7.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Have intelligent forms from outer space been visiting earth for millennia, bringing with them technology that drastically affected the course of history and man's own development? Do they visit us today? Ancient Aliens launches all-new expeditions to seek out and evaluate this evidence, with a concentration on discoveries of the last 30 years.Episodes included: The Evidence Mysterious Places Aliens and the Old West The Mayan Conspiracy
Starring: Giorgio Tsoukalos, David Hatcher Childress, Erich von Däniken, Nick Pope, Jonathan YoungDocumentary | 100% |
Sci-Fi | 94% |
History | 54% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Here’s a mystery that perhaps not even Ancient Aliens would deign to investigate: why would A + E Networks Home Entertainment release Ancient Aliens: The Complete Season 1 on Blu-ray in 2010 and have Ancient Aliens: The Complete Season 4 slated for release on Blu-ray later this year in November, but not have bothered to release the two “interior” seasons this frequently interesting series has produced? While A + E hasn’t always gone the Blu-ray route with many of its top-lining series, it hasn’t exactly been shy about cranking out DVD home video releases for everything from Pawn Stars to any number of standalone specials and one-offs. Maybe some little green men from a faraway galaxy found some of the information imparted on an episode hit a little too close to home, and are utilizing telepathic mind control to keep the second and third season from being released, but someone in a tin foil hat was able to at least compile this one disc release which cobbles together four episodes of the series, one of which was previously released on the Complete Season 1 set.
The Best of Ancient Aliens is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of A + E Networks Home Entertainment and History Channel with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is a typically good looking outing from History that benefits from some sharp contemporary footage, especially in the talking heads segments which pop quite nicely with good fine object detail and very nicely saturated color. This particular compilation of episodes suffers somewhat from its reliance on stock footage, especially in The Mayan Conspiracy, where a lot of the footage seems to have been sourced from smaller millimeter formats. Overall, though, things are clear and well defined, and anyone who is used to the general look of most History offerings will know exactly what to expect with this release.
The Best of Ancient Aliens features a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mix which offers excellent fidelity and some perhaps unexpectedly wide dynamic range. Ancient Aliens tends to be a "noisy" series, as I pointed out in my Ancient Aliens: The Complete Season 1 Blu-ray review, and the four episodes included on this compilation disc fall into that category at least some of the time. Truth be told, these episodes are actually a bit tamer sonically speaking than many in this series' broadcast history, something that actually helps to make the aural experience here more enjoyable, since one isn't being assaulted with nonstop LFE and unending sound effects. Both the narration and the talking head segments are reproduced with excellent clarity, and while this mix is obviously narrow, it gets the job done very well.
No supplements of any kind are included on this Blu-ray disc.
Why Seasons 2 and 3 of Ancient Aliens haven't seen the Blu-ray light of day is anyone's guess, but for those jonesin' for some extraterrestrial conspiracy theories before Ancient Aliens' fourth season debuts in high definition in November may get a kick out of this compilation disc, especially since only one of the four included episodes has been previously released. As I mentioned in my review of the first season, Ancient Aliens may seem on its face to be an outright silly premise for a series, but it manages to tell some unusual and interesting stories along the way, albeit tales that are best taken with a grain (or pillar) of salt now and then. This Blu-ray has no supplemental features, but offers typically fine video and audio.
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Lektionen in Finsternis
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IMAX Enhanced
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IMAX
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70th Anniversary Special Edition
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