Customer Reviews

Alaska - Inside Passage [VHS]

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

 

 

This is a great video! Cast-off for the pristine fjords of Alaska's Inside Passage. You're "on deck" for the cruise of a lifetime! Hear the crack and crash as gigantic hunks of glacier calve into a fjord's deep, frigid waters. Meet the playful and abundant wildlife that call the Inside Passage home. Drop anchor in the rich Native, Russian and Gold Rush cultures of KETCHIKAN, SITKA, JUNEAU, HAINES and SKAGWAY. Set sail for the cool icebergs and stoic glaciers of GLACIER BAY. Unforgettable! THE INSIDE PASSAGE is a voyage that will make you forget you are watching a videotape!

This 60-minute video covers the American portion of the Inside Passage, including Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Haines, Skagway, and Glacier Bay. The production is among the best that I have seen -- high quality video and sound, professional editing, and none of the commercial "plugs" that plague other travel videos. It focuses on scenery (glaciers, fjords, etc.), wildlife (bears, whales, seals) and tourist attractions in the towns along the way (Native American arts and dances, 1890s saloons, etc.).

Despite the fact that there is a cruise ship on the cover, the video does not deal at all with cruise ship life, so anyone interested in that topic should look elsewhere.

As has become my practice, I purchased it to help me decide whether to take a cruise along the Inside Passage, a practice I recommend to any traveler. After reading an excellent Alaska tour book ("Best Places Alaska" ed. by Nan Elliot) and viewing this video, I decided instead to fly into Anchorage and drive out to the beautiful state park nearby that features many of the same attractions. Still, I enjoyed this video and am pleased that I bought it.

Be warned! This tape DOES NOT live up to it's hype and IS NOT what is described. Either the other reviewers have no idea what they are talking about or the wrong tape was shipped to me.

First, the VHS box states the tape is 60 minutes long.
Actually, it's only 56 minutes. No big deal, eh? Well, that's just the start. The "Inside Passage" video ends after 36 minutes. The next 20 minutes is some program put out by the US Forest Service and is called "Voices of the Glaciers". I don't know about you, but nowhere within the text description of the tape do I see there is another video portion about glaciers.

The portion I WAS interested in, about the Inside Passage, though it has a publish date of 1993, is actually footage from much earlier, maybe the 80's. Little time is spent on each city and not much information is given. The narrator would say things like, "a land full of traditions", yet would NOT expand on what those traditions were.

This tape may be worth $5 but is nowhere near worth the $21.95 I spent on it. It will be returned and I will be notifying Amazon customer service.

It's beautiful! It's breath-taking. This video does it's best to help you feel what it would be like entering Alaska's Inside Passage. The mountains rise up on both sides of the ship, making the cruiseship seem so small. Such grandeur! Then you get to see the VERY charming towns along the way. Worth the money!

Nice, but it only covers the northern half of the Inside Passage, from Ketchikan to Juneau/Skagway. The Inside Passage starts at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal in West Vancouver and includes the Sunshine Coast, the Bella Coola fjiord region and -- as a must see side trip -- the Queen Charlottes.

Book expropriates a term (US cultural imperialism at work again)