Blu-ray Review: Wild Pacific

It is perhaps unfair that titles in the BBC Earth series have an almost impossibly high bar to live up to: Planet Earth. Had it not been so well done, or so richly dense in content, these additional titles could be seen as either something more or something else. But the oceans and some of the remote islands within them were already covered on Planet Earth. Granted, they were at an efficient speed, but we got the basic gist. So the task set for a title such as Wild Pacific is to become something uniquely different. And they partly succeed.

The Movie

The main areas where Wild Pacific differentiates itself are with content and style. With content, there is an obvious advantage here because they are allowed to focus on one area of nature and explore it to much fuller depths (cheap pun only partially intended). The series is divided into six installments, each tackling a specific aspect of the Pacific, such as topography of the region and its change over time ("Ocean of Volcanoes"), the struggles of species survival in this isolated area ("Castaways") or the human civilizations populating these tiny and far-flung islands ("Ocean of Islands"). A specific area of distinction between this series and Planet Earth is the emphasis on humans, both as cultures within and forces of nature acting against it. Roughly equal time is given to creatures within the sea and those living on its islands, as well as discussion on weather and tidal patterns that come into play for both. There are times when the content feels stretched a bit thin, as some items get repeated between shows. But for the most part they were able to mine further points of interest, and with greater detail, than previously allowed.

Style is where things become even more distinct, and it's not always in a good way. Again, taking Planet Earth as an example, that series contained so much information on so many different aspects of Earth that it had to move at an impressive pace in order to cover everything. But with that also came a more detached objectivity to its subject. It was "just the facts, ma'am," in order to move along to the next topic. Wild Pacific completely loses that objectivity, becoming a much more story- and agenda-driven piece. Everything from fish to penguins to native tribes of the Pacific Isles are tied back to their overall effect and impact on the environment. This isn't to say that the information itself is in question or error, but the tone with which it is presented is anything but balanced. Even the narrated script (delivered ably by Benedict Cumberbatch) is more melodramatic in tone. And this would all be more forgivable if the entire final episode - one sixth of the whole series - weren't one long call to action on conservation and the dangers of over-fishing. This will be a matter of personal opinion, to be sure, but just a note that this angle is prominent.

Article Author: David R Perry

Lost somewhere in the rolling hills of Tennessee, David R Perry can occasionally be found doing dark, unspeakable things to words. Printed words, spoken words, electronically mangled words... really any kind but twittered words.

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