Blue Planet Series (1 Viewer)

[Thomas W]

Just curious about the Blue Planet series on DVD (Warner Brothers). Parts 1 and 2 were issued in February and parts 3 and 4 were issued in May.

I thought this series was broadcast in widescreen HDTV but the DVD is a full screen presentation. Am I confusing it with another show with a similar name? How is the quality of the DVD? Any comments welcomed.

 

[Iain Lambert]

Certainly, my frankly gorgeous UK PAL set straight from the BBC of all 8 episodes plus two excellent full episode length extra documentaries (one on how they shot it, one on the threat to the marine ecosystem) are all in 16x9. Have you checked your player settings? Surely they woudn't mangle the NTSC release like that?

 

[Julie K]

I have the US release and it's definitely 16x9. The discs are gorgeous and stunning. I'd love to see more of the same.
(BTW, the killer whales really live up to their name )

 

[Thomas W]

I haven't purchased these discs yet, but every reference I see at the various websites that are selling them say that they are in full screen. I'll trust in your advice that they are indeed in widescreen. Thanks for your responses

 

[Julie K]

Thomas,
Check out the details at Amazon:

* Widescreen anamorphic format

They're right

 

[Malcolm R]

From DVDFile:

"Also available on 8/27 is The Blue Planet: The Seas of Life Collection, featuring the complete 540-minute series in 4:3 full frame and 2.0 surround, plus a host of extras including a behind-the-scenes featurette on each episode, interviews with the creators, the "Deep Trouble Exploring our Impact on the Earth's Oceans" feature, still galleries, fact files and trailers. Retail is $59.95 for this three-disc set. "

So the current discs are 16:9, but the upcoming box set will be 4:3? Or is this a different series?

 

[Thomas W]

Just when I thought things would get simpler! I can only hope that the announcement of a full screen boxed set is a typographical error. It just gets too confusing sometimes!

To JulieK...where did you purchase your widescreen copy?

 

[Julie K]

Thomas,
I bought one disc from Best Buy, one from Amazon, and the last two from Dave's Video in Studio City. In other words, the widescreen copies are very widespread
BTW, I watched the last two discs again over the weekend and can state with certainty that they are 16:9.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

"Also available on 8/27 is The Blue Planet: The Seas of Life Collection, featuring the complete 540-minute series in 4:3 full frame and 2.0 surround, plus a host of extras including a behind-the-scenes featurette on each episode, interviews with the creators, the "Deep Trouble Exploring our Impact on the Earth's Oceans" feature, still galleries, fact files and trailers. Retail is $59.95 for this three-disc set. "

So the current discs are 16:9, but the upcoming box set will be 4:3? Or is this a different series?

I sent an email to dvdfile alerting them to this error (their 4x3 full-frame comment) bcs *all* current discs are 16x9 (so naturally the box set would be just a repackaging of these extant discs).

I received no reply, as usual. It doesn't matter if the mistake is theirs or the information they've been given...they could at least respond by removing the aspect ratio information until they get confirmation about its accuracy. I've sent many emails to them asking them to correct information over the past year and they never correct the mistakes and they never even bother to respond.

I used to really respect and appreciate dvdfile. I'm starting to loose faith in their efforts.

-dave