Customer Reviews

Alaska 2 DVD Package

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I especially liked the first dvd with

the scenes shot in the 1960's.

My only regret is there is not enough

material from Dick (only 50 or so minutes)

I mean he did spend 35+ years out there.

Some later solo footage would have been great.

Dick's story is captivating and Bob's narration

fits perfectly with the message.

I enjoyed the recent encounter with

Dick (DVD 2) but again the footage is too short.

The Swerer footage is very nice but lacks the soul

of the material in Disc 1.

The first Video has Dick chopping away a new life in the wilderness area of Twin lakes, Alaska. I can say without a doubt if you have never been to Alaska, this is an easy way to see it.

The area of twin lakes looks a whole lot like many other places in Alaska, but to see it on footage from the 60's was fantastic. Alaska has pretty much stayed the same since Dick Proenneke's time(the late 60's). Alaska has (outside the cities)stayed the same even as long as I've been here (since 1998) and will stay the same long after I'm gone.

The second DVD shows what the area still looks like today. There was very little follow up with Dick Proenneke and one can only speculate as to why Dick did not want to get fully involved in the second video. I guess after being away from man-kind for so long explains why Dick only wanted to appear in a few short clips. It was nice to see him after the first DVD ended and after all his years Alone in the wilderness. I recommend the 2-DVD set and Bob Swerer productions. Bob did a great job in putting together the first DVD film and filming the second DVD in the remote twin lakes area.

I would have loved to have been there during filming, but the next best thing, is Bob Swerer and Son's 2-DVD set of the twin lakes area, Dick Proenneke and the wildlife.

Thanks Bob Swerer productions I enjoyed the DVD's and I'm looking forward in viewing your other productions.

Do not let the titles fool you. Alone in the Wilderness is a great DVD (One Man's Wilderness...the book...is even better), but Silence and Solitude is lacking in quality and has very little to do with Dick Proenneke.

I bought Silence and Solitude thinking the focus would be the same as A in the W and was wrong. I actually felt like Swerer had misled me with his description of this second disk.

Do your self a favor and get Alone in the Wilderness and leave the other one on the shelf. You will be missing next to nothing. Spend the other $[...] on the book, One Man's Wilderness, which is basically the book version of A in the W except in print and with a lot more of Dick's thoughts included.

This would have been a 5 star review if it weren't for the second DVD dragging it down the tube. Sorry.

We saw about 1/4 of Alone in the Wilderness on PBS and had been searching for the DVD ever since. When we found it on Amazon, we immediately ordered the 2 film package.

It's amazing what one man can do. He built a house out of nothing, but with some tools that he made and his hands.

The scenes of nature are very nice and give you a relaxing feeling.

Overall it was very nice package.

As a child, my father used to take us to see wilderness movies. I'm almost certain now that they were Bob Swerer productions, as they captured my heart almost as deeply as Alone in the Wilderness has.

Who hasn't dreamt of living off the land by one's own hands? Dick Prenneke did it, and by filming his odyssey, he's inspired and delighted scores of generations and has shown us the beauty that lies in our own abilities. One can live vicariously through Dick's experience, but one can also learn to appreciate our shrinking natural resources, and perhaps be inspired to preserve it for future naturalists and survivalists.

I've watched this DVD countless times, and it never ceases to amaze, delight and invigorate the spirit.

Mr Pronnecke died in 2003 at the age of 87 and mankind and Alaska lost a great, gentle man. His 30 plus years of living in isolation at Twin Lakes was a quest rivaling no other, and we should all read the pages of his book One Man's Wilderness and, even then we could not begin to appreciate what he went through. He was a master carpenter of the first order, a very good photographer and a person who loved the great outdoors and gave thanks each and every day of his life to the Man Upstairs who made it all possible.

This DVD follows the daily life of Dick Proeneke as he builds his log cabin in the Alaska Bush. Dick takes his time and does an amazing job on the cabin and is a master craftsman in working with wood,making spoons ,door joints, window frames, etc. He lives delibertly in the moment and enjoys life and his manual labor. He is a gentle man who loves nature and is very spiritual without being religeous, to me he is the essence of Zen ,but he probably has no idea what Zen is. Something in this short little series of clips on this DVD,is almost like medicine. Something that we desparately need in this society of fame chasers,greedy sychophants,capitalist consumers, a quiet little message ,powerful and direct. Dick Proeneke got one up on us...

Have you seen it on PBS yet?
What a neat story of a 50 year old who pretty much leaves society and makes a life for himself in Alaska, living in peace and taking in the extreme seasonal changes that only Alaska can provide, building a cabin with his own hands using only simple hand tools. At 39 I have been inspired a number off times to get off my soft side and get somthing done.
Great price for a product that will give the family entertainment unlike anything else available today. This is "REAL" reality programming.
We pop this in and revisit it every few months or so.

Dick Proenecke lived alone for 20+ years in the Alaskan wilderness. This is his story, beginning with movies of him building his log cabin by hand, alone, with no help! It is amazing. If you like the outdoors and/or if you like to build things you must see this! His story is so incredible that you would not believe it if it were not captured on film and in his hand-written journals. Proenecke loved nature and his story includes detailed descriptions of the weather, wildlife and his survival methods. He actually lived quite well, considering he had NO modern conveniences of any kind. He even constructed many of his own tools.

I bought the DVD's as a gift for a friend who is hard to buy for. He loved them and has shared them with several other people. This makes a great gift for people who love Alaska or for people who love the outdoors. I could watch them over and over.