The Big Wet (1993)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1993
Running Time	55:29
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Jeremy Hogarth
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	John Waters
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	$29.95	Music	Martin Friedel

    Having recently reviewed the wonderful series From the Heart, I found it necessary to review this disc, another production from the ABC natural history unit, who sure know how to make a nature documentary. This one was actually made ten years ago, but you would never know it based upon the quality of the photography included here.

    This documentary traces a particular wet season in the far north of Australia, from the first signs of the impending rainfall in September through to the end of the wet in April the following year. It focuses on the effect that this wet season has on the animal and plant life in the top end of Australia, but also briefly covers effects on humans. There is some incredible footage of various animals, birds, insects and reptiles including bats, frill-necked lizards, pheasants, sugar gliders, finches, magpie geese, owls, crocodiles, lorikeets, corellas, wallabies, magpie geese, frogs, native rats, eagles, goannas, snakes and many more. Even domestic cats get a mention! The most interesting fact to me was that both the beginning and end of the wet season are marked by two different species of grasshopper.

    The film is aided by some great sound even though only presented in two channel. With the benefit of Dolby ProLogic II processing, the soundtrack is quite immersive. The show is narrated by John Waters, the well-known Australian actor, who is a little monotonic but not too bad. There is also some well used time lapse photography to show the storms as they sweep across the landscape.

    This is another excellent production by the ABC natural history unit, which is well worth a look. Recommended.

Video

    The video quality is excellent.

    The feature is presented in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio which would be the original aspect ratio. The case strangely says that this show is 14:9 enhanced which would be great if we could buy 14:9 televisions! 

    The picture was clear and sharp throughout, with no evidence of low level noise, although some footage had some light grain. The shadow detail was very good.

    The colour was excellent. Check out the bright orange grasshopper at 3:15 for an example.

    Artefacts were very minimal with only a few white specks and a small amount of very occasional shimmer on display.

    There are no subtitles or layer change.
    

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    The audio quality is very good.

    This DVD contains one audio option, an English Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack encoded at 224 Kb/s.

    The voiceover was clear and easy to understand at all times.

    The music by Martin Friedel was very good and fitted the show very well.

    The surround speakers were used regularly adding atmosphere with bird calls, rain, thunder and insects when played with Dolby ProLogic II.

     The subwoofer was used for the thunder, but this has more to do with my amplifier's bass management than the disc itself.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

    None.

Menu

    The menu is very simple, allowing for scene selection. It did include an excellent rain sound which played in all five speakers with the aid of ProLogic II.

    This disc does not seem to be available outside of Region 4, although it is coded for all regions.

    The video quality is excellent.

    The audio quality is very good.

    The disc has no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall