A BEAUTIFUL PLANET Indeed

Narrated by Jennifer Lawrence. Directed by Toni Myers. (2016/47 min).

AVAILABLE ON 4K ULTRA/BLU-RAY FROM

MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT

Review by Fluffy the Fearless😺

It goes without saying that any IMAX movie is gonna lose much of its visual impact at home, no matter how big your TV is. That being said, A Beautiful Planet still boasts some of the most remarkable images of Earth I've ever seen, even on my puny 50-inch screen.

After an introduction to remind us how infinitesimal we are in the universe - using impressive CG animation - A Beautiful Planet consists primary of images of Earth filmed by astronauts from the orbiting International Space Station. What we see is truly spectacular, from an illuminated Earth at night to what thunderstorms look like when viewed from space. I repeatedly found myself thinking this was probably breathtaking on an IMAX screen.

Hey...there's my house!

Not every image is awe-inspiring. We are also shown the unfortunate environmental impact of human proliferation on the planet, and despite hopeful narration by Jennifer Lawrence that it's not too late to change, seeing massive patches of deforested land - visible from space - is depressing.

We also meet the various astronauts on the space station, as well as brief glimpses of their extended stay in orbit. While sometimes amusing, these scenes aren't nearly as interesting as the images of the world beneath them. But they are few and far between. A majority of the running time consists of our tiny planet in all its fragile glory.

Many IMAX films are pretty dull affairs when seen at home, but while much is lost in the transition from a three-story screen to one's living room, A Beautiful Planet is one of the exceptions. The film still a visual feast from beginning to end, especially on a digital HD television (okay, maybe not the part where an astronaut washes his hair). 

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES - "An Extraordinary Vision"; "IMAX: Astronaut Filmmakers"; "ABP Computing"

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR-R-R...LIKE A GOOD SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS