Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray] by Cin-TV at DVD Hills.com

Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray]

Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray]
by Cin-TV

List Price: ~~$79.99~~
Our Price: $34.95
You Save: $45.04 (56%)
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Category: Blu-ray
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Blu-ray details

Actor: N/a
Director: Cin-TV
Brand: QUESTAR INC
Blu-ray: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 375 minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: 2009-08-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: QBD3860
Studio: Questar
Product features:

WATER LIFE BLU-RAY 3 PACK (BLU-RAY DISC)

Blu-ray Reviews of Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray]

Blu-ray Review: A sometimes flawed, but well executed documentary series
Summary: 4 Stars

I was excited for the "Water Life" release, as there are few long format documentary series focusing primarily on aquatic cinematography available on Blu Ray, with the exception of some single titles (Discover, Planet Earth, NatGeo). That being said, the production, though commendable and ambitious, does not live up to the grandeur of the BBC produced nature docs, which I would consider the standard. They do however use them as a model, excluding any footage of scientists in the field, talking heads, animation, etc, which I find to be a unwelcomed fluff in most Discovery Channel and Natgeo wildlife products. The series is produced by CIN-TV (Caribbean International Networks) and co-sponsored by a range of conservation organizations, so the message tends to lean strongly towards environmental responsibility and protection more so than biological behavior or analysis.

A great deal of the footage of wildlife is shot in (sometimes extreme) close-up. Some of this aforementioned imagery is gorgeous and unique, and offers a visual treat in HD. Shots of fish eyes, scales, amphibian skin, birds, etc, provide a certain amount of intimacy not often found in larger more sweeping surveys of nature on film. It also allows the cinematography and editing to be a bit more abstract and creative by not limiting to perfectly framed shots and allowing sequences to play-out with more of a montage feel. In my opinion there are bit too many time remapped shots however (specifically vistas and flowing water), which are not my favorite when used for any reason other than to convey purposeful time-lapse rather than for aesthetics reasons.

The narration is a bit uneven, and at times, strangely paced, without the cohesive editorial structure that BBC is so good at. My guess is that it has been translated to English for this package, as the series most likely was originally produced in Spanish (though this is only speculation based on the CIN-TV and almost strictly Latin American credits). This would account for narration lines that seem to repeat verbatim back to back at times, and descriptions and analysis that, though correct, are a bit off in word choice. It should be noted that, very much to the discredit of the distributors (Questar) there are no subtitles. This is a major packaging flaw, especially for a documentary, and one which could potentially be useful as an educational tool. In my opinion, not including subtitles in a global documentary series is unacceptable and does a huge disservice to the directors and producers. The blu-ray discs are mastered at 1080i, which can be noticeable at times, and there is some distracting banding on random deep ocean shots, where color mastering and compression are at fault, but overall the image quality is very clean and colors crisp and accurate.

Overall, this product is well worth viewing at the Amazon price, though I could not recommend it at the suggested retail price. As a wildlife documentary buff, I tend to be hyper-critical of the production values and intentions of a film. I appreciate that this series exists at all, as the use of HD to actually create a planned purposeful program rather than to display pretty images is sorely lacking in the market. Though the series does, understandably fail to reach the levels of productions from larger companies, I believe it has maximized its resources and potential to deliver something commendable. This was not thrown together with found footage, gimmicky editing, and the lack of direction that plagues American television documentary titles. Surely CIN-TV did not have the $10 million used to make BBC's "Blue Planet" or the $25 Million allowed for "Planet Earth," yet their enthusiasm for the series and professional approach to the content is evident.

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Description of Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray]

Studio: Questar Video Inc Release Date: 11/20/2009

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Water Life (3pc) [Blu-ray]