Wild China Blu-ray delivers stunning video and decent audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release
An exotic fusion of natural history and Oriental adventure, Wild China is a series of journeys through four startlingly different landscapes, each based around the travels of a real historical character. With splendour, scale and romance, Wild China lifts the veil on the world's most enigmatic and magnificent country, delving into its vibrant habitats to reveal a land of unbelievable natural complexity. Journey across China from the glittering peaks of the Himalayas to the barren steppe, the sub-Arctic to the tropical islands, through deserts both searingly hot and mind-numbingly cold and see, in pioneering images, a dazzling array of mysterious, beautiful, wild and rare creatures.
The British Broadcasting Company's Natural History Unit is a hugely admirable organization. Producing everything from the ambitious megaproject Planet Earth to themed series like David Attenborough's Life, or the location-centric Continents in which the subject of this review is part, the NHU continues to be, in this reviewer's humble opinion, the uncontested leader of documentary film. Carefully planned, intelligently written, and gorgeously shot, BBC's latest has arrived on Blu-ray Disc - Wild China.
When it became known that Beijing would be the site of the 2008 Summer Olympics, the BBC saw an opportunity to produce a new series focusing on the country's natural history and the ancient cultures that have evolved along with it. The BBC received permission to film in 2005, and became the first international production joint venture with Chinese broadcasting company CTV. The BBC was aiming to focus on the region's wildlife, capturing footage of some incredibly rare creatures and hoping to change perceptions about China's environmental problems.
Pure serenity - made in China, natch.
For the most part, the series succeeds, painting a broad picture of biodiversity in within an area spanning nearly 6 million square miles. Divided into six episodes, Wild China focuses each segment geographically, starting in the south with "Heart of the Dragon." Much of the latter focuses on the astonishing terraced rice paddies of Yuanyang County, which cut into steep valley hillsides and produce a field of glass from the highest vantage point. The paddies are home to several species of fish, frogs, and birds like herons and egrets, all occupying a comfortable niche existence in the intensive rice farming. "Shangri-La" is the whimsically titled second episode, spotlighting the rich variety of flora and fauna in the Yunnan Province of southwest China. The area's unique geography makes for a far more tropical environment at a latitude located significantly north of the equator. "Plant hunters" from Victorian era Europe were attracted to the region to collect exotic specimens for gardens back west. The remarkable growth of bamboo forests and the native tribes and creatures that inhabit them are also depicted.
The third episode, "Tibet," covers - well, the Tibetan plateau, in the west of China. This enormous expanse of steppe plain composes one quarter of China's total land area, but is home to merely 2.5 million people. The plateau's harsh climate is, understandably, not the most hospitable, but surprisingly it contains the largest concentration of China's native large mammal populations. Argali sheep and wild yak roam the plains in great herds, and chiru, who look like caribou with horns rather than antlers, live out their lives at extremely high altitudes. Despite its arid appearance, the Tibetan plateau is a finely-balanced and fragile environment; its glacier-fed waters support not only the plains, but billions of others living thousand of miles away.
"Beyond the Great Wall," Wild China's fourth episode, focuses on the northern regions of China, were nomadic peoples still carve out a living. Boasting a diverse number of habitats and the wildlife therein, the north shifts from forests to grasslands, and finally to desert.
The last two episodes feature central China and its coastline, respectively. "Land of the Panda" highlights the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in the country and the world. It contrasts the environmental attitudes of the people today as opposed to the destructive regime under Chairman Mao Zedong. The pre-Olympics evolution of Beijing is touched upon, as well as the degradation of the great Huang He, also known as the Yellow River. The sixth and final installment, "Tides of Change" shows life along China's expansive coastline, with plentiful footage of native invertebrate and bird species. Humans and wildlife coexist on some levels, cooperating in sustainable cultivation. The problems of water pollution are discussed as well, with too much fertilizer and chemicals causing an imbalance in marine systems and the death of coral reefs. Dams have also blocked the migration routes for several species of fish and mollusks. Ending on a precarious note, Wild China summarizes the vast variety of life - both natural and cultural - that has evolved in such a diverse country.
