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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Great Barrier Reef (Blu-ray) (2012)

Great Barrier Reef (Blu-ray) (2012)

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Released 5-Apr-2012
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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Documentary	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	176:55 (Case: 174)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	4	Directed By	James Brickell
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Monty Halls
Case	Standard Blu-ray	Starring	Monty Halls
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD High Resolution Audio 2.0 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

The BBC natural history unit has set the standard for nature documentaries for many years. This new series keeps the same high quality standards for incredible photography, intelligent hosts and interesting subject matter. Here in Australia, this show was shown on Channel 9 with the intelligent host, marine biologist Monty Halls replaced by a voiceover from Karl Stefanovic. Luckily, this Blu-ray release retains the original host and is the full length series, which was cut by approximately 25 minutes on Channel 9, presumably to remove Monty's direct to camera scenes. I caught a little of this show on TV and we are much better off with the original commentary.

Great Barrier Reef covers many different aspects of the reef, not just the beautiful coral and sea life. The subject is covered in some depth across three one hour episodes including the reef itself, how it formed originally, the whole ecosystem including the coastal areas, the lagoon behind the reef, the natural forces which affect the reef and the man made ones. Nighttime and daytime reef activities are covered along with many different types of animal life including lots of fish species, sharks, rays, turtles, goannas, crocodiles and more. There are some fascinating sections about parrot fish, who actually eat the reef, the spawning of the coral, the effects of tides and waves and much more.

The photography is magnificent getting into areas not possible previously using remote controlled underwater cameras and time lapse photography. It records what happens in the reef when divers aren't around. The colours are magnificent, the fish, the coral, the sea look spectacular on Blu-ray.

Highly Recommended in this original format.

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Transfer Quality

Video

The video quality is excellent.

The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 1080p encoded using AVC. According to the case some of the footage used was originally from standard definition sources, however, this is not obvious during the show.

The picture was very clear and sharp throughout.

The colour was excellent, bursting off the screen with amazing vividness. Monty occasionally looked a little red but this might be his normal colour.

There were no noticeable artefacts.

There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired which are clear and easy to read.

There are no obvious layer changes during playback.

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

Audio

The audio quality is very good.

This disc contains an English soundtrack in DTS-HD High Resolution 2.0. Although this is not the highest quality DTS-HD format it is certainly significantly better than Dolby Digital, which graces many BBC Blu-rays. The crashing surf sounds excellent on this disc, really placing your home theatre room in the surf.

Dialogue was very clear and easy to hear and understand.

The music by the BBC Orchestra of Wales is great, suiting the series well.

The surround speakers were not used.

The subwoofer supported the surf sounds.

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

Extras

No extras

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

This set is available in the same format in the UK.

Summary

A fascinating and beautifully shot BBC series about the Barrier Reef.