Customer Reviews

Grand Canyon - The Hidden Secrets (Large Format)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I have the Slingshot edition (DVD9804) of this IMAX video. The print quality is pretty good but as a few others have mentioned there are one or two scratches and marks on the print used to make this DVD which is a bit disappointing considering on the back of the case it says the title was digitally remastered. I thought that would have been the time to fix such problems. When I saw this film at my local Imax I thought it looked a bit dark. I was told by the manager that early Imax cinemas used silver instead of white screens. (Anyone know if this is correct). Early Imax films also used a different film stock (?) which resulted in the dark look on the white screen. I don't know if this effects the look of this DVD or not. Apart from the one or two little scrathes it looks rather good throughout. A 4,000 year History of the Canyon, most it European history of the last 500 years, is used to link endlessly beatuiful shots of the Canyon together. Much of the middle section of the film is a ride sequence down rapids. Its spectacular and I assume would have been extremely dangerous to film. It certainly looks dangerous. Lots of helicopter shots, some nicely executed re-enactments and thats about it. There is however a nice link between an early sequence and the end of the film which ties up the narrative nicely. Worth getting if your never likely to get to the Grand Canyon yourself. I would have liked an ambience and music option on this DVD, but sadly its not there. There is an additional 9 minute making of featurette on this edition which shows how difficult films like this are to make. Keith Merrill also made Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic, which is done in exactly the same style as GC.

This DVD is so dark and grainy...but then it dawns on you...you can sit and see the actual joints of the imax screen from which this was RE-filmed! This was no DIGITAL transfer, but actually FILMED INSIDE AN IMAX SCREENING! The graphic quality is horrible! The content would be fine otherwise. Thank God I got this dvd at Target for 9.99. I feel like I was robbed by the dvd manufacturer, Slingshot entertainment. Ouch!

This DVD was disappointing for two reasons. One, the color, no matter what the scene is brown. Yes, I realize the Grand Canyon is brown, but its comprised of so many beautiful shades that change with the light throughout the day. None of this is captured in the film. Second, the narration is a mumble at best. It's difficult to hear & after a while, you don't even care. Overall, not a good example of IMAX technology.

After the spectacular IMAX "Super Speedway" I looked forward to this DVD, but was sorely disappointed. Many shots have the look of being filmed a little soft, then digitally sharpened, producing a nasty ringing along edges. Also, the camera is clearly vibrating during many static shots, leaving the picture trembling and hard to watch. Moving shots are generally good, though the print shows evidence of dirt and streaks. Narration is pompous, and the attempt at narrative is like the worst educational films. Even the packaging has problems, listing chapters and times for the documentary supplement incorrectly. The only bright point was the sound, which was a quite good Dolby Digital 5.1 channel mix.

After arguing with Slingshot Entertainments customer service person, I emailed her boss.

He advised me that they were re-mastering this dvd, and reissuing a new version. He then sent me the new version, and it is a 100 percent improvement. The dark and grainy version that showed the segments of the imax screen has been replaced by a first class digitally remastered version.

The cover looks different than the original.

If you have problems, contact Slingshot Entertainment and request they replace your old version with the new.

Thanks to Slingshot for doing the right thing.

The narration is a bore. The transfer to DVD is horrendous...there is frequent flickering on the screen. I had hoped to see more of the Grand Canyon rather than more of the same type of idiocy that was in Slingshot's "Yellowstone". My one-star rating is super generous. If Amazon.com permitted me to do so, I'd give it a negative rating.

My dad bought this DVD in Arizona after watching the presentation at the IMAX theater but he was disappointed when we watched it at home on our Sharp LCD projector (on a 5½-foot screen). The video quality was VHS-level at best and not even close to what we've become accustomed to from DVD's. The film seemed grainy and the colors were not as distinct and lifelike as they had appeared in the theater. The audio quality was pretty good, but the narration was a bit on the dull side. The camera shots were done pretty well but we were looking forward to more helicopter fly-by shots through the Grand Canyon itself.

I hope they re-do this video from scratch and stick to the high-quality film that IMAX theaters are famous for.

In my home theater I project dvd large screen images with a RUNCO DLP projector. Nearly all dvd's are movie-theater- quality in their clarity. However, the image quality of Grand Canyon was very poor and not up to IMAX standards at all.

What do you get when you watch a 30+ minuet movie about the Grand Canyon that spends no time discussing what the GC is and how it was formed, spends about 1 minuet covering 4000 years of history of the native people that inhabited it, and a few minuets covering John Wesley Powell river expedition? That's right...... Grand Canyon - The Hidden Secrets

I had the pleasure of spending an entire day hiking along various trails of the canyon the day before I decided to watch the movie hoping to learn more about the canyon. I honestly thought watching the movie would enhance my hiking experience the day before. So to say the movie was a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT is the understatement of the year. The film lacked depth in providing historical and factual information on the Native inhabitants as well as the early settlers. The film also failed to accurately depict most of the canyon's wildlife. Nothing in that film truly showed me what the canyon truly was and how it came to exist. All I saw were close-up (and slow-motion) shots of settlers' boats battling through the Colorado river rapids, and a guy in a hang-glider towards the end. It was pitiful attempt at a sales pitch to encourage viewers to do a whitewater/helicopter/hang-gliding tour. I will admit that (in the IMAX version) some of the aerial views were pretty spectacular but their luster wore away pretty quickly. If you want to buy or watch a movie that lacks depth and substance, but instead is a cheap sales attempt to lure you into purchasing the canyon's "recreational" services then by all means, this movie is for you. If you were like me, and wanted to see a movie depict the canyon from a historical/scientific context (you know, something you would see on discovery channel) then this movie is not (and I repeat IS NOT) for you! For the first time in my life I demanded a refund after seeing a movie. I plan on voicing my humble opinion to the makers of this movie as well.

This movie lacks substance and will not fail to disappoint you no matter what format you watch it in.

Strange transfer to DVD. I remember being much more impressed with the IMAX film/format in the theater. The disc is anemic. Scratches were transferred directly from the original print to the disc, also the MPEG-2 compression is so horrible that each motion sequence leaves nausea-inducing video artifacts. There was no telecine operator, or if there was he was smoking dope and never actually watched the film transfer of this turkey. At a mere 38 minutes this seems inexcusable, but at least the film mercifully ends prior to me having to take a second dramamine tablet.

Bill Conti's score--awful.

Hoping next disc is released directly to the landfill thus bypassing the consumer viewing phase.