The National Parks (six episodes, twelve hours) tells the human history of five of the nation’s most important and most heavily visited National Parks (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Acadia, and Great Smoky Mountains) and the unforgettable Americans who made them possible. Set against some of the most beautiful landscapes on earth, each park’s story is filled with incidents and characters as gripping and fascinating as American history has to offer. Woven into the series will also be a broader, evolving story of the very idea of National Parks, as uniquely an American concept as jazz, baseball, and the Declaration of Independence as well as the expanding, constantly changing National Parks system (encompassing stories from other parks) and the growing role they all have come to play in our nation’s sense of itself, its past, and its future.
Buy “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea “ For Only $65.82
March 14, 2006
#1
See my full review under the DVD version.
This is not really about the National Parks; it is really about the people and politics of making the National Parks.
You will not be seeing much of the actual National Parks here. And what you do see will be repetitive, archival, and poorly done.
Rent it.
Check it out from the Library.
Borrow it from someone that has it.
See it on TV.
But don’t buy it until you HAVE seen it, and know for sure you want it.
March 14, 2006
#2
I bought this DVD set for my husband with high expectations, having read some fine reviews.
Normally, we would both love this kind of thing, certainly love the subject matter but we were both fast asleep after an hour!
The pace of the filming, the repetitive style, the dreary music without any change in the rhythm.. both of commentary or filming, made the whole thing drag.
While I can see the need to take a slow amble through the nature’s wonders in order to appreciate its riches when you are out there in the midst of it all, it just didn’t work for me, in my arm chair, watching my TV!!
Disappointing!
March 14, 2006
#3
Arrived as promised, but I have not viewed. did not realize that Blu-Ray doesn’t play on regular players….
March 14, 2006
#4
The documentary is typical Ken Burns… interesting, but a little meandering at times.
The real shame of this version is the grainy video that is painfully apparent on a large HD display. Burns’ panned still images are crystal clear showing every blemish and fold of the old photographs but his shots of the majestic scenery in the parks are marred by his poor choice of camera and film. I will say the soundtrack is fairly well done even if Peter Coyote (narrator) is a little dry.
Do not bother with the blu ray version, you will not get anything more than the standard DVD version with this series.
March 14, 2006
#5
You need to be on a caffeine high not to be asleep within the first two hours of this video. Seriously, this is a documentary of the political history behind the establishment of 5 of the many national parks, but in 12 hours of video you might get 30 minutes of the picturesque park views you were expecting. You really need to view this documentary series on free TV or rent the DVD before spending your hard earned money on the BD set. If you looking for the early history of a few of the national parks presented in the same manner and with the same grainy B&W stills that Burns used in his excellent Civil War documentary, then you may really like this presentation. But, BD will add little to its enjoyment as it is a limited visual experience. If you are expecting a broad presentation on most of national parks and monuments told through high definition scenic panoramas of those parks and monuments, then I think you will be very disappointed.
I’m a history buff, but this documentary is mostly a political history told from a certain perspective, so it didn’t grab me like Burns’ previous documentaries. By the end of the fourth hour I was ready to scream if I had to hear another anecdote regarding John Muir and see the same grainy B&W portrait of him. One gets the impression that Burns would rather have had Muir on Mount Rushmore than Teddy Roosevelt.
But I digress. I have loved visiting our national parks and monuments over the the past 60+ years, with Glacier National Park being my personal favorite. I was expecting/hoping for a history of the the development and physical changes of most of our major national parks told through beautiful HD vistas of the actual parks today. After all, they have 12 hours of video to use up. But, that was not to be. The DVDs I’ve purchased in the parks over the years are much more informative regarding the parks and provide much more visual pleasure. Too bad they aren’t BD.
I gave this video 3 stars because it is adequate for what it is, but isn’t what it could have been or what many were expecting. If I were rating it based solely on it delivering what I was expecting or at least hoping for, then it would only have received 1 star. It was very disappointing and the PBS promos were like a movie trailer, showing you all the best scenes in a few seconds, but ignoring what you’d actually see 99% of the time. Buyer beware!