Customer Reviews

National Parks of Alaska

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

 

 

They should have named this dvd A Sportsman's Paradise in Alaska and dropped the price to $10.99. If I had to edit this dvd I would probably cut out more than half of it. The intro is terrible and the first 9 minutes made me want to send it back immediately. Chapter three contains several minutes of time-lapsed photography that is not aesthetically appealing, uninteresting and rather distressing. They focused too long and too often on the bears and I thought the two separate segments on the mother bear feeding her cubs was intrusive. The two crusise ships and the hydroplane skimming the water were totally out of place for a NATURE video and the bear walking the floating aluminum bridge seemed pointless. Scenes shot from the water where the camera was bobbing up and down were bothersome. That was most likely due to the wave action created by the huge chunks of ice falling into the water so it should have been shot from a different location. On the upside, there are some superb scenes between all the stuff I would edit out. The landscape scenes are exquisite as is the flora and there wasn't much fauna that I saw. There was so much more of the landscape that could have been exploited for this video like the caverns in the rock formations and scenes that focused on the wooded areas would have been so much better had they been longer and more in depth. My guess is some of this footage was used for Titanic. The ending leaves one cold as it is focused on a bear for the fourth time, standing on the edge of a waterfall waiting to catch his next meal. They know what viewing animals on all fours do to our postures.

Nature and classical music just don't seem a likely combination to me and I would have chosen something more earthy and native to Alaska to accentuate its beautiful scenery.

Sorry to say compared to Glacier National Park this was a real disappointment. Alaska is a beautiful place rich with all kinds of beauty but this video just didn't capture all it could have and overall I gave it a 2, the quality of SOME of the imagery does deserves a 5. I wouldn't spend $17.99 for it again and I'm considering sending it back. I don't see 25,000 hours of video taping in this DVD and I won't purchase another Image Entertainment Video or any other video of this kind unless I can preview it first. I don't have $18 to throw away on something that has been misrepresented by advertising or lack thereof and I don't mean to be cruel but I don't have money to throw around frivolously and I'm sure there are millions of other Americans who don't either, especially if you choose to return it you can only get half your money back because it's opened. I guess they expect you to be able to see through the packaging.

This is a wonderful dvd, and an excellent value for the money. The footage of the bears and moose is breathtaking. The scenes of the bald eagles are inspirational.

I enjoyed viewing the supperb images in this video. I personally prefer explications, which makes a video more informative. I had a strange feeling that the things are mixed-up a little bit, and the seasons jumped back and forth. It IS a great movie except that I simply expected too much.