Home (Blu-ray) Official AVSForum Review

( Max score: 100 )

91

Film Synopsis:

Experience the wonderment of our world in a way that will enthrall, captivate and inspire you! Award-winning aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand and narrator Glenn Close take you on a spectacular voyage around the world in Home, a unique film with such breathtaking imagery, you'll want to enjoy it time and time again.

My Take:

Home aims to change the way people see the planet and their impact on it. Shot in high definition in 54 countries and 120 locations over 217 days, the unique and first-time ever all-aerial filming style highlights the Earth's wonders as well as its wounds and provides a necessary perspective to approach the changing environment. In 200,000 years on Earth, humanity has upset the balance of the planet, established by nearly four billion years of evolution. The price to pay is high as humankind has barely ten years to reverse the trend, become aware of the full extent of the Earth's riches and change its patterns of consumption. Following in the tradition of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, Home sets out to shift people's perceptions, inspire action and lay a foundation for the edifice that must be rebuilt.

I found this to be an incredibly informative documentary film. It raises poignant questions and points out significant facts about how our world has evolved over the last 50 years. In addition it provides a broad perspective on just how wondrous a place the earth is and how its design is decidedly miraculous. The aerial style footage and vista style views are truly breathtaking. It message isn't subtle but I didn't find it to be overly stated or annoyingly redundant. It was laid out using stark, interesting visuals and data based elements that were clear and concise. This is a compelling documentary that contains a wealth of pertinent information. I found it to be entertaining as it contains images/locations on our planet that I have NEVER seen before. This, like similar documentary style nature films, is tailor made for high definition and looks absolutely stunning on Blu-ray.

Parental Guide:

There is nothing contained in this film that would be inappropriate for young viewers.

Audio: 82

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Video: 100

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Home comes to Blu-ray Disc from Fox featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 19 mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.8 mbps.

This is a reference quality high definition presentation that boasts an almost endless array of brilliant colors, superlative depth, and an abundance of high level detail. The nature defined color palette is alluring as the deep, vivid, reds, succulent blues, and resplendent earth toned hues leap from the 1.78:1 framed video. Contrast balance is spot on as the various shades of gray and white are gradationally revealing. Blacks are delineated, deep, and rich, which works hand in hand with the definitive shadow detail to provide low level images with excellent perspective and depth of field. Resolution is impeccable as the vastness and scope of this digitally recorded film offers lucid, three dimensional acuity that is rarely called into question. These beautifully captured images of our planet are captivating as the richness of color, transparently rendered detail, and near infinite sense of depth and dimension are visually stimulating. Any minor nits that I found to pick didn't warrant a deduction in my opinion so I won't mention them. I thought this looked amazing.

The lossless DTS-HD MA soundtrack deliver the elements contained within this documentary film with aplomb. Glenn Close's running narration commands the front soundstage with crisp articulation, forward presence and just a hint of sibilance and upper treble edge. The front three channels predominate the mix with excellent channel integration, high level detail/clarity and pinpoint imaging. Armand Amar's music has appreciable top end air, smoothly rendered instrumentation, and discerning focus as its primary elements are delivered through the front speakers with low level rear channel ambience used to broaden the soundstage. LFE presence is notable as it resides primarily in the mid to upper low end bass frequencies which lends tactile support to the film's music and enhancement to its recorded elements. The blend works very well as I thought that this audio presentation mated perfectly with the source.

Bonus Features:

There are no bonus features.

Final Thoughts:

Home offers an amazing visual adventure that traverses the globe to show us the incredible world that we inhabit. It also points out how industrialization has changed the face of the earth in the last five decades and what that could mean for our future. Its message of moderation, intelligence, and sharing' is poignant. I appreciated it and was mesmerized by its captivating imagery and fascinating facts about our planet. Its high definition Blu-ray presentation from Fox offers engaging, demonstration level video that is of reference quality. I found the lack of bonus features a bit disappointing but regardless this package is worthy of inclusion in your Blu-ray collection. Recommended.