This past week Mill Creek released its first two 4K Ultra HD releases, two IMAX nature documentaries. One of these is A Beautiful Planet, originally produced in 2016. Narrated by Jennifer Lawrence, the documentary heads into space to see what life is like aboard the International Space Station, what our Earth looks like from that vantage point, and what can be learned about our planet over time. Almost all of the documentary was filmed by the astronauts themselves, who were given a crash course to become directors, cinematographers and cameramen before before heading into space.
As the film opens, American Terry Birds, Russian Anton Shkaplerov, and Italian Samantha Cristoferetti are leaving Earth for a 6 month stay aboard the ISS. They are welcomed aboard by American Commander Butch Wilmore and
Russians Sasha Samokutaev and Yelena Serova. Eight months later, the latter group is replaced by Russians Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Korniyenko and American Scott Kelly, who will spend a year on the ISS in order to measure some of the longer term effects of space travel. And later still, they are joined by American medical doctor Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui from Japan.
Over the course of the documentary, we get to see what life is like aboard the ISS. From simple things like eating, showering, exercising and sleeping, to space walks, growing their own lettuce, enjoying an espresso out of a mug, and even getting a package delivery from a SpaceX supply ship. Aboard the ISS every resource is valuable and accounted for, including every drop of water, which is recycled. The astronauts also like to have fun, such as celebrating Christmas in space…complete with leaving some floating cookies for Santa!
In addition to looking at life aboard the ISS, the documentary also examines what the Earth looks like from space—from thunderstorms and hurricanes, to frozen mountains—and how the Earth’s landscape is changing due to climate change, pollution and deforestation. It also takes a look at how the population centers, fishing boats, and other man-made borders are evident from the lights that can been seen at night, and what these say about our planet and its people.
I found the film to be entertaining, interesting and informative—not only do we see what life is like on the ISS, but we also see some beautiful sights. The mix of narration from both the astronauts and Jennifer Lawrence provides no only insight directly from the astronauts themselves, but also a larger big picture commentary. While there is a lot of fun with the astronauts, the documentary is also a call for us to take action to save our planet from global warming and deforestation before it’s too late, and the Earth ends up a desolate planet like Mars.
This release marks Mill Creek’s first foray into 4K Ultra HD, and it looks and sounds wonderful. You can see every detail of the cramped quarters of the ISS, and there are also some pretty stellar (no pun intended) glimpses of Earth from space—the thunderstorms beneath the clouds with their electric purple glow, to the rich blue of the oceans, the bright orange of the city lights, and the green glow of the fishing boats and aurora. In addition, there’s also some impressive computer generated views of our galaxy and solar system. The rich wide color palette of the HDR picture also enhances all of this.
The DTS:X soundtrack is also quite nice. The main narration is focused on the center speaker, while the narration from the astronauts comes out of the rear speakers. In addition, there are a lot of perfectly-paired uplifting pop tunes to go along with what’s happening with the crew of the ISS— “Let Me In” by Wings as a crew arrives, “Break a Sweat” by Becky G as an astronaut is exercising, “Home” by Sheryl Crow as one crew is leaving, “Coconut” by Harry Nilsson when a food shipment arrives, and “The World is Ours” by Aloe Blacc x David Correy when discussing how we are looking for other inhabitable planets.
As for bonus materials, the release just includes 3 short behind-the-scenes featurettes, totaling about 8 minutes. The 4K and Blu-ray discs come packed in a standard UHD keepcase with a cardboard slipcover. The case includes an insert with instructions on how to redeem a Digital copy of the film.
What’s Included:
Film: (46:17)
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4K Ultra HD:
- 2160p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- HDR
- Audio: English DTS:X, Spanish DTS:X, French DTS:X
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- Audio: English DTS:X, Spanish DTS:X, French DTS:X
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
- Digital HD Copy of the film redeemable via Mill Creek Watch
Blu-ray:
Digital HD (Redemption code subject to expiration. Code may not be valid after 12/31/2018):
Extras:
- An Extraordinary Vision (2:33)
The filmmakers talk capturing the Earth from the view of the astronauts in IMAX. Includes behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with director Toni Myers, narrator Jennifer Lawrence, NASA commander Terry Virts, NASA flight engineer Kjell Lindgren, director of photography James Neihouse, and NASA commander Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore. - IMAX: Astronaut Filmmakers (3:02)
A discussion about training the astronauts to be filmmakers. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with NASA flight engineer Kjell Lindgren, director Toni Myers, director of photography James Neihouse, NASA commander Barry ‘Butch’ Wilmore, and NASA commander Terry Virts. - ABP Computing (2:38)
A look at turning scientific data about the stars and presenting it in a cinematic way that takes viewers on a tour of the galaxy. Includes interviews with Advanced Visualization lab director Donna Cox & vizualization designer Robert Patterson, and director Toni Myers.
Final Thoughts:
A Beautiful Planet is a solid first foray into 4K Ultra HD for Mill Creek. It is a fun but thought-provoking documentary that provides a beautiful, detailed picture, and a perfectly-paired pop soundtrack. The release also includes a small but entertaining selection of behind-the-scenes bonus features and a digital copy. This is worth a look for fans of nature or space documentaries.
