrill
seeking around the world's waters.
Watcha gonna do when they come for you?
Shark Divers arrives on Blu-ray with an adequate but never dazzling high definition transfer. The focus of Mill Creek's image comes in the underwater sequences, where a slight murkiness is expected, but there's an evident stability, clarity, and ease of vision to such scenes. Detail on close-ups of creatures, the sandy sea floor, and divers suffices. Underwater, colors appear much as do the details; they're limited to cloudy blues, gray fish exteriors, tan sea floors, and a few splashes of brighter hues breaking up black wetsuits. Above the water, viewers will find a bump in detailing. The image still features that mid-grade, somewhat flat, slightly glossy HD style picture quality, but faces, clothes, wooden accents on boats, and scratches and dents on well-worn surfaces all appear as crisply as they should considering a source of this nature. Colors also enjoy a bump in stability and variety, delivering an HDTV-average collection of hues that replicate real life adequately enough. Slight banding and minor blocking are evident across some backgrounds -- mostly underwater -- and there's not much else in the way of eyesores. This is a stable, highly watchable image that won't dazzle Blu-ray enthusiasts but that should satisfy casual audiences.
Shark Divers features a serviceable, but sonically vanilla, DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Narration can be slightly boomy at times, but dialogue is fairly even and comes through with consistent baseline clarity, presence, volume, and center-focus. The program features some energized music that doesn't absolutely pass for perfect; clarity is sometimes a hair iffy and spacing isn't seamless across the front, but generally the music suffices, whether heavier beats or gentler notes. Rolling water off to the sides of boats, light splashes, and heavier crashing waves all play with adequate presence, energy, and sonic accuracy. There's little else to this track; it's the sort that's meant to be heard rather than dissected. It won't be mistaken for a top-tier film soundtrack, but it gets general effects, music, and the critical dialogue and narration to the listener with no perceptible hitch.
Shark Divers contains no supplemental content.
Shark Divers relies a bit too much on reality television stylings and modern herky-jerky motion that's meant to keep audiences with an attention span shorter than three seconds entertained. Traditional Documentary fans will probably want to skip out on this one, but viewers who want to mix some learning with some entertaining could do worse than Shark Divers. The photography's great, the insights smart, and the show well-paced. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of Shark Divers features sufficient video and audio qualities. No extras are included. Recommended for shark lovers.
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