Science is sexy again- just ask
Professor Brian Cox. Back in the 90s, he was strutting his stuff in forgettable (and probably regrettable) pop band D:Ream, and now he shares his time between firing particles at one another for the ATLAS experiment, and fighting off the ladies while presenting his wonderful science show on BBC2 (coincidentally called Wonders of the Solar System). It's a great time to be making science programmes, and
The Universe,
The History Channel's American grand dame of astronomy TV shows has recently released
Seven Wonders of the Solar System on 3D Blu-ray, which is compatible with both 3D and traditional 2D systems.
I love the fascination that our progressive and innovative world has with exploring our origins, through fastidious research into the heavens, and there is an infectious and unbridled wonder in everything that The Universe series offers viewers that marks it out as one of the greatest factual shows to recently grace televisions. Crucially, the series, and this new stand-alone short film (at 47 minutes) makes science far more accessible than other scientifically minded shows- everything is related in layman's terms, by a gripping narrator, who never overtly dumbs down the material to a level where the audience feels patronised. Everything here looks beautiful- the CGI isn't the best I've ever seen, but the subjects are uniformally so intriguing, and the execution of their presentation so impressive that it doesn't seem to matter. And don't get me wrong, for a TV series, and one not afforded the luxury of a terrestrial channel budget, the effects are unbelievable and are worth the cover price alone: the level of detail is extremely impressive, though narrative devices (such as the spaceship we are travelling on to view the wonders) are generally done with less finesse. But then again, noone's really looking at the spaceship anyway when the alternatives are so gorgeous.
Seven Wonders of the Solar System is a showcase on two fronts. Firstly, it works well as a prestigious in-point for the Universe series as a whole- it is something of a summary episode and definitely showcases the skills of the series in easily manageable mouth-fulls. It feels a little like those preview features that were released to showcase the blu-ray format, only this time the idea is to sell 3D blu-rays to those who haven't yet made up our minds on the issue.As my experience of the 3D format has broadened (after being lucky enough to see Pixar's Up at Cannes in 3D almost two years ago), I have developed an idea that at this stage there are only two or three areas of screen entertainment that it is perfectly suited to. The first was animation, because there should be limited post-production tinkering needed, the second is sport (and predominantly football, whose cameras are excellent), and the third I can now satisfyingly state to be documentaries like this. The proviso would be that the film should either be filmed using a 3D camera (and ideally in high-definition) or be as CGI heavy as Seven Wonders is, but I look forward to an influx of scientific and natural history shows landing on the shelves soon.
If you're curious, the seven Wonders explored are the following:7. Enceladus6. Rings of Saturn5. Jupiter's Great Red Spot4. The Asteroid Belt3. Olympus Mons2. Surface of the Sun1. Earth
Overall, as a stand-alone spectacle Seven Wonders of the Solar System is a typically impressive History Channel and The Universe team-up production- the visuals are excellent, and the show manages to enthral and educate at the same time as entertaining, which is never as easy as it may initially seem. Admittedly, to buy the stand-alone without already owning a 3D system to play it on is entirely unnecessary if you're already a paid-up fan of the series, because the blu-ray plays on normal systems and the episode actually also appears as part of the Season 5 compilation (in 2D), but if you are lucky enough to have those system capabilities and are looking to find something new to show off the format, you'd be hard pressed to find something so easily impressive and immersive that doesn't tax and which is available so cheaply.
Quality As good a factual TV release as I've seen in high-definition, which is especially impressive considering the amount of CGI on show, and the problems that approach usually have when faced with the transfer process (in most cases, the magic ends up being revealed a little too readily). Colours are brilliant across the board, including depth and tonal differentiation, and detail is excellent in the space scenes. The non-CGI scenes- interviews and the like- look even better, with detail and textures both spectacularly preserved.
While it works as an impressive 3D showcase, it can't really measure up against the best of the format, and this probably isn't the best available way to show off your system, but again, as an easily accessible, entertaining and affordable demo for the format, there is definitely some value here. Seven Wonders sounds as good as it looks- the narration track is clear and crisp, and wonderfully rich in bass depth, and the music and sparse sound effects track is surprisingly immersive. Good stuff.
Extras Nada.
Universe: Seven Wonders of the Solar System is
available to buy on blu-ray now.