March Of The Penguins (aka La
Marche de l’empereur/HD-DVD)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B Extras: C Film: C+
When
there are so many Documentaries now more than ever that have something to say
about the world around us, I actually found it disturbing when Luc Jacquet’s March Of The Penguins (2005) won the
Best Documentary Oscar over more important nominees. Besides split voting, the troubled category
continues to struggle, but this film was a hit and have helped penguins replace
dinosaurs as the current animal of choice by children everywhere. At least this one is not extinct… yet.
So you
get only 80 minutes of the Emperor Penguins in their habitat, but of course,
there just had to be a scene of animal violence despite the G rating. Why?
It is almost a clichéd sucker punch of such films and TV projects since
the 1980s to do this. What is the
point? Is that all the footage they had
left? I would have given this a PG for
crossing that line and will not explain what happened, but we weary. Otherwise, it is decent and predictable, even
if you only know so much about the animals.
Fortunately
shot on film, the 1080p digital 1.85 X 1 High Definition image has some moments
of grain, but more often, the shots of the animals shine and is the primary
reason this was a huge hit. If this had
been HD, it would not have done as well as the stocks and camerawork bring you
closer than any current video can. Only
an IMAX shoot could have worked out better, but there are still advantages to
the more intimate standard 35mm frame.
The Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 is dominated by Morgan Freeman’s commentary
and surrounds are sparing at best as is the case for such documentary work.
Extras
include Nation Geographic’s Crittercam:
Emperor Penguins, Of Penguins &
Men featurette, the original theatrical trailer and the great, classic
Looney Tunes short 8 Ball Bunny in
480p, but showing off pretty good three-strip Technicolor just he same. Too bad more extras are not here, as they
would have fit, but that’s what you get.
- Nicholas Sheffo
