Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie Review

The first release in the "Water Life" series is an emotional rollercoaster.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner September 9, 2009

Spanning five continents and running 26 episodes in length, “Water Life” is the latest nature series to bring viewers a first hand look at the beauty that’s evident in the world around us. The footage on display throughout the series was captured over a 16-month period by three separate teams consisting of the world’s top nature cinematographers, naturalists, and divers, who’s goal was to capture various aquatic ecosystems using innovative camera techniques to create a fascinating perspective. After filming ended, the 100+ hours of footage was edited into a thirteen hour runtime and divided up to meet the individual theme of each episode. Broadcast internationally on Discovery HD, “Water Life” was originally produced by Spain’s CIN. TV in conjunction with the World Wildlife Federation and the United Nations Water for Life Decade of Action Committee, which explains the conservationist theme that underlies part of the production. If you’re expecting a nature documentary with an uplifting message, this initial disc won’t fit the bill, but if you ‘re hoping for environmental eye-candy and can move past the occasional preachy narration, “Water Life” deserves a fitting spot alongside “Planet Earth” (which still remains the superior production between the two).

I wonder how long it took the guy on the bottom to style his mohawk.

Broken down into five episodes on each disc, this Planet Water release contains an interesting mix of thematic elements that collectively run a wide emotional gamut. I’ll break down each episode individually in the next few paragraphs and then summarize the overall experience afterwards.

A World of Water: As a fitting opener to the rest of the series, this episode primarily focuses on the composition of animals and plants, establishing the use and necessity of water for all living beings to exist. Along the way, we’re introduced to multiple species of wildlife that each have a unique way of incorporating water into their daily life. The episode isn’t in-depth, but as a quick primer for what to expect in the following episodes, it certainly serves its purpose.

Where Water is Born: The second episode is a bit more effective at zeroing in on a theme and sticking with that focus throughout the entire episode. As the title suggests, we’re taken on a journey from the origin of water at glaciers or snowcapped mountain runoff, to the hillside lakes and streams below. The amphibious life that populate the calm pools and cascading creeks mark the wildlife focus of the episode, which seems to be a fitting choice when you consider the simple-celled nature of many amphibious water-dwellers.

Water’s Pulse: Endowed with the task of holding the attention of viewers through the midway point of the disc, the third episode is a cautionary lesson on the influence the human pollution is having on underwater species. In some cases, the loss of waterways to damming have led to an abrupt shift in the balance of the ecosystems that once populated those rivers and streams. Other examples include the overhunting of sturgeon or seals (it may sound odd, but apparently sturgeon are hunted by the mafia in Russia and seal testicles are sold on an absurd black market as an aphrodisiac) across the globe. After several atrocities are described, the episode closes with a call to arms directed at the viewing public, asking each person to do their part in changing the impact humans are having on the planet.

Uncertain Water: In the same vein as episode three, the theme of this entry discusses the environmental impact carbon dioxide is having on the dwindling atmosphere that encapsulates Earth, and how the changing temperatures impact glaciers, water temperatures and the climate of several ecosystems across the globe. Amphibians and insects are the primary focus, but their destruction also impacts thousands of other species that rely on their existance in the food chain. For instance, the penguin population has shrunk nearly 60% in the past 25 years, simply due to a reduction in their food supply.

Making of Water Life: We’d typically expect to see this episode at the end of the series, but it also acts as an equally fitting entry in the early stages of this journey. As the title implies, we’re given a first hand look at various production teams in locations all over the globe, as they exhaustively set up individual shots and wait patiently for just the right time to capture never-before-seen footage. The narrator also provides a brief history on the origin of the production and the organizations that had a hand in making the series a reality. If you’ve enjoyed the series thus far, you’ll likely have a greater appreciation for the effort that went into each episode at the conclusion of this segment.

