Wildest Islands-Series 1 (2012)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	TV Series	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	260:07
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Richard Kirby
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	None Given
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Dual
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0 (224Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Wildest Islands is a series shown in Australia on SBS. The series premise is that because of their isolation particular islands have become the home to some of the most unusual plants and wildlife on earth.

     Wildest Islands does not use a talking head narrator; instead the series consists of spectacular images of wildlife and plant life, on land and under the sea, made more “dramatic” by fast, slow and stop motion camerawork, dramatic music and a theatrical narration by Paul McGann. The series also looks at geographical features. Wildest Islands: Series 1 consists of five episodes, each 52 minutes in length:

• Episode 1 – Zanzibar: Land of Giants
• Episode 2 – Caribbean: The Wild Side
• Episode 3 – Galapagos: Darwin’s Eden
• Episode 4 – Sri Lanka: Monsoon Island
• Episode 5 – Hebrides: Land of Legends

     The episodes are colourful and entertaining. Among other creatures we meet the largest crab in the world which weights up to 4 kg, huge rats, cockroaches who spend their entire lives buried in bat droppings, the only marine iguanas in the world, 250 kg tortoises, birds which deter predators with projectile vomit and an annual hunt killing 2,000 gannet chicks.

     This is a two disc set; episodes 1 -3 on disc 1, episodes 4-5 on disc two. There are no extras. Wildest Islands: Series 2 has also been released.

Video

     Wildest Islands is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, which I expect is the original ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     This is a nice sharp print. Colours are bright and vibrant, almost garish in places with that digital glossiness, blacks and shadow detail are excellent. There is some motion blur with movement in front of broken surfaces such as leaves, but otherwise marks and artefacts are absent.

     Yellow English subtitles for the hearing impaired are available that, from the portion I sampled, follow the narration closely.

     The layer change on disc 1 at 38:52 during Episode 2 created a slight pause. The layer change on disc 2 was not noticeable.

     A good print of a recent TV series.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is English Dolby Digital 2.0 at 224 Kbps, surround encoded.

     The audio is fine. The narration is clear and easy to understand. There is some music and effects such as waves, the wind and insect and animal noises directed to the rears. The music is quite dramatic. The sub-woofer did help with the crash of waves and volcanic explosions but otherwise is not used.

     Lip synchronisation is not an issue as there is no on-screen dialogue.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     Nothing.

     At the moment Wildest Islands does not seem to have been released elsewhere.

     Wildest Islands consists of spectacular images of wildlife and plant life, dramatic music and a theatrical narration. The episodes are colourful and interesting.

     The video and audio are fine. No extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall