Home on Blu-ray Disc Review by Brandon A. DuHamel on BigPictureBigSound

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Published: 2009-06-22 - 23:45:40
Blu-ray Disc and DVD : Blu-ray Disc Reviews

Home on Blu-ray Disc Review

By Brandon A. DuHamel

The Film

Released simultaneously to theatres, home video, and the Internet around the world on World Environmental Day, June 5th, 2009, Home is part of an ever increasing movement in environmental documentaries concerned with our planet and humanity's destructive influence upon it. Narrated by Glenn Close, the documentary is filled with exquisite aerial footage from fifty-four countries and tells a history of mankind's rise from nomadic tribes to the dawning of the agricultural and industrial ages.

It is impossible to view something like Home without being deeply touched by the knowledge of the uniqueness and preciousness that is life and also concerned with where we may be headed. Our reliance on oil and other fossil fuels, the growing gap between the poor and the wealthy -- as is pointed out, half of the world's wealth is held by only 2% of the planet's population.

From the isolated polar ice caps to the almost alien modernity that is Dubai, Home shows at every turn the interconnection between all things on the planet -- humans, animals, and vegetation. The scope of the changes we have inflicted upon the globe in such a short period of industrialization is nearly incomprehensible when brought together in one piece such as this, but it is important to know. A great thing about Home is, it doesn't preach, it merely shows the splendor of our planet, the changes -- for better or worse -- we have inflicted upon it and lays out the facts. It is left to the viewers to decide what it all means.

Glenn Close does a wonderful job giving a gripping and emotive narrative of our home, Earth, with urgency and reverence, underlined by a dramatic score by composer Armand Amar, making Home all the more engaging to watch, as if the beautiful imagery wasn't enough.

Because of its spectacular cinematography and important message, Home is an easy documentary to recommend. It transcends its genre, goes beyond being merely a nature documentary or even an anthropological study and takes on a more urgent role of import. It should be on everyone's shelf, without a doubt.

The Picture

Home looks amazing. The breathtaking cinematography of Home is rendered flawlessly in this 1.78:1 AVC/MPEG-4 high definition 1080p/24 encoding on Blu-ray Disc. This is arguably the first documentary that truly surpasses the overall quality of Planet Earth. Colors are brilliant, from vivid red foliage and verdant forest canopies to the glittering city skylines of L.A. at night; everything leaps from the screen in amazing detail. Video noise is reserved, but could really pass for a fine level of film grain. Shadow detail is superb, with oily blacks, but no crush and contrast is bright with no clipping. This is reference material from start to finish.

The Sound

Home comes with two audio options, an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and a French Dolby Digital 5.1 mix. The English 5.1 mix is solid, with full and intelligible dialogue in the center channel that displays some minor pumping due to compression. The surround channels are limited to small amounts of ambience for this front-heavy mix that shows good separation, relaxed high frequencies, and open dynamics. Low frequencies are not very deep, with the sound residing mainly in the midrange, so the subwoofer doesn't really get much of a workout, but overall the mix is adequate, if not very exciting.

The Extras

There are no extras provided on this release.

Final Thoughts

Despite the bare-bones release, Home on Blu-ray Disc is a must-have documentary, if for its compelling message, then because of its gripping imagery of our planet. It is simultaneously thought provoking and visually stimulating, which in itself is a rare trait.

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