The Films

National Parks Adventure 3/5

As you’ve probably already guessed. National Parks Adventure is a film about, you guessed it, national parks. The made for Imax doc is jam packed with beautiful shots of a bevy of the USA’s wonderful national parks. The sights contained within are absolutely jaw dropping, from Yellowstone’s Rainbow Hot Springs, to the Grand Canyon, the beautiful streams of America, and even a segment on Devil’s Tower. (yeah the nerd in me was delighted). There’s also delightful scene of adorable prairie dogs that you didn’t even know you needed in your life. Despite the awe inspiring sights you’ll see when a trio of friends travel from park to park, the doc is dragged down by a phoned in, lifeless reading by Robert Redford and a pretty lousy soundtrack of a mix of generic sounding easy listening and traditional songs. Seriously if I never hear “This Land is Your Land” again, I’ll be just fine with that.

Dream Big (Engineering Our World) 5/5

This 45 minute mini documentary on engineering was something that I wasn’t very interested in watching. That just made the fact that it genuinely moved me even more rewarding. I watched it on a day that I was feeling particularly meh. I went in expecting a boring lecture on physics and instead got an uplifting tale of the human spirit overcoming adversity. As you’ll learn in a genuinely invested sounding from Jeff Bridges (The Dude recited!), keeping people safe is the heart and soul of engineering. And this film will give you plenty of examples including building bridges in third world countries to erecting buildings strong enough to stand up to typhoons like the 128 floor monolith, Shanghai Tower. You’ll also meet a scrappy class of low income high school students who beat the pants off of M.I.T. in an underwater robotics challenge. The film couldn’t possibly be any more uplifting.

Audio/Video

4K (both films) 5/5

As to be expected the 4K High Dynamic Range presentation of these filmed for Imax mini docs is just jaw dropping. Every crack in a canyon and every steel beam rafter is just beautiful. Colors are popping and the sound is just earth shattering. The only way it could even look any better would be if you were there in real life. And even then I’m not sure it would look as good.

3D (both films) 5/5

Also to be expected is the strong 3D presentation of both films, which just doesn’t get any better. While Dream Big seemed to be filmed with 3D more in mind, you’ll still love shooting down the winding rivers of America. The truth of the matter however is that once you watch the 4K, you won’t even care about 3D anymore. There just isn’t any going back. Also a 2D presentation is available on the same disc, you know, just incase you don’t feel like watching the film as mundanely as possible.

Extras (both films) 3/5

Each film comes with a small selection of behind the scenes, trailers and mini webisodes. Each film also contains a digital code, just in case you need to see those prairie dogs again while you’re out and about.

Overall 5/5

Look. We both know what these discs are. They’re for showing off your new 4K setup to your friends. The stores also move a lot of TVs displaying these kinds of discs. If this is your thing, by all means you won’t be disappointed. Shout’s newest entries in this small subgenre will make a fine companion for your Planet Earth discs.