BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Special Interest	Theatrical Trailer(s)	None
Rating		Other Trailer(s)	None
Year Released	?	Commentary Tracks	None
Running Time	84:05 minutes	Other Extras	Snapshots DVD-ROM content: Screensaver, Web Link
RSDL/Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Movie
Region	1,2,3,4,5,6	Director
Studio Distributor	Mill Reef Entertainment Wild Releasing	Starring	An insignificant little blue dot in the vastness of space
Case	Amaray
RPI	$34.95	Music	Ryan Shore

    What we have on offer here is some of the best damn amateur home video that you are ever likely to see. Amateur? Well, the people who shot this stuff are in fact astronauts (okay, probably just some computers directing automatic cameras, but dramatically it sounds better this way) and they were shooting from an orbiting space shuttle at heights of between 247 kilometres and 597 kilometres above the surface of that insignificant little blue dot that we call home - Earth. Just how good is it? Well, considering that I have managed to very occasionally fluke a shot from somewhere around 50 to 250 metres from the subject that is good enough to sell, this is real ego destroying stuff indeed. You have never seen stuff as glorious as this, I can practically guarantee it. All told this is just over 80 minutes of some magnificent video footage of the earth that at the very least explains why so many astronauts have religious affirmations when they venture into space. This is truly awe-inspiring video of our little home. The program comprises 29 sequences ranging in length from 0:40 seconds up to 7:11 in running time, with the only item not being of earthviews (as they are referred to) being a 4:33 video of a launch of the space shuttle Atlantis. The DVD is unfortunately encoded without running times and therefore the only guidance one has to the length of the program is the times listed on the chapter selection insert in the DVD case. The other unfortunate aspect is that the videos do not segue into each other: rather, we have to suffer a few seconds of black screen between each segment.

    However, quite what one does with it is a good question. I doubt it is the sort of thing that one would watch often unless one suffers badly from insomnia, as this really is quite soporific stuff indeed. However, if you want a DVD of beautiful shots of the planet from space, then you are not going to go too far wrong with this little collection at all.

Video

    The transfer is presented in a Full Frame format and therefore is not 16x9 enhanced. The transfer is an NTSC formatted offering and therefore you will require a display device capable of displaying such a format in order to actually see anything.

    What is on offer here are some gloriously sharp, detailed images that at times almost seem too good to be real and look decidedly like computer generated imagery. Beautifully clear, there is little that one could complain about here from a transfer point of view. There did not appear to be any grain at all in the transfer and there did not appear to be any problem with low level noise in the transfer. Visually, this is a stunning collection of imagery. However, there is one aspect of the transfer that does detract a little from what is on offer and that is the NTSC format. In a couple of the earthviews on offer, most notably numbers 3 and 8, there are fairly obvious indications of the lack of resolution inherent in the NTSC format.

    You certainly cannot complain about the extremely vibrant palette of colours on offer here. It makes it fairly easy to understand why our insignificant little piece of rock in a distant arm of the galaxy is such a gem, with gorgeous blues in absolute abundance. You will get a new appreciation for just how much of the planet is covered by water, believe me.

    There are no MPEG artefacts here at all. There are no film-to-video artefacts here at all. There are no film artefacts here at all. If you notice any blemishes, and to be honest there are a couple, they are inherent in the source material and are completely acceptable within the concept of what we have on offer here.

    Since a collection of images from space actually provide very few clues as to what is being seen, owing to the rather unusual angle from which it is all viewed (remember that the space shuttle is upside to Earth, using its belly as a heat shield against the sun), guidance as to what you are looking at is thankfully available. Whilst my geographical knowledge is pretty good, I found little here that was instantly recognizable and therefore found the guidance, in the form of subtitles, quite helpful. These are provided in a variety of languages, although you will note that one is not shown above. This is my gentle dig at Michael D, who sent out the technical details for the disc with the plaintive query as to what the twelfth language was. Having thus effectively proven himself not to be a Trekker, I shall enlighten him with the news that it is in fact Klingon. My only complaint about the subtitles is that you cannot just flick to the subtitle option to find out what you are looking at and then flick back to just viewing: you either remain ignorant or suffer the subtitles continuously.

Audio

    There is nothing much of note to say in regards to the soundtrack other than the fact that a couple of earthviews are blessed with a somewhat noticeable bass reverb problem that does detract a little from the viewing experience. Other than that, this is basically your typical New Age music soundtrack that you either hate or put up with.

Menu

Snapshots (36)

Screensaver

Web Link

    The site also allows you to do such wondrous things as check out the features of the DVD that you have already got, check out reviews of the DVD (but then why would you want to when you have the best right here?), add your own review of the DVD, see what else you can buy from the same source (hint, Wild Releasing have them all locally anyway at a better price), actually buy the other stuff, register your DVD (which entitles you to spend plenty of time downloading a further 10 stunning images for free), obtain technical support for your DVD (the mind boggles here), enjoy links to other groovy sites where you might find space images or other space-related stuff and check out the VHS video tape version (ye gods - why would anyone want this on a Very Hazy System tape?). All in all, not a fat lot of anything really important at all, and by taking a reasonable guess you could probably access the site without needing to buy the DVD anyway.

    A very good video transfer.

    A good audio transfer.

    A reasonable extras package, if not exactly awe-inspiring.
 

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ian Morris (have a laugh, check out the bio)
14th July 2000