I'm not dismissing the dozens of film crews that had to travel to every peak and valley in every conceivable climate on Earth, but acquiring and compiling five years of underwater footage into something cohesive? I'd imagine that's something of a nightmare, especially since the crews had filmed in various formats (16mm and videotape). Although it took five years to make and was the first to be filmed entirely in HD, The Blue Planet was just as massive an undertaking, if not more so. It's really a shame that Planet Earth is considered by many to be the dawn of awakening in regards to televised documentaries. With that being said, it was only a matter of time before The Blue Planet was brought to Blu-ray, and now that it's here, I find myself puzzled as to why such an important miniseries was given such a subpar release. Heck, it even opened some doors for the BBC, as the subsequent success of future documentaries - such as Planet Earth, Life and Frozen Planet - may not have been possible without the award winning template set by their predecessor. Not only did it enlighten me as to what lies beneath the ocean's surface, but it also opened me to the world of quality documentary filmmaking. Without any exaggeration, I can tell you it proved to be one of the better blind buys of my entire life. So, despite my distaste for documentaries at the time, I was compelled to pick up The Blue Planet - Seas of life a decade or so ago. This was especially true in regards to the ocean, because I always felt it was more mysterious than even the stars above. Being able to study unique ecosystems from the comfort of my home always took me to another place, as if I were observing life on another planet. The diversity of life that blankets our globe has always intrigued me, because there's so many strange and fascinating ways of life to try and comprehend. That's not to say I wasn't interested in the topic though, because that couldn't be further from the truth. No, just your bottom of the barrel, 'whatever my teacher decided to record off PBS' dreck. but then again, I wasn't exposed to the BBC's stellar line of work. Growing up, I felt nature documentaries were the ultimate bore. *Click on all images for full 1080p screenshots.
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