Galapagos, considered to be earth’s microcosm, tells the story of a series of islands that were Darwin’s inspiration for the theory of evolution. The islands even now are home to a large array of different species seen nowhere else on the planet. The documentary covers everything from the history of the islands, Darwin’s presence and the amazing animals that inhabit the area.

Being packaged within BCC’s High Definition Collection may cause some, including myself, to compare it with Planet Earth (another documentary within the collection) and as I started watching I found myself waiting to see if it was as good as the remarkable accomplishment that is Planet Earth.

Film

Watching Galapagos really reminds us how amazing nature can be, showing off some of its wildest spectacles and varied types of denizen that occupy this planet with us. It’s definitely a sight to be seen and with Blu-ray format, we get to witness it in all its high def glory.

The documentary focuses on Darwin’s interest with the islands, specifically his theory of evolution being based on what he witnesses through the series of islands. Galapagos was guilty of one thing I despise… Using historical re-enactments. When referring to Darwin’s time there are few uses of props and actors portraying characters. I always preferred going an opposite way, due to the fact I find historical re-enactments to be quite cheesy… However they were well done and actually helped add to the telling of Darwin’s story.

Galapagos sits upon a volcanic hotspot that is constantly erupting and as the magma collects, new islands are formed almost linearly. As the islands form they begin to, overtime, go from being a desolate rock to a blooming ecosystem. It demonstrates the birth of life in such a way that you can see the chronology right in front of you.

Galapagos is a very interesting demonstration in nature, and it has to be seen to be appreciated for what it is. The documentary does it justice, however I am putting this down as a place I need to visit.

Video

Presented in 1.78:1 aspect ratio and using the VC-1 codec, from the start the video quality really stood out, even at 1080i the motion was very smooth and the image was sharp. The colours were quite vivid and weren’t too over saturated. At times it seems that a high speed or other type of camera is used during certain aerial shots of the ocean and the difference of quality is apparent in the handful of shots, but those are few and far between.

The editing in the first half is a little jarring at times, in attempt to get the pace up, it works to their detriment, however again this wasn’t common in the documentary, but every now and again I found myself pulled away saying “Really? I couldn’t see that for a few extra frames?”

Audio

The audio is quite clear, sometimes I begin to wonder if the animal sounds are foley due to the fact that the camera is so far away they must’ve used some amazing microphones to reach that far. Overall the sound was very organic and felt authentic. Listening through 7.1 I found the surround speakers were used mainly for background ambience which did help with the depth however due to the fact the source audio is Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo track (448 kbps) you do lose the potential depth and quality that people have come to expect within the HD format.

The score is powerful and, as it’s supposed to, it boosts the emotion of the scenes and really helps the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

The narration is done by Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, Burn After Reading), she’s a natural narrator and was clear and precise during the entire documentary. That being said the narration didn’t go outside of the box and like most others was quite monotone and I found myself drifting away from the narration and focusing on the stunning visuals.

Special Features

Unfortunately Galapagos is a bare bones Blu-ray, there are no special features.

Final Thoughts

The documentary itself is quite interesting and using very impressive cinematography it definitely represents the facts in an appealing way… If only today’s educational system could take page out of these documentarian’s book.

As I said before, I did compare Planet Earth to Galapagos, without nearly as big a production time, crew or budget it does stand up well. Sometimes it was repetitive, but even Planet Earth repeated itself a bit.

Despite the few minor issues I did think Galapagos was a well-made documentary and utilized beautiful cinematography and a powerful score to create a very appealing experience. However due to the lack of extras Galapagos may be a better rental than a purchase to those who appreciate the special features.