Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

The Alps Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Sir Terrence October 29, 2008

IMAX movies shown in IMAX theaters are a real experience and a treat to boot. They are educational, entertaining, and enthrall the viewer immersing them in images that are just incredible in size and scope. Along with the large picture, you get sound that is bigger than life, propelling you deep into the environment that is being shown on the screen. Arguably one of the most famous of these style movies is Super Speedway, a visual and sonic assault on the senses that after viewing, you will not likely forget the experience. Filmmaking Company MacGillivray-Freeman has delivered these documentary style films, big on imagination and bold in visual grandeur for decades. They have taught us about the planet, about history, about past civilizations, from under the sea, to the upper reaches of our atmosphere. They have brought to life IMAX films such as “To Fly”, Oscar winning documentaries such as “The Living Sea”, and “Everest”. While I found this particular film a bit less authentic looking than past IMAX films, it is no less an enjoyable ride that the viewer is sure to enjoy.

The Alps is a much a human story as much as it is a documentary about the Swiss Alps, and specifically The Eiger. The Eiger is a well noted mountain rising to an elevation of 13,025ft. It is the most eastern peak of a ridge that extends to Monch, and across to Jungfrau. It is a very dangerous peak to climb, as quite a few climbers have lost their life trying to scale its peak. We are introduced to this majestic peak by John Harlin III, a climber and the son of famous American climber John Harlin II, who died while attempting to scale The Eiger in 1966. This production brought to us by Holcim, a construction company whose goal is to show the beauty and majesty of the Swiss Alps for tourism purposes. John and his family take us through a timeline in his preparation to scale the Eiger in memory of his father. Because of the danger of scaling this peak, John elicits the help of expert climbers Robert and Daniela Jasper to get him safely up the mountain. With narration by Michael Gambon (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and John himself, we are taken on a step by step trip through the physical and emotional preparation it takes to make it up the peak.

The Alps Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Alps is presented on Bluray disc in a 1080p/AVC encoded High Definition transfer with a 1:78:1 aspect ratio. This transfer is sharp, bright, and clean with no signs of dirt, scratches or artifacts. Grain is well managed, finely rendered, and never distracting. There is some squeezing in the widest of shots that make the picture a little distorted, but it is necessary to get the entire image on the screen. Colors are well saturated, never bleed, and we are graced with some of the most beautiful vistas I have seen on film since Vertical Limit. While this is not reference quality, it is a fine presentation that you will surely enjoy.

The Alps Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio on Alps features a fantastic 5.1 English Dts-HD Master Audio track along with Spanish and French Dolby Digital tracks encoded at a 448kbps bit rate. It features the music of Queen, along with a film score written by Steve Wood that is well recorded, and features a very wide and deep frontal soundstage that wraps nicely into the surrounds. It is recorded in 4.1 leaving the center channel exclusively to the dialog, which sounds very intelligible, natural, dryly recorded, but not integrated well into the soundscape. This really is an enjoyable clean track with excellent punch, and enveloping surrounds that places you in the various locations shown on the screen. LFE is used constantly, and there are a few moments of really deep below 25 Hz signals that literally shake the air with its power

The Alps Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There is a nice selection of extras that give excellent insight into the movie making process. First off is the Making Of (39 minutes) which looks behind the scenes at the making of The Alps and delves in to the detail of moments in the film as well as preparation for shooting on the mountain. You have interviews with producers, the director, editor, and the principles of the film who share stories of the making of the film. This is followed by Film Trivia Quiz and Learn More which ask question about things covered in the film, and a fact sheet about the Alps. Next up to bat is About Switzerland which is broken in to two segments titled "Switzerland In Summer" (3 minutes) and "Switzerland in the Winter"(4 minutes) are music videos with terrific still images and video set to classical and modern music. Following that is MacGillivray-Freeman Films (7 minutes) is a look at the history of the film company. It's definitely a promo piece used to highlight the company itself. About Greg MacGillivray is a bio piece of one of the film company's founders. After that you get 10 trailers of MacGillivray-Freeman films in high definition accompany by music encoded in 5.1 Dts-HD Master Audio. Lastly there is Dynamic Connection which is a link to e-enabled features.

The Alps Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This Bluray disc contains powerful and impressive images telling a moving, compelling, dynamic and emotional tale that features the remarkable talents of the MacGillivary-Freeman production company. Sharing John Harlin III story with his family accompanied by the terrific soundtrack and beautiful images was quite an experience. While I found some of the scenes a bit wooden in their structure, overall I got the same "being there" impression I get from just about every IMAX film I have seen. Unless you are a big fan of IMAX films I would rent rather than buy this movie. If you are a fan, it's a must have that you will surely enjoy.