Product Details

• Actors: None
• Directors: None
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Topics Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: November 10, 2009
• Run Time: 210 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002PYAY2S
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #238,579 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Topics Entertainment Release Date: 11/03/2009

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wish it was available in Blu-ray, August 16, 2010

By 

Mister X (Newburgh, Indiana) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: National Parks: Southwest (PBS) (DVD)

I love this series. So peaceful. Too bad it is standard def. Ran on PBS HD a lot a few years ago. Looking forward to it being available on Blu-ray from KUED someday.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars No sense of priority. Shows mostly stupid scenery(shrubs,ravens,horses).Fails to show the best scenery (Delicate Arch). Blurry., March 21, 2011

By 

Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: National Parks: Southwest (PBS) (DVD)

Outside of Yosemite National Park, the most majestic landscapes on this planet can be found in southern Utah, where one can find Arches National Park (with nearby Fisher Towers), Capitol Reef National Park (with the astonishing Cathedral Valley), Canyonlands National Park, Goosenecks, Natural Bridges National Monument, and so on.

The first (DVD-1) and third discs (DVD-3) in this set, are to be commended for their attempt to cover some of these scenic areas. I was glad that the much overlooked GOBLIN VALLEY STATE PARK was included in DVD-1. I was also inspired by the footage taken from a hang glider over parts of the northern half of CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK in DVD-1. The aerial view of RAINBOW BRIDGE is another one of the fine highlights of Utah DVD-1.

Most of the material on DVD-1 was taken from a helicopter. This is fine, since it enables the cinematographer to cover more geography in a shorter time than what might be covered by an automobile. Moreover, remote scenic areas that can be accessed only hiking, become instantly accessable by helicopter.

But a tiny little problem with this DVD-1 is that the authors have no sense of priority. For example, roughly equal segments of time in DVD-1 are given to these topics:

(1) Arches National Park by helicopter;

(2) A close-up of a black raven (not from helicopter);

(3) A close-up of several horses galloping through a stream (not from helicopter);

(4) An aerial view of Blanding.

Blanding, from the sky, looks no different from any typical small town in the central valley in California, or in the middle of Oklahoma. But this DVD does a disservice to the Town of Blanding. Blanding has a DINOSAUR MUSEUM. But from this DVD, all you would know is that Blanding is just another town sporting a dingy main street and a shopping mall.

The fact that the greatest scenic area in the United States of America, namely, ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, was so quickly skimmed over by this DVD, is shocking (literally and figuratively skimmed over).

The fact that ARCHES NATIONAL PARK was not given one second more time than footage of the horses stomping through a stream makes no sense to this reviewer. Many Americans know that DELICATE ARCH, found in ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, is one of the symbols and icons of the United States of America, just as the Grand Canyon, Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, the Empire State Building, and the Liberty Bell, are some of our most recognizable and cherished symbols. But DVD-1 fails to point out DELICATE ARCH. (Only the seasoned Utahphile will be able to notice DELICATE ARCH. It is given about one quarter of a second in the DVD. The helicopter quickly flies right over it. To repeat, DELICATE ARCH is given one quarter of a second of time in this DVD.)

Another problem is that NATURAL BRIDGES is not shown. While NATURAL BRIDGES NATIONAL MONUMENT is not as famous as ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, it is arguably more awesome, more beautiful, and more unique. Too bad there is nothing here about NATURAL BRIDGES on DVD-1 or on DVD-3.

Yet another problem is that GOOSENECKS STATE PARK was filmed only by a helicopter flying low inside the canyon itelf. From deep inside the GOOSENECKS STATE PARK canyon, it is impossible to distinguish this park from dozens of other rivers that flow within the confines of a narrow canyon, for example, as might be found in Oklahoma, Nevada, North Carolina, or California. The seasoned Utahphile will know that GOOSENECKS STATE PARK can be best appreciated for its unique majesty from a higher vantage point, for example, when standing at edge of the rim, or when flying overhead.

