IMAX Blu-ray: Coral Reef Adventures, Dolphins and
The Living Sea (Image
Entertainment)
Picture:
B+/B/B Sound: B+ Extras: C+ Films: B-
As The Dark Knight arrives on Blu-ray, one
of its highlights will be the IMAX-shot footage, with the large-frame square
blocks of 70mm film a highlight of the shoot.
Of course, short films in the format have been constantly produced since
IMAX first arrived in the mid-1970s, so literally hundreds of titles have been
made non-stop since. Among the
proponents of these releases on home video (beginning with the old 12”
LaserDisc format, then DVD) has been Image Entertainment. Out now on Blu-ray are three of the fun
science/adventure titles: Coral Reef
Adventures, Dolphins and The Living Sea.
I have
been fortunate enough to see all of them before, including in actual 70mm IMAX
prints. Coral Reef Adventures (2003) is narrated by Liam Neeson, has plenty
of songs by Crosby, Stills & Nash, runs a compelling 46 minutes and is the
best of the three films here. The least
seen of the vital structures featured across these releases, the program has
the one-of-a-kind shots only IMAX can deliver and is the kind of IMAX program
that put the format on the map. This one
held up very well and is as underseen as it is underrated.
Dolphins (2000) and The Living Sea (1995) both have songs by Sting, but I like them
anyhow. Still an endangered species, Dolphins shows the mighty animals in
all of their glory and in the way the IMAX camera shows them off casually is
argument enough to have an international effort to save them if Star Trek IV was not enough. Pierce Brosnan (while still James Bond)
narrated this solid program that also holds up very well to the point that it
is no surprise that it is one of the first IMAX Blu-ray releases.
The Living Sea offers narration by Meryl Streep
and goes a great job of showing the ocean and priceless, non-disposable
ecosystem, yet not enough has been done to save it and clean it since the
release of this film and who knowns what has been permanently lost or damaged
as global warming and corporate pollution has struck; especially in the
2000s. As with the other films, you see
the kinds of shots that gave the IMAX format its name and I was pleasantly compelled
by what was here all over again.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 digital High Definition on all three releases do not offer a 1.33 x 1
alternate presentation, so you are missing some framing, but the detail and
definition on Coral Reef Adventures
is very good. However, like the IMAX
Blu-ray of Chronos (reviewed
elsewhere on this site) has some detail issues that hold it back from being a
consistent gem. Sadly, Dolphins and The Living Sea have older transfers which make them visual
disappointments with more grain and detail issues then they should have. Just as the footage gets good, more
problematic footage shows up, but to their credit, they do not rely too much on
digital footage as Roving Mars
(particularly notable on Blu-ray) did. However,
issuing transfers with these issues is problematic just the same.
The DTS
HD Master Audio (MA) lossless 5.1 mixes on all three, despite minor variances
in soundstage quality, are impressive and all have sonic demo moments worth
owning any of them for. The IMAX DTS
DVDs Image has issued in the past have been impressive (the second edition of Super Speedway, for example) and the
DTS HD MA here really shines. The newer
the film, the more dynamic, though The
Living Sea was one of the few IMAX films ever mixed with the Sonix sound
system (invented by Sony), so it has some unique character to it. Coral
Reef Adventures is just a tad better than the others, but you can’t go
wrong with any of them for sound. Extras
include trailers for more Image IMAX Blu-rays and behind the scenes items for
all three titles.
For more
examples of IMAX coverage, try these links:
Ski To The Max DVD in 1.33 X 1 framing
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2467/Ski+To+The+Max+(IMAX/Razor
Chronos Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5400/Chronos+(1985/IMAX/Blu-ray)
Roving Mars Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5775/Roving+Mars+(IMAX/Blu-ray
- Nicholas Sheffo
