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In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family. This courtship will begin with a long journey - a journey that will take them hundreds of miles across the continent by foot, in freezing cold temperatures, in brittle, icy winds and through deep, treacherous waters. They will risk starvation and attack by dangerous predators, under the harshest conditions on earth, all to find true love.
For more about March of the Penguins and the March of the Penguins Blu-ray release, see March of the Penguins Blu-ray Review published by Greg Maltz on January 26, 2008 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.
Each year, during the onset of winter, Emperor Penguins hike in a long trail over the ice to their
ancestral breeding ground in Antarctica. There, each penguin pairs with a mate to produce an egg.
The female props it atop her feet, keeping it warm under her belly. Her body taxed to the brink of
starvation from her gestation, she must gently transfer the egg to her mate and return to the
ocean to feed during the darkest days of winter. This behavior sets up one of the most remarkable
spectacles in all of nature: a tightly packed crowd of male Emperor Penguins, each carrying an egg
on his feet, huddled together in the most remote, harshest environment on Earth.
Battered by blizzards, the penguins take turns on the outskirts of the herd, where they
shield others from the cold and wind. In the dead of winter, the eggs hatch and the males attempt
to keep the chicks alive until the females return with their bellies full of food. The half-digested
nutrients are regurgitated to provide meals for the young. After a time, the adult penguins return to
the water. Their offspring must fend for themselves until they are ready to take the plunge into the
nutrient-rich ocean for the first time in their lives.
With snow sticking to its downy coat, a chick finds itself exposed to the elements for the first time.
This story is captured gorgeously in National Geographic's Oscar-winning documentary, March of the
Penguins, narrated by actor Morgan Freeman. The plight of the Emperor Penguins is oddly human.
The search for a mate, the deep caring for their helpless young, the mourning over broken eggs and
chicks who succumb to the environment, the euphoria when the female partners return from
feeding--each of these milestones in the yearly ritual seem emotionally accessible and familiar.
The heartwarming images of the penguins reuniting and caring for their chicks are as
powerful as the heartbreaking images of a forlorn adult prodding a broken egg. Freeman's narration
is not as engaging as David Attenborough's in Planet
Earth and the camerwork fall short of the reference documentary as well. But March of
the Penguins is a more focused production because it has a story--a beginning, middle and end.
While some viewers find this type of nature show boring, others will thoroughly enjoy it.
The VC-1 codec delivers a high quality, 1080p picture with scads of detail. From the crevices in ice
floes to the sheen of penguins' coats, the images are well-resolved. Even the film grain itself has
good definition. That inevitably leads to complaints among some viewers. Overall, the contrast is
good and black level is spot-on. Since the camera crew and equipment is nowhere near the
quality of Planet
Earth, viewers expecting March of the Penguins to be of equal image clarity and depth
may be disappointed. But compared to NTSC, the resolution is downright mesmerizing.
The icescape of Antarctica is an interesting backdrop. It provides plenty of contrast but
not much variability in color. For that matter, the penguins are not particularly colorful either.
Aside from the yellow sun and yellow coloration around the upper part of the adult penguins, the
video is quite monochromatic, but what it lacks in color vibrancy, it makes up for in contrast,
shapes and depth. The views of the terrain with the penguins slowly walking in single file in the
distance show good presence and enough resolution and richness to give the illusion that you can
step into the picture and join the hike. Even the underwater views deliver good views of the
penguins, which transform from slow, clumsy creatures on land into graceful, lightning-fast
swimmers.
The soundtrack is what most people might call boring. Freeman's voice is fairly monotone, even
compared to other documentaries he's narrated, including an energy-related documentary recently
braodcast in high definition on my local PBS affiliate. The music also lacks punchy dynamics, but
each instrument is well resolved and actually quite engaging. No one will want to show off the audio
capabilities of their HT system using March of the Penuins, but it is an effective soundstage,
engineered appropriately for the documenary.
The most entertaining supplementary content is a featurette on National Geographic's crittercam,
which is a small camera mounted on various animals. The focus of this featurette is of course the
application of the crittercam to Emperor Penguins for a "bird's eye" view. The special shows how the
camera is mounted to the penguins, using straps that look like a little vest. Highly entertaining
footage of the penguins in action is also shown. Rounding out the bonus features are a rather silly
classic looney tunes cartoon entitled 8 Ball Bunny in HD and the original National Geographic
theatrical trailer of March of the Penguins.
While some might consider March of the Penguins just another boring documentary from National
Geographic, the remarkable plight of Emperor Penguins does make it special. The danger of
predators and deadly cold weather, the frailty of the eggs and chicks, the penguins' devotion to their
mates and their offspring and indeed their ritualistic trek to their breeding grounds--it all makes for
highly entertaining and occasionally humorous viewing. The Freeman narration is interesting and
informative. But let's face it: we wouldn't really care if the penguins--especially the chicks--weren't
so darn cute. It is also a nice escape to visit the ice world of antarctica in 1080p. Highly
recommended for documentary buffs, naturalists and animal lovers.
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