Customer Reviews

Discovery Atlas: China Revealed [HD DVD]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

A beautiful documentary and one that I had to have on DVD after I saw it on the Discovery Channel.

It gives you a little background, but in the majority of the 100 minutes you follow several people such as a young gymanst, a window washer in Shanghai hoping to find fortune, a family who still works in the rice fields, a young martial artist, a policewoman in the Gansu province, and several others.

You are able to follow them and understand their way of life in this fascinating country. It is interesting and yet almost sad at how technology and the future is hurting some of the ancient traditions and ways of life in China.

My only complaint is that in the middle of the documentary, it gets a little slow, and I would have preferred to hear more about the actual country, but it's still a fabulous documentary.

The narration is great, music is beautiful, the design and feel of the documentary is fantastic. All in all, I loved it and enjoy watching it very much.

As this unique experience that covers many of the diverse cultures within China unfolds, you are held in astonishment of the beauty and detail that HD brings to life of the colorful Chinese culture. This production took over 18 months to film and it resulted in an extremely refined, non-biased, educational view into China.

Where to start. When I originally seen this I assumed it was an ordinary documentary covering history and culture. However, this wonderful series took a step in a different direction by getting more into the lives of current residents, and how current life ties into the history of the country. There are many comparisons of the original culture to currrent culture, including the parts of the country that are conforming, and the parts that choose to keep everything in its purest essence. Overall, you will enjoy learning of parts unknown in this very nicely captured and directed contemporary documentary.

Also to note - the quality of the video is very nice - I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

This 100-minute documentary, narrated by James Spader (who plays Alan Shore on "Boston Legal"), explores life in contemporary China, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of life in the world's most populous nation and fastest growing economy.

You'll meet a twelve-year-old gymnast hoping to make the Olympic team; a window cleaner in Shanghai who moved there for the economic opportunities, while his wife and child live in the country; a young woman who gets plastic surgery to improve her prospects in the business world; nomads of Inner Mongolia; a wealthy property developer; rice growers; a master of martial arts; a woman who works on the drug squad; and the last of the imperial bowmakers.

I was disappointed that almost nothing was said about how the Chinese government and economy actually work, and I would've liked to hear more about the effects and side-effects of the "one child" policy. I like James Spader, but his narration struck me as excessively earnest and dramatic, as did the musical score, especially given the film's rather bland, "safe" content.

A much better documentary about contemporary China is "China From the Inside." And an excellent documentary on twentieth-century Chinese history is "China: A Century of Revolution."

Most other reviews are for the standard-definition DVD version. And for regular DVD, "China Revealed" probably looks great. BUT NOT ON BLU-RAY. For a Blu-ray disc, this "hi-definition" tour of China has some of the worst video quality I've seen for a released BD. It may have been okay for their "broadcast" where signals get highly compressed any way, but an actual Blu-ray disc can allow for a much better signal. The blockiness and poor video compression of this BD often makes people's faces look like they were built out of legos and the details of the supposedly amazing vistas look like they've been smudged, crushed or created with construction paper cut-outs. I was so looking forward to a beautiful tour of China; and although the subject matter is often amazing, it is only a mild exaggeration to say that you can download better picture quality off of YouTube. Many PlayStation Network downloads do look better. It was disappointing to see the marvelous colors of such a rich country so poorly compressed. See the documentary, learn its lessons about China, but don't waste your money on the Blu-ray version. Buy it in standard-def (which probably was the original source). A travelogue or Blu-ray title that should be LIVING on its video quality should LOOK much, much better than this. And I would expect better from a name like "Discovery HD". These images are blotchy, blocky and jagged.

It is a shame that there are people who don't bother to READ what these documentaries are about BEFORE they buy them and are disappointed.

The oft-stated aim of Discovery Atlas is not a history lesson ... it is a unique look at countries through the eyes and personal stories of a select group of individuals.

What better ways to learn the true feelings and emotions than by this manner.

Exquisitely shot, wonderfully narrated, these videos provide a unique look into each of these nations that one would not otherwise EVER be party to.

I bought this blu-ray of Discovery Atlas on China and thoroughly enjoyed the content! Wonderful brief history of China, and a great tour of China today in pictures, videos, music, and narrative!

As in all the countries so far in this series (Italy, China, Australia, Brazil) this is a dazzling look at the culture of a country in superb photography and intimate portraits of the people and lifestyles of the inhabitants. Wonderful education and entertaining viewing.

I have been very happy with my HD DVD purchases so far (> 10 titles), but this is a real disappointment. The picture is soft and it doesn't look like HD at all. I wish I could return it. Don't buy this if you are expecting HD sharpness.

I was expecting a little better production than this. With the vast area that is encompassed by China, with its ancient culture and history; one would have anticipated more coverage of that rather than the excessive coverage of the country yokel who seeks his fortune in the big city and the young female olympic hopeful. Also, I have to agree with the other reviewer about the quality of the picture. Perhaps after watching Planet Earth I'm a bit spoiled; but I didn't think this dvd deserved to be advertised as high definition .
Finally, I wouldn't purchase this dvd if given the chance to do it over again.