Delving into the episodes presented on the disc, I have somewhat mixed feelings. The narration isn’t nearly as informative or interesting as I’d hoped for, but still descriptive enough to rival most television nature documentaries. This could simply be a result of the translation from Spanish to English (since I’m presuming the original narration was completed in the original language of the country that produced it), but still stands as one area that could have used a little improvement to rival a superior production such as “Planet Earth”. Second, there’s a tendency for the episodes to veer off course at times, as if the editors were trying to find a way to incorporate footage into the program using some loose connections. It never became overly distracting, but may cause an eyebrow to inadvertently raise from time to time.

Aside from those two minor qualms, the series is fantastic so far. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous from start to finish, demonstrating an impressive level of professionalism in the cinematography. As you watch the first four episodes, you may find yourself wondering how they managed to capture some of the impossible shots; so it’s important you stick with episode five to see the camera crew in action as they use anything and everything as camera tools. If these initial episodes are any indication of what the series has the offer, I’d imagine viewers will be very happy with the eye-candy on display throughout “Water Life”.

Lastly, I thought I’d mention a minor complaint I have with the first disc that I hope won’t sway too many viewers from giving it a shot. The heavy-handed themes in episode three and four make it extremely difficult to recommend this disc to anyone who’s hoping for a production that holds up well in repeat viewings. I felt a bit depressed by the time I made it to the light-hearted making-of episode, since it’s difficult to stomach the barrage of information about the destruction of animal species. The message is certainly relevant and needs to be told, but the series is towing a fine line between education and entertainment thus far, which I’m hoping begins to sway back in the entertainment direction as the series moves on.

Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080i utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 23Mbps), Water Life: Planet Water is nearly perfect aside from two issues that rear their ugly head on more than one occasion. The first problem is the presence of noticeable banding during several underwater scenes. Rather than smooth gradients between the various blue hues, we have thick stripes of solid blue shades stacked upon one another. The other problem that's easy to spot on a large display, is occasional ringing on the rough surface of rocks or extremely fine lines. It rarely becomes distracting, but still serves to dampen what is otherwise a beautiful visual experience. Moving into the positives, fine object detail is outstanding, revealing fine textures on the surface of skin or fur with the highest level of clarity. In an impressive move, Canon provided each film team with their latest HD cameras and equipment to capture a wide range of organisms, so the quality of the equipment and operators reveal a level of professionalism that's occasionally lacking in other nature documentaries. If you're like me, the visuals are the primary reason I watch this type of series, so I'd imagine you can already tell from the screen captures just how impressive the colors, black level and contrast appear throughout each episode. There are certainly a couple of minor flaws in the visual quality, but the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

I'd hoped for a surround sound experience on this release (since that should be par for the course at this stage of the game), but all we're given is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track with narration in English. The clarity, volume balance, and incorporation of environmental audio effects are all excellent for a front-heavy lossy mix, but I still felt a lossless mix could have sounded a bit more robust. As it stands, the audio track is serviceable (or even a little above average) for a television documentary, but doesn't seem to be a fitting inclusion considering the capabilities of the Blu-ray format.

In an odd move, there are zero subtitles included on the disc, and English is the only language choice for the narration. I'd assume there's adequate space on the disc to include additional Dolby Digital audio tracks or subtitles for non-English speaking viewers, so it's a bit puzzling to have such a lack of options. Especially when you consider the production is aimed at international distribution and carries a message that should be heard globally.

Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

There are zero extras included on the disc.

Water Life: Planet Water Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Water Life: Planet Water is a successful first entry in the "Water Life" series on Blu-ray. Most of you are likely curious how this compares with "Planet Earth" (which currently holds the gold medal for high-definition nature series), and I have to admit that so far "Water Life" still registers a little lower in the quality scale. However, if you possess an appreciation for the wonders of nature and an interest in educating yourself on conservation, this is still a series that's off to an agreeable start. From a technical standpoint, I wish the disc utilized full-resolution 1080p rather than 1080i, since we need the visuals to look as pristine as possible to enhance the entertainment value of the production. Despite that issue, the visuals still remain impressive and usually maintain the integrity of the source material, which makes it easier to forgive the 1080i decision. In closing, I'm reserving judgement on the series as a whole, but would easily recommend this first entry as a stand alone rental.