Shout! Factory’s latest Giant Screen films release, Humpback Whales, gives viewers an immersive look at some of the world’s most majestic creatures, captured in beautiful 4K and 3D.
Humpback Whales explores several aspects in the life of a humpback whale—the efforts to repopulate the species after it nearly became extinct, the mating rituals of the mammals, the feeding habits of the herd, gentle mother/calf bonding, and more. The documentary is primarily narrated by award-winning actor Ewan McGregor, who provides an interesting and inspirational look at these 40-ton/50-foot-long majestic creatures. Additional narration is also provided by several whale researchers.
Humpback Whales starts off in the South Pacific, in the island nation of Tonga, where families that had come from generations of whalers now serve to educate people about these creatures and help to protect them. In order to explore the life of a humpback whale, the documentary follows the migration path of the mammals. Underwater footage shows a mother and her newborn calf bonding. However, the mother must find food, and that means heading to Alaska for look at the whales’ unique food-gathering maneuver known as bubble-netting. With her calf’s food needs met, it’s time for the female humpback to think about mating again, and that means heading to Hawaii where a researcher studies the song of the whales and how it has changed over the past 20 years. Viewers also get a glimpse at the mating rituals of the whales as many male humpbacks compete for the attention of the female. While in Hawaii, the documentary also captures a whale rescue team jumping into action to free a humpback that had become entangled in a fishing net.
It is great to see that Shout! Factory is continuing to combine the 3D Blu-ray & 4K UHD releases of these IMAX releases into single combo packs—something no other studio has done as of yet. This means the consumer doesn’t have to choose which format to purchase, or be forced to buy two copies of the same movie just to see it in both 3D and 4K. I am a huge fan of 3D, so that usually takes precedence over 4K when I’m forced to make a purchasing choice, so I am thrilled that with this release, I got to see both versions, each of which has its own merits. To add to the consumer-friendliness of this release, the 3D Blu-ray disc allows for 2D playback, and the 4K UHD disc allows for playback either with or without HDR, giving viewers four different options on how to watch the film! In addition, this release includes a Digital HD copy of the film distributed for streaming/download via VHX.
The 3D version: I didn’t really see any pop-out moments in this this film. Instead, the 3D is primarily used to add depth to the picture, especially in the underwater scenes. And the floating debris and bubbles in the water really help enhance this effect as the whales swim and roll in the ocean. When viewing these same scenes without 3D enabled, these underwater scenes looks much flatter and not as rich—instead of this floating debris appearing in a plane in foreground, the white dots are just blended in with the rest of the picture. Outside of the underwater shots, I didn’t really see much of a 3D effect.
The 4K version: There are so many phenomenal, breath-taking shots in this film—from the snow-covered Alaskan peaks to the orangey glow of the sunrise on the horizon of the ocean. In the 4K version of the film, all of these colors look even richer and more vibrant. I thought the 3D picture looked great, but the 4K version adds in even more detail—you can see every bump and scratch on the surface of the whales, aerial shots of seaside villages look even more detailed, and the endless ripples on the ocean surface are more readily visible.
Both versions of the film contain the same fantastic Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The narration is pretty much isolated to the center channel, while the rest of the channels are utilized to surround the viewer in sound. The bass rumbles as the whales sing their songs and make their mating calls; in one jungle scene birds can be heard flying overhead; and the pop-music-filled soundtrack sounds great throughout (the documentary utilizes many different arrangements of American Authors’ “Best Day of My Life”).
As for bonus material, both discs contain the same features—an interesting 17-minute Making Of featurette that takes viewers behind-the-scenes to see the difficulties involved in capturing these majestic mammals on camera, plus trailers for other Giant Screen films.
What’s Included:
Film: (39:13)
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4K Ultra HD:
- 2160p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- HDR and SDR
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English Closed Caption
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.78:1
- 3D and 2D
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos, French Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles: English Closed Caption
- Digital HD Copy of the film distributed via VHX
Blu-ray:
Digital HD (Redemption Deadline 8/2/2017):
Extras:
- Making Of (17:07)
See all of the hard work that went into capturing these magnificent mammals on camera. It’s really interesting to see the scale of the whales compared to the underwater film crew! Includes lots of behind-the-scenes footage as well as interviews with producer Shaun MacGillivray, director Greg MacGillivray, first camera assistant Robert Walker, principal investigator with the Alaskan Whale Foundation Fred Sharpe, director of photography Brad Ohlund, underwater camera operator Peter Kragh, director of underwater photography Howard Hall, on location production manager Michele Hall, whale researcher Meagan Jones PhD, writer/editor Stephen Judson, director of underwater 2D photography Jason Sturgis, whale entanglement response coordinator for NOAA Ed Lyman, executive producers Tennyson Oyler & Bob Haskell, and narrator Ewan McGregor. - Trailers (8:51)
A collection of trailers for other IMAX films. Play All (in an endless loop) or select from “The Last Reef” (1:35), “Wonders of the Arctic” (1:41), “Rocky Mountain Express” (1:26), “Journey To Space” (1:06), “Humpback Whales” (1:53) and “Flight of the Butterflies” (1:10). These are offered in HD on Blu-ray and in 4K on the 4K UHD disc.
Final Thoughts:
Humpback Whales is an interesting and informative look into the life of the humpback whale, and a call to arms to help protect this species from becoming extinct. The film’s technical presentation is excellent—there are some very visually-stunning moments! While I didn’t find the 3D quite as impressive as Shout! Factory’s previous Giant Films release, Journey To Space, I thought 4K version added even greater detail to the already-phenomenal picture quality. And the Making Of bonus feature was a nice improvement over the short bonus feature included with Journey To Space. Shout! Factory has even added a Digital HD copy of the film to their already consumer-friendly combo pack, raising the bar even further—I hope that other studios take notice and follow suit. This film is worth checking out if you are looking for some 4K reference material or an interesting documentary.
