Ocean Wilds on DVD
If this DVD is any indication of how good HDTV can be, we're all
for it.
And that's despite the fact that this DVD isn't HDTV.
Ocean Wilds, which documents the oceanic meanderings of Feodor
Pitcairn, is a five part PBS series and two of the episodes are featured on
this DVD. Both are fascinating and are gloriously shot in HD and with Dolby
Digital 5.1 surround sound (and released in anamorphic widescreen with all
audio channels intact) - so if you're interested in getting a tantalizing
glimpse of the future of TV (or just want to see a couple of very good ocean
documentaries), this might be your disc.
Episode One is Realm of the Killer Whales and though the picture
quality isn't as good as the other episode's, it's still magnificent. Shot
around the coast of Canada's British Columbia, it offers some rare and welcome
glimpses at Orcas and how they live.
Well, it does a lot more than that, too. We guess the Orcas may
have been a tad camera shy, because not only did it take the filmmakers
(videomakers?) two years to get the climactic "rubbing beach" section but they
also cover a lot of other stuff that's going on in these waters, from the
salmon and herring runs to looks at octopi and many other of the watery
critters that inhabit this part of the world.
In the second episode, Pitcairn and his merry band hang out in the
Azores archipelago, in the Atlantic ocean, to get some footage of the rarely
photographed sperm whale. And boy do they get footage!
This episode is an audio/video tour de force, as well as an
extremely interesting look at these gigantic predators. We're treated to
beautiful footage of the Azores themselves, an island chain that's really the
peaks of some volcanic mountains on the ocean floor, and the colors and images
are truly spectacular.
Then there's the footage of the whales themselves, which includes
HD-derived footage shot in extreme closeup as these gigantic mammals stick
their huge noses into Pitcairn's business as he sticks his cameras in theirs.
It's excellent stuff.
Warners/PBS has done a spectacular job with this DVD, despite some
confusing (and downright wrong) labeling on the box. The anamorphic widescreen
picture (16x9 TV compatible) is superb, and the surround sound immerses you in
the water with the cameras and their subjects.
As for the box, well, it trumpets its anamorphic aspect ratio on
the back, just a little bit above a box announcing that it's a "standard"
version preserving the original aspect ratio of the original television
presentation. Well, that may or may not be true, depending upon what you mean
by "standard." To us, it means old fashioned 4x3 TV, the squarish screen we've
known for over fifty year now. Here, however, we were delighted to find out
that it ain't so with this disc - it's gloriously wide.
Ocean Wilds, from Warner Home Video
120 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital
5.1 surround.
Produced by Mose Richards, Directed by Feodor Pitcairn
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