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Title:
Alien Planet
Region:
One
Genre:
Speculative Documentary
Narrated
By: John C. McGinley
Based
On The Acclaimed Novel: “Expedition To Darwin IV” By Wayne D. Barlow
Director:
Pierre de Lespinois
Producer:
John Copeland
Executive
Producers: Pierre de Lespinois, Frances LoCasolo, and Wayne D. Barlow
Feature
length: 94 minutes
Extras:
Extended Interview Clips
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 16
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast 2005/DVD Release: 2005
Home
Video Distributor: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Airing
this past spring on The Discovery Channel, “Alien Planet” is partially an
adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Author and Artist Wayne Barlow entitled
“Expedition To Darwin IV” as well as a speculative documentary featuring
insightful interview clips commenting on the possibilities of encountering
extraterrestrial life that includes Filmmaker George Lucas, Physicists and
Authors Stephen Hawking and Michio Kaku, Paleontologist Jack Horner, Research
Biologist Craig Venter, as well as Mr. Barlow himself. The intent of the
documentary is to entertain as well as educate and fuel the imagination and
enthusiasm for what possibilities could truly exist out in space. Barlow
endeavored to create a scientifically plausible ecosystem on a planet within a
binary star system called Darwin IV. Decades after being launched from Earth, an
artificially intelligent mother ship sets orbit around the mysterious planet and
dispatches three probes to explore the surface. Only two make to the surface in
one piece and soon after these probes send out data revealing that Darwin IV is
teeming with a diverse plethora of organisms of varying sizes. The creatures
tend to have a few evolutionary characteristics in common. Their physical
density appears to be lighter than creatures on Earth. They tend to rely more on
sonar as a means of navigating their world as well as communication on some
level. Some creatures are capable of flight despite their immense size and many
of the life forms are aggressive, fast, and very dangerous. The predators tend
to pierce their prey with either a sharp appendage or fork like tongue and then
proceed to suck out the prey’s bodily fluids while others disable a beast and
literally paralyze it before beginning a process of digestion that occurs while
the prey is still alive.
As
conditions warrant changes in the initial programming for the mission, the
probes are separated to explore different aspects of Darwin IV. However when one
probe suddenly ceases transmitting data, the other probe is dispatched to find
out what happened and this ultimately leads to an amazing, but painful first
contact with sentient life on Darwin IV. Throughout the alien encounters and
phases of the mission, various commentators offer their perspectives, which
helps to make “Alien Planet” more than just some sophisticated CGI science
fiction special. The animation and visual effects in this program were brought
to fruition by the same creative team that created the prehistoric world of the
2001 Emmy Award® nominated Discovery Channel Special “When Dinosaurs Roamed
America.” So the images are breathtakingly photo realistic and are stunning to
behold on DVD.
Unfortunately
the special is presented in a letterboxed (1.78:1) aspect ratio without
enhancement for 16 by 9 televisions. As good as this DVD looks, I think it is a
shame that the presentation is not anamorphic. The English Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Soundtrack is definitely an improvement over the original television
broadcast with a nice atmospheric quality. English Closed Captions for the
hearing impaired are also encoded onto the dual layered DVD as an option.
There
are approximately 50 minutes of extended interview clips with select scientists
who appear in the program. These comments are all very illuminating, but the
clips can only be accessed individually. A “Play All” feature is desperately
needed and would have been appreciated by DVD users who could have laid the
remote to rest and place their full focus on the set of bonus materials. The
interview clips and subject matters covered by the scientists are as follows
respectively beginning with Stephen Hawking expounding with some wit about his
views on “Alien Life” (1:52). Jim Garvin strikes me like a brilliant and
very enthusiastic professional, but of all the commentators, this guy tends to
talk a bit too long on the following subjects labeled as “Punctuated
Equilibrium” (1:46), “Fingerprints Of Life” (2:19), “The Quest For
Life” (2:03), “Would We Recognize Complex Life” (2:42), “Thinking Of Two
Different Kinds Of Life” (2:07), “A Worthy Quest” (1:44),
“Multi-Generational Project” (2:04), “Looking For Earth Like Planets”
(1:52), and “Martian Rocks On Earth” (1:42). Paleontologist Jack Horner
brings a certain down to Earth common sense approach to his statements that are
detailed as “Paleontologists Deal With Aliens” (: 57), “We Are Brain
Centric” (1:24), “Expect The Unexpected” (1:45), “Discovering The Color
Of Dinosaurs” (1:14), “Rules For Life” (1:11), “Searching For Life”
(1:03), “The Complexities Of
Life” (1:21), “How Would We Look For Life On Another World” (: 57), “The
Planet Effects Evolution” (: 59), and “How Best To Search For Life” (:
53). A personal favorite of mine, City University Of New York Physicist and
Author Michio Kaku details his thoughts under the headings “Human Identity
Crisis” (: 52), “Water Is A Mixing Bowl Of Life” (: 59), “Discovering
Microbial Life” (1:10), “What’s In It For Me” (1:05), “Goldilocks
Zone” (: 57), “Terrestrial Planet Finder 2014” (1:09), “Defining
Intelligence” (: 56), “Likelihood Of Life As We Know It” (1:56), “Would
We Recognize A Galactic Civilization” (1:42), and “Don’t Even Need A Sun
For Life” (1:25).
A
preview highlighting the popular Discovery Channel series now available on DVD,
which include “American Chopper”, “Monster Garage” and “Motorcycle
Mania 3: Jesse James Rides Again” (2:15) wraps up the extra value materials
included on this DVD. After a brief animated opening, the menus for the DVD
settle into standard interactive still frames, which are all easy to navigate.
“Alien Planet” is available on DVD-Video now at retailers on and offline
courtesy of The Discovery Channel through Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2005 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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