Atlantis (1991)

 

ID:                   PILH-1003

Price:                20,000 yen

Discs:               1

Sound:              B-Mode

Running Time:   1:20

Released:          Pioneer




Luc Besson’s film that is more of a visual poetry meets documentary. 

 

Luc uses ocean animals to create poetry (going from topics like “Love” and “Family” etc.) while telling a story.  He uses the animals and actions of the animals in natural open water settings to tell his story and uses the music of the London Philharmonic Orchestra envelope the audience.  There are many different breeds of animals present ranging from Dolphins to Manatees to Great White Sharks.

 

The footage is all very beautiful and relaxing to watch especially with the music selections performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.  Some of it, particularly of the Great White Sharks is absolutely amazing, especially because this film is all footage of animals.  No footage of shark cages or scuba divers or anything of that nature.  It’s almost as if the camera crew wasn’t present when all these animals were filmed. 

 

Not a movie in the traditional sense (with lead actors, plot, etc.).

 


Given that the movie is filmed 95% underwater, the quality is fantastic.  While the blue and green dominate the color spectrum of this film, the picture is generally of high film quality.  Grain is not apparent and the scenes are all well lit given the conditions of which filming takes place.  Compression artifacts are almost nil, and the overall feeling is that this is a top-notch film in terms of picture quality.



Sound is presented in 48KHz B-Mode, and is very natural and warm sounding, with detailed mid-range and an enveloping sound field.  Low frequency effects are nil, and the surround channels are active only in the ambient sense.  If you love orchestrated music, the London Philharmonic doesn’t disappoint here and neither does the B-Mode audio.




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