You can’t deny that Cirque Du Soleil: Journey of Man achieves some truly great visuals in stunningly rendered high-definition. Moreover, their use of 3D both in its environments and the stunts for which the revered performers have become known reminds you exactly why home 3D systems could be a good idea. As a film though, Journey of Man never arrives at any meaningful destination in its attempt to tie the stuntwork to a metaphor for growth, instead it feels like an excuse to capture some of Cirque du Soleil’s most famous bits in stunningly beautiful high-resolution. To be fair, that’s enough of a reason to see it.
Starting with a drum circle and synchronized swimming, Journey of Man follows a life from birth through childhood, sexual awakening, choices of morality, adulthood, and old age. Some of the acts make perfect sense and others, as previously stated, seem like little more than a façade for the inclusion of famous Cirque visuals. Even so, the end result is stunningly beautiful, and it’s easy to make an argument that seeing it this way might be better than seeing it live where your seats might put you up in a mezzanine. Watching Journey of Man in Blu-ray 3D is like having a front row seat that consistently shifts to the most interesting angle for viewing the action on stage. The disc also plays the feature in 2D, and even then it’s still worthwhile as the picture is absolutely crystal clear and utterly immersive.
The feature is only 39-minutes and it’s narrated by Sir Ian McKellen. After all, who knows more about journeys than Gandalf and more about the foibles of mankind than Magneto?
3D Blu-ray Bonus Features
There are none.
"Cirque Du Soleil: Journey of Man" is on sale June 7, 2011 and is rated G. Drama, Musical. Directed by Keith Melton. Written by Steve Roberts, Peter Wagg. Starring Ian McKellen.