It is perplexing that DVD-1 gives equal priority to aerial views of little towns with their dusty main streets containing strip malls and windblown grit from the desert, and to the GREAT SCENIC ICONS OF AMERICA. Why is this?

Another problem is the narrative. At one point, the helicopter is flying over the shores of the GREAT SALT LAKE. The narrator says, "The first and last impression that one gets of this lake is its deadness." But at the same moment, hundreds of shorebirds are shown flying over the shoreline. Then, immediately thereafter, there is a land-based view (not a helicopter) of birds sitting on their nests at the shore of the GREAT SALT LAKE. To emphasize this point, how is film footage a colony of thousands of shorebirds, busily flapping their wings, and busily munching on brine shrimp and brine flies from the lake, compatible with the statement, "The first and last impression that one gets of this lake is its deadness." The longer one views this DVD, the more one realizes how absurd and unwatchable it is.

The music in DVD-1 is a folk guitar being strummed with somebody playing drums and somebody else noodling on a cello. The image quality of DVD-1 is poor, probably because a small movie camera was used, and also because most of the scenes were taken from a moving helicopter.

DVD-3 is clearly better than DVD-1, but DVD-3 suffers from some bizarre aspects. The image quality of DVD-3 is much better than that of DVD-1, probably because a tripod (ground-based filming) was used for most of the images in DVD-3. The music is all classical music, for example, Tchaikovsky. DVD-3 shows parts of CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK, but the coverage of this park is sporadic at best. What is missing is the majestic CHESLER PARK area of Canyonlands National Park. Then, DVD-3 covers ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, and the camera does a fine job showing DELICATE ARCH and a few other arches. A great feature about this part of the disc is that we see winter scenes, where the desert is covered with snow. Then, we move to CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK, BRYCE NATIONAL PARK, and ZION NATIONAL PARK. In Capitol Reef National Park, we are treated to excellent views of Cathedral Valley and to glass mountain. DVD-3 seems to do a very thorough job with BRYCE. Now, what about those bizarre aspects? About 80% of DVD-3 shows closeups of streams, closeups of puddles, closeups of weeds, closeups of flowers, closeups of branches in trees, and time-lapse images of the sky. In other words, most of DVD-3 could have been filmed in Wisconsin or in New Jersey. From DVD-3, I was under the distinct impression that the cinematographer finds the landscapes in Utah to be disgusting. Why does DVD-3 spend so much time showing water flowing down small streams? Why does DVD-3 spend so much time showing small boulders sitting in creeks and brooks? Why does DVD-3 spend so much time showing puddles? Why? Why? Why?

DVD-4 (40 minutes) is called YELLOWSTONE SERENADE. Most of this disc is about the Grand Tetons. There is a good deal of magnificent footage of clouds mingling about the dramatic peaks of these mountains. Clearly, this disc is distinguished from the others in that the cinematographer was intelligent and creative. This disc also contains some footage from Yellowstone National Park. There is some fleeting footage of some steaming hot springs. There are scenes of the white mineral deposits. There is an amazing 10 second helicopter shot of a long line of traveling deer, perhaps one fifth of a mile long. There are many scenes of buffalo, including baby buffalo, and there are many scenes of deer, including deer locking horns. Fortunately, this disc does not include any tourists, and the shots of flowers is kept to a MINIMUM! Now, for the bad part. This disc is supposed to be about Yellowstone National Park, right? But the entire 40 minute DVD shows less than ten seconds of geysers. At the 28 minute time point, there is a 3 second sequence showing a geyser. And at the 37 minute time point, there is another 3 second bit of footage showing a geyser. Thus, although the footage of the Grand Tetons is a wonder to behold, the disc could reasonably be characterized as being weird and bizarre. In other words, why would anybody try to sell a DVD called, "Yellowstone Serenade" that does NOT include geysers.

I can only think of one use for this series of discs. The movies could be displayed in the window of a travel agency, or inside a hotel lobby, as an innocuous sort of decoration for momentarily stimulating pedestrians as they walk quickly by. After discarding all of these DVDs in the trash, I found that the box was handy for storing other compact discs, for example, compact discs containing home-sound recordings.