There's always a certain amount of hype that attends even minor home video releases. You know the drill, it includes everything from pull quotes from some reviewer in Podunkville to breathless, purple prose adorning the keepcase insert. One quickly learns to take all of the public relations hoo-hah with a grain (or even a pillar) of salt. When every film or home video release is deemed "A masterpiece!" by at least one voice in the wilderness, the only thing that ultimately matters is how you personally respond to a piece. Of course, that's the only that really ever matters, isn't it? Which is why if I tell you that these new AMOS (more about that acronym in a moment) offerings from Topics are really a mini-revolution in their own way, if not quite at true masterpiece level, you might roll your eyes, especially when you do a little research and see that I'm talking about this much maligned genre I've termed "ambient television." This is, after all, fare you're not even really supposed to pay much attention to, a sort of "easy viewing" (akin to that equally much maligned idiom of music, "easy listening") that's there, but which never requires much attention and doesn't reward that attention (should it be deigned to be given) with much other than a passing pleasure or two. When you've muddled through other ambient television fare like I have, sometimes interminable affairs that strain the reviewing brain cells to their breaking point, something like Rebel (and the recently released companion piece Rise which I reviewed here) such a breath of fresh air that I'm perhaps more prone to critical hyperbole than I would be otherwise. But much like watching those first music videos which sputtered across MTV in its opening few weeks, and then comparing them to the high-tech wonderment of current offerings, becomes a lesson in cultural (if, sadly, not musical) evolution, comparing these new AMOS releases to some of the other ambient television fare out there (including, in fact, some other releases by Topics itself) is a wonderful lesson in how this new genre is slowly starting to stretch the video (and aural) envelope to deliver something that truly at last can actually be called entertaining.
The sun's going down, the workday's over, and it's time to play!
Now let's get to the gist of the marketing hype vis a vis Rebel (as well as Rise, and probably any future AMOS releases). Emblazoned in a box on the back of the keepcase insert is this verbiage:
"A WHOLE NEW GENRE A Matter of Substance (AMOS TV) brings spectacular high-definition visuals and sounds of the ever-unfolding story of life to your screen. Expert cinematography from around the world captures Earth in all its glory and the soundtracks have been culled from some of the foremost collections in the world. Shot in cinema-quality 1080 high definition, it's an experience you'll never forget."
While some might argue with the breathless tone of the piece (and niggling points like the Blu-ray being in 1080i and not 1080p), the fact is this press hype is actually more or less true of this new AMOS series, except that it doesn't fully elucidate how much fun it is. Rebel especially opens up new uses of the screen, unlike Rise, which despite its excellence, stuck to a fairly uniform presentation of filmed material cut into short snippets. Here we get a lot of more intentionally post-processed material, with filters, CGI, posterization and a wealth of other effects applied to various segments. Also on tap is a lot of split screen usage, where subdivisions of the frame are given over either to multiple iterations of the same material or which become supplanted with new visual information. It adds up to an impressively varied approach which really grabs the viewer's attention, despite this genre's predilection for being largely ignored.
Rise's focal point was footage designed to get you up and at 'em in the early morning, and evidently Rebel's raison d'etre is to get you equally jazzed about enjoying the nightlife. That said, there's less of an ostensible through line in Rebel, and that's actually for the good. Instead we're subject to a variety of quickly edited juxtapositions of images that begin to play on our sensibilities almost like Eisensteinian montage theory. What exactly do these disparate elements have to do with each other? The answer is, probably nothing, but it makes for some fascinating viewing.
As with Rise, I do have a couple of quibbles, pretty much the same quibbles I had with that previous release. First of all, the incessant use of the AMOS logo in every segment is completely off-putting and unnecessary. Also, these soundtracks are extremely enjoyable, and there are no credits anywhere on this package, either on the insert information or the disc itself. In fact this particular complaint might be generalized out to the entire production, as I'd love to know who shot and (especially) who edited these images. Perhaps future releases will include this information at least on the insert sheet if not the disc itself.
Rebel, like its sibling Rise, is a spectacular feast for the eyes (perhaps even more so than Rise), with a sterling AVC encoded 1080i transfer (in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio). Despite some fairly heavy post-processing effects, and an interlaced image, there are no egregious artifacts to report. Instead we get a blisteringly sharp image that may not depend on the beauty of nature as much as Rise does, but which supplements the basic source material with a wealth of gorgeous effects, including some very nice filtering. We're offered a really (as in really) wide array of subject matters here, including everything from racecar drivers to molecules to outerspace to weird, hallucinogenic beaches, and it's all presented with brilliant sharpness and gorgeously saturated color.
It's rather odd that Topics, which is really jumping to the head of the line in this genre with these new AMOS releases, would have their Blu-rays default to a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix when the Blu's come with not one, but two, uncompressed lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and an LPCM 2.0. It's even stranger that the slipcase and insert hawk the Dolby option and not the lossless options. That said, these are extremely robust soundtracks, with some pretty overpowering low end, especially in the "Fast" option, which is a sort of techno-trance 80bpm compilation that is very, very bass heavy. The "Slow" option tends more toward ambient, soothing "Spa"-type music (to use XM-Sirius verbiage), with spacy synth washes playing out against relaxed percussive beats. Both of these soundtracks are exceptional, and someone needs to give these musicians the credit they deserve.
Rebel proves that Rise was no fluke, and that Topics has an extremely potent new brand with these AMOS releases. If you ever bought some of those old VHS tapes that featured compilations of the then-nascent CGI genre, you might have some idea of the fun and variety that Rebel has in store. Yes, this is niche marketing at its perhaps most obscure. But take a chance on these AMOS releases, and I doubt you'll be disappointed. Rebel comes very highly recommended.
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