Customer Reviews

HDNet World Report - Shuttle Discovery's Historic Mission [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was a little disappointed in the amount of HD footage displayed on this disc. I would tell anyone interested in HD video of the Space shuttle, you may be a little short changed. Many of the video scenes in space are in 480i with borders, the only HD video will be the takeoff and brief astronaut preparation shots. The disc is an excellent history package for space shuttle buffs.

Being a new Blu-ray owner I was anxious to acquire some high resolution material. This was one of three discs in my first order and a quick lesson in shopping blind. For full disclosure I will reveal that we only watched about the first half of the feature before hitting "eject". At best, 10% of this program was high res, mostly familiar footage of ground based NASA training, etc. All of the shuttle lift-off and orbital footage was standard res or worse, presented as a documentary and fully narrated. Very disappointing and a waste of money. The other two discs in the order were quite nice.

This disc offers a Hi Definition glimpse of the Space Shuttle Discovery, though very little of the more interesting footage is not shot in HD. Most of the preflight interviews are in HD, while most of the actual mission is in standard definition. I bought this BD expecting amazing visuals of the earth and shuttle in orbit, but alas none are to be found here. The feature itself is encoded in MPEG 2 which while stunning and high in detail, suffers from smearing associated with the codec. The newer AVC/MPEG 4 codec would have be a better choice. Check Casino Royale out for quality. A good buy if you like NASA related documentaries. A let down if your looking for stunning HD orbital vistas.

I ordered this item and was very impressed by the first 2 minutes. But then, the whole documentary was captured in Standard Definition with a HDTV Wallpaper. It look's like crap and that's it !.

I was deeply dissapointed !

The title is misleading as too much of the video is NOT HD, but regular, lower quality video, and is a disappointement on large screen HD TV--EJV

A gift for my husband. He said it has exceptional visual appeal and extremely great Blu-Ray quality. If you are married to a gearhead....!!! Great price.