A Beautiful Planet is a nice enough documentary but also rather broad in terms of any actual information. But most of it is offset with some beautiful imagery courtesy of NASA.
A Beautiful Planet
(2016)
Genre(s): Documentary
Mill Creek Entertainment | NR – 47 min. – $19.99 | December 11, 2018
Date Published: 12/16/2018 | Author: The Movieman
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Mill Creek Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.5/5 |
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Synopsis: A Beautiful Planet is a breathtaking portrait of Earth from space, providing a unique perspective and increased understanding of our planet and galaxy as never seen before. Made in cooperation with NASA and captured by the astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Toni Myers – the acclaimed filmmaker behind celebrated IMAX® documentaries Blue Planet, Hubble 3D, and Space Station 3D – presents an awe-inspiring glimpse of Earth and a hopeful look into the future of humanity.
Quick Hit Review: I’ve always found outer space fascinating so this IMAX documentary should’ve been right up my alley. Although visually it was at times stunning, the best being seeing hundreds of lightning storms from space, there wasn’t all that much here that was anything new or different from what you could watch on NatGeo or The Science Channel, just those don’t get an Academy Award actress, Jennifer Lawrence, to do the narration. This is a fine documentary though I have to wonder if the spectacle of seeing this on an IMAX screen might not translate as well at home. Even so, it’s still halfway enjoyable especially with the amazing photography from the ISS not to mention Lawrence’s voice who seemed to be the right fit for the subject. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover and there is a code for the Digital Copy which is redeemable only on Mill Creek’s site. Features include: An Extraordinary Vision (2:33), IMAX: Astronaut Filmmakers (3:02) and ABP Computing (2:38) featurettes which are available on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray. |
4K VIDEO – 4.5/5, BD VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| A Beautiful Planet is presented with a glorious looking 2160p high-definition transfer (1080p for the Blu-ray) and a 1.78 widescreen aspect ratio. Colors, like the blues of earth, were incredibly vibrant throughout and some deep blacks and stark whites aided by the HDR. Won’t go as far to say it’s the best 4K presentation, but still looks grand, even on the small screen. |
AUDIO – 4.25/5 |
| The movie comes with a DTS: X track and although it’s not anything noteworthy as far as these kinds of tracks are concerned, does sound good. Dialogue from Jennifer Lawrence and the various astronauts who commentate, come through with nice clarity and the music does give it some modest depth. But this being a documentary, you’re not going to get any heavy usage of the LFE though there was a reserved rumble. |
OVERALL – 3.25/5 |
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Overall, A Beautiful Planet is a nice enough documentary but also rather broad in terms of any actual information. But most of it is offset with some beautiful imagery courtesy of NASA. If you’re looking for anything in-depth on space and the planet, you’re probably better off watching the various shows on The Science Channel. The 4K released by Mill Creek offers up some great video and audio transfers and a so-so selection of bonus material. |
The screen captures came from the Blu-ray copy and are here to add visuals to the review and do not represent the 4K video.