Aerial
America: Southeast Collection + Southwest Collection
(Smithsonian Channel/Inception Blu-rays)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: D Main Program: C-
The
Smithsonian Channel brings us two new, similarly titled Blu-ray
releases: Aerial
America: Southeast Collection,
which takes you on an educational window-seat style view of some of
the South's incredible landscapes. Highlighting the locations of
Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, and North
Carolina. Plus we get Aerial
America: Southwest Collection,
which takes you on an educational window-seat style view of some of
the West's incredible landscapes. Highlighting the locations of
Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Utah.
Maybe
you want to see the South but can't afford it? The Southeast disc
takes you over some of the coolest locations that you never knew
existed. From North Carolina's barrier islands and First in Flight
History to the elegant charms and past of South Carolina to the
luscious oceans and tropical paradise that Florida has to offer.
Mississippi and Alabama reveal where Civil War Battles were lost and
the Civil Rights Movement formed. Each episode clocking in around 50
minutes, the total running time on the disc is 291 minutes in length.
Slightly
more interesting than the previous Southeast
Collection,
some highlights on the Southwest
release include the desert landscape of Arizona, the neon cities and
ghost towns of Nevada, home to extraterrestrial sightings and tales
of cowboys is New Mexico, Utah... is... Utah. And of course Colorado
which shows us beautiful snowy landscapes. Each episode here is also
clocking in around 50 minutes, the total running time on the disc is
251 minutes in length.
Though
the show is educational and most of the photography pretty clean,
most if not all of the feature's camera angles solely take place in
the air. Not very often do we really get to see up and close at some
of the locations or get interviews or private views to some of these
hotspots which is admittedly pretty lazy in terms of filmmaking or
even travelogues. The narrator's voice is also pretty generic and
would have faired better being a famous celebrity like Angelina Jolie
to really elevate the piece to the level of an IMAX
informational film. Land
the plane and do some exploring!
The
transfer is not terrible or noisy but nothing showpiece worthy (which
is surprising due to the content.) and the sound is lossy Dolby
Digital (no DTS tracks unfortunately) and seem pretty standard to
broadcast quality. Close Captioning is also available on the disc.
Due
to the length of the episodes, there are no extras are on either of
the discs. In all honestly, I was a little disappointed with the
lack of effort on these releases.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv
