The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti Blu-ray 3D Review

Posted March 3rd, 2011 by Brandon DuHamel

ULTIMATE wave 264x338 The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti Blu ray 3D Review photo

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Video Codec: MVC (3D); AVC/MPEG-4 (2D)
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: N/A
Rating: Not Rated
Region: ABC (Region-Free)
Discs: 1
Studio: Image Entertainment
Blu-ray Release Date: March 1, 2011
List Price: $24.98

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Overall

The Film

Video Quality
HD:
3D Effect:
Audio Quality

Supplemental Materials

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(Screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG thus are meant as a general representation of the content and do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

The Film

The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti 3D follows world class professional surfer Kelly Slater to Tahiti’s Teahupo’o in search of the ultimate wave. Directed by IMAX large-format veteran Stephen Low, the film puts viewers right into the gnarly waves of some of the world’s clearest waters.

But the film doesn’t end there; it delves into the science of why Teahupo’o creates what surfers around the world consider to be some of the greatest waves while also exploring the culture of the Tahitian people.

The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti is filled with beautiful cinematography, wonderful aerial shots, underwater photography, and scenes of native dances and rituals that will surely dazzle.

Video Quality

HD:

3D Effect:

The Ultimate Wave: Tahiti looks beautiful whether you watch it in 2D or 3D. The 3D encodement is in full 1080p and looks marvelous, with vivid colors and sharp details. The 3D effect, like most of these IMAX films, is more natural than featuring lots of “pop-out,” even featuring some moments that seem simply flat and 2D. Still, there is little ghosting/crosstalk. In 2D, the image is just a bit more textured and natural looking, but colors look about the same, with beautiful cerulean blue seas and lemon yellows.

Audio Quality

The English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack is big, ambient, and dynamic, like most IMAX soundtracks are. The surround channels are used rather aggressively, filled with the foley effects of rushing waves. Narration is full and clear in the center channel while low frequencies are nicely extended and tight.

Supplemental Materials

The supplements are quite typical of IMAX releases from Image Entertainment. They consist of a few brief “vignettes,” which are simply some interview segments, a promotional feeling featurette on Tahiti, and some IMAX trailers.

The supplements provided on this release are:

Vignettes (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 2D):
- Board Design (0:03.33) – Surfers and surfboard manufacturers talk about the tech of surfboard design.
- Kelly – (0:02.33) – Other surfers talk about Kelly Slater’s domination of the sport.
- Raimana (0:03.36) – The surfers talk about the famous tour guide Raimana.
- Tahiti (0:04.05) – Professional surfers discuss their love of Tahiti.
- Wave Science (0:03.44) – A look at the science behind the big waves.
Coming Soon
Ultimate Tahiti: Beyond the Wave (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 0:05.31) – An almost promotional five-minute tourism video for Tahiti.
Trailers
BD-Live

The Definitive Word

Overall:

This is one of the most fun-filled IMAX titles I have seen to date. The surfing scenes of Kelly Slater and his friends are amazing to watch and the rest of the visuals are just spectacular. Recommended.

Additional Screen Captures: