Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		1.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie Review

A dead-in-the-water video encode tanks an otherwise average release...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown February 3, 2012

Much as I could conjure up a few hundred words that wax poetic about sunrises and the Alaskan wilderness, there's really no better way to approach a Sunrise Earth review than to simply state the obvious: if you're in the market for an ambient television release, Sunrise Earth: Alaska will do. It isn't spectacular (by any means), it doesn't offer anything you can't already get from a dozen other similar titles, it only provides minimal context for the ecosystems and creatures it portends to showcase, and it doesn't boast any compelling content or innovative features that might entertain patrons waiting patiently in the lobby of a travel agency. It amounts to four serene but largely uneventful sunrises presented without anything in the way of pomp or circumstance; a glorified, mid-morning screen saver designed to set the mood in an office or waiting room, and little more.

Sunrise One: Katami Bears
Halo Bay, Katami National Park, Alaska

They've had seven months of sleep, but now the world's largest population of unhunted brown bears are ready for the sun. They begin the morning in the meadow, playfully mating and grazing on the high protein tidal sedge. A bounding three-year-old searches for Mom. The sun rise, the tide drops. Clam flats and the first tasty salmon of the season are revealed. Bears stake out their spot on the beach. Two males posture with "the cowboy walk." The cub's claws grip and nurse for mom's high-fat milk (the fat-content is 30%, as opposed to human milk, which comes in at 3%). Adolescents chase each other at 35mph for miles. Sleep lies distant.

Sunrise Two: Volcano Lagoon
Augustine Volcano, Alaska

A tidal lagoon flushes its night load of water under the shadow of the Augustine Volcano, a perfect cone that last erupted in 1986. This is a land where the earth quakes, on average, every thirty sunrises. Yet nearby harbor seals are nonplussed. They lazily haul out to dry in the morning breeze. Tiny details of a spun web and lichen contrast the grand sky. Fireweed reclaims the blackened soil, while a distant strand of steam wisps its way into a cloudless sky.

Sunrise Three: Homer Takeoff
Beluga Lake, Homer, Alaska

A few days after the summer solstice, the red-necked grebes tend their nest. Ground for drifts past the swimming birds, rarely airborne. Building materials arrive at one site, while newly hatched chicks piggyback on the mother who leaves another. On the still water, shoreside floatplanes await their day's load. The sun appears and the fog lifts. A pilot taxis and takes off into the fresh Alaskan sky. The grebes strut in late courtship, then start to dive for fish among the reeds.

Sunrise Four: Glacier of Kenai Fords
Alalik Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

Perched in the dawn hours along the terminal moraine of this parks' largest tide-water glacier, we look up at the cool blue cracks of ice flowing toward the sea and toward us. Scattered on the jet-black beach are icebergs, blocks and bergy bits. They are the debris of last night, broken under the pressure of this four-mile-long river of ice and the Harding Icefield above. The warmth of a new day seeps through a moody sky. With a thunderous explosion, air trapped for millennia is released into the present. Gulls scatter. Ice splashes into the sea. A short-range tsunami surges toward the nearby beach.

Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Unfortunately, Discovery's bit-starved 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation is hindered by an endless array of issues. Artifacting and macroblocking persist from beginning to end, peppering the otherwise lovely skies with agitated compression anomalies that range from minor to, on occasion, downright irritating. Banding, aliasing, unsightly smearing, thick edge halos and mosquito noise also disrupt the proceedings, albeit to a greater extent. Not that anyone sitting in a waiting room or lobby is likely to notice. Unless you're soaking in the image as you would a traditional nature documentary, brief glimpses at the screen won't leave most viewers disappointed. That being said, detail isn't impressive either. Animal fur is flat and matted, grass and leaves clump together, textures are average at best, and on-screen elements aren't blessed with any crispness or notable clarity; certainly none that might make Sunrise Earth: Alaska something special. Colors are fairly warm and inviting, sure. Black levels are reasonably well-resolved, I'll admit, and contrast is balanced nicely. But any semi-glowing praise ends there. Almost every aspect of the DVD-esque presentation is problematic at best, mangled at worst. Proceed accordingly.

Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sunrise Earth: Alaska may not include a lossless audio track, but its 384kbps Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track is easily the highlight of the disc. Lapping waves sing a pre-dawn chorus, light winds rustle grass and trees, bears snort and grunt as they go about their morning routines, small planes drone in the distance, birds call and cry as the sun peeks over the horizon, and Discovery's lossy mix keeps pace every step of the way. LFE output is rarely called upon but subtly supports the quiet soundscape of each sunrise, rear speaker activity is restrained yet suitably playful and atmospheric, and dynamics are decidedly decent throughout. Audiophiles will no doubt bemoan the absence of a lossless audio option but, quite honestly, I suspect very few listeners would be able to discern the actual differences. All in all, Alaska sounds better than it looks, and the subsequent soundfield is more enveloping and immersive than the episodes themselves.

Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Sunrise Earth: Alaska doesn't feature any extras. There isn't even a "loop" option; just a standard "play all" button that requires users to restart the presentation every time the four sunrises run their course.

Sunrise Earth: Alaska Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sunrise Earth: Alaska doesn't hold up to home theater scrutiny, and will only serve its purpose in a waiting room or lobby. To be blunt, there's nothing remarkable about this particular ambient television release. The sunrises, locales and wildlife aren't all that captivating or visually arresting, Discovery's video encode is plagued by a string of issues, and a 384kbps Dolby Digital mix stands as the highlight of the disc. There is, of course, Alaska's low pricepoint, which naturally helps, but there are far better ambient releases available in the same price range. Skip this one.