Perhaps the only demerit about this spectacular series is its gentle and often evasive treatment of China's environmental issues. The eradication of entire swathes of species due to human cause, whether historic or contemporary, is only ever mentioned in passing and not more thoroughly discussed. Though more ecologically enlightened nowadays, China continues to wreak havoc on the natural world with its accelerated growth and sheer population numbers. Understandably, the series was meant to be a natural profile of the country, as well as positive promotion, so it is not as though such issues would ever be dared to cover. Observationally, it also could be viewed as an international case of the old idiom - the "pot calling the kettle black" on environmental ruin.
BBC have achieved another lovely high definition production on this Blu-ray, and their documentary work never ceases to amaze. Going to great lengths to capture rare moments on film, the perseverance of the filmmakers and camera crew pays off in a grand fashion on this series. Encoded in AVC and averaging about 20 Mbps, the focus on detail is apparent throughout the production. My favorite shot technique, used frequently in Wild China and several other BBC productions, is an ultra-closeup that focuses the viewer on the colors, textures, and inherent beauty of the subjects, be they natural or artificial in origin. Although the picture is interlaced, it still contains a clarity that is hard to believe, given the filming access difficulty for much of the content.
Aside from the slight softness lent by the interlaced picture, there is a small amount of color banding noticeable here and there. Not surprising, given the high amount of rich, saturated colors that are present. Black levels are deep and satisfying, and never bloom and remain clear and intense. Texture is picked up beautifully, whether in long shots or the aforementioned ultra-closeups. In short, Wild China boasts a superb, trademark BBC picture quality on this Blu-ray presentation.
Wild China's impressive visual presentation is aided by a single English Dolby Digital 5.1 track, which is more or less the standard for BBC high definition releases. It is a satisfactory offering that informs and mesmerizes the viewer, to be sure, but nevertheless, it feels constricted by the lossy encoding. Ambiance is present for wildlife sequences, and likewise that of rural or nomadic human communities, but it's somewhat difficult to distinguish in the rears. The LFE is used sparingly, and lacks a certain amount of "boom" to it.
Bernard Hill's rich, somewhat impassive narration is kept to the center channel, and is always clear and unsullied. As an aside, his pronunciation of the many Chinese location names and titles is impressively spoken, flowing effortless from his tongue and causing the curious to reach for the English subtitle option. The score in the series is beautifully composed, taking its place in the ranks of nicely-done music for the BBC's documentary subjects. Never too brazen or pervasive, the strings-heavy pieces float along with each episode. It is a shame that the score isn't allowed to break beyond the confines of its compressed Dolby Digital mix.
As compared to a title like Ganges, which sports a DTS-HD HR mix, the Dolby Digital option is hardly adequate. Ganges may not have a Master Audio encoding, but it sounds much fuller and more "alive," and it nicely complements the imagery. BBC's stellar documentary work demands better sound accompaniment. For information and education, Wild China's DD 5.1 works well, but it is far from truly impressive.
Hunting Dragons is the lone extra feature on this release; a standard definition venture that runs about 27 minutes. In it, the challenge of obtaining some of the breathtaking shots in the series are explored, such as running a camera down a zip-line over a roaring river. Other difficulties are also discussed at length, such as traveling to remote locations via roughly-lain roads, or by camelback. One instance found the filmmakers at the bottom of a gorge after two days worth of hiking, only to discover the camera broken after their descent. Language barriers were also, understandably, an issue.
Clearly, everyone involved in the production of Wild China is extremely passionate about their work. Although "Hunting Dragons" may not be the most in-depth look at the filming process of the series, it is sufficient in showing the hardships endured to create it.
Wild China is another example of the work that BBC's Natural History Unit achieves almost effortlessly. The sheer amount of detail and carefully composed shots demonstrates a real appreciation for aesthetics and a stringently high level of production values. The results are superb examples of what can be achieved with the documentary format - educational material that is equally entertaining and awe-inspiring.
China enjoys an odd dichotomy of sorts within the international community; it is so ubiquitous through its exports, and so geographically expansive, yet it is all the same so enigmatic and so closed to the world outside. This BBC production helps to open eyes to the beauty and ancient legacy of the country, and it looks stunning in high definition. It is difficult not to recommend this as well-produced content and as a nice Blu-ray package.
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