HD DVD Review: Galapagos

Located 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador lie the Galapagos Islands, home to some of the most spectacular and astonishing animals in the world along with the most incredibly diverse landscapes imaginable in one location.

The Galapagos (available on HD DVD and Blu-ray), produced by the BBC and National Geographic, captures the Galapagos and all of its landscapes and marine and animal life in stunning High Definition, on land, from the air and under the sea. As one who had the great pleasure and fortune of visiting the islands this August with my family, I can assure you that the films on this disc completely capture what we experienced both on land and in the ocean on our trip and add immensely to our recollections of our trip.

To anyone who plans a trip to the Galapagos, this disc is a must buy. I can also confidently state that anyone who purchased Planet Earth on HD-DVD or Blu-Ray should add this disc to their collection as in my opinion, the video captured on this disc is better than that of Planet Earth. The disc is also available on Blu-Ray from BBC Video. For those interested in learning more about The Galapagos, please check out http://web.mac.com/jawhip. Let me know what you think.

VIDEO 5 stars out of 5

Presented in a VC-1 encode, the video presentation on this disc is spectacular and exceeds the quality of video as it appeared on the National Geographic HD special earlier this May. The video is sharp with excellent detail, deep blacks and spot on color. This disc completely captures the colors and details that we witnessed in person, from the blue feet on the blue footed boobies, to the color of the rocks, iguanas, birds, sea lions, turtles and the green and red sea algae. The underwater video is some of the best I have ever seen. I spent several hours on our trip snorkeling and this disc captures what I was able to witness under water, all the incredible detail, color and sea life. The only defect I could see was some minor banding in underwater scenes looking up at the sun through the surface of the water from the bottom. The banding was minor and not enough, in my book, to drop my grade of this video presentation. For a nature documentary, it doesn’t get any better than this.

AUDIO 3 1/2 stars out of 5

The audio fidelity on this disc is excellent, capturing the sound of the crashing waves, chirping birds, the mating dance of the albatross, growling sea lions and the slow moving tortoises. The audio is presented in Dolby Digital Plus. The mix is front heavy with little use of the surrounds. The narration is clear and distinct and well presented in the front heavy mix. While it is not the tour de force of a blockbuster film, the audio is very pleasing and well presented and adds to your enjoyment of the film.

For those Blu-Ray exclusive owners out there, it is my understanding that the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray versions of this disc contain identical encodes and should look and sound identical. This one amazing disc of one unforgettable place and is very highly recommended.

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