Customer Reviews

National Parks of the West By Train [VHS]

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

 

 

If you love beautiful scenery, the magnificent vistas of some of our most spectacular national parks, like Bryce, Zion and The Grand Canyon, you'll love this two-hour video. And if you love trains, you'll be in heaven. The train is the completely refurbished New York Central. The lounge car with its fully stocked bar, plush furniture and baby grand piano, the dining car with its fine linen, silver and fresh flowers on every table and club cars with fine wood paneling and stained glass windows. It's the American Orient Express, that takes well-healed tourists on a priviledged journey from one magnificent place of beauty to another. It's a trip only the well-to-do can afford, but this video makes it affordable for everyone. The commentary from the group's tour guides - experts from the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, makes the tour very educational as well.

This is a wonderful program about the American Orient Express as it travels from one national park to another. It is beautifully done. Everything is good about it! But be warned, this is only part one of a two-part production --- and part two has not been released on DVD. This disc includes the trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. The last part of the trip, which includes the Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater, is missing from the disc. To see them you'll have to buy part two. Unfortunately, part two doesn't exist on DVD. It's a shame, because this is a very nice program for fans of the American Orient Express. I hope part two will be released soon.

I read the other reviews before I purchased this DVD. I was a bit surprised at the low price, but bought it anyway. The other reviewer is right, in that there is a build-up for Part 2 but none is offered,so you are left hanging. But that is not my main objection to this DVD.

The whole thing seems like the work of an amateur who has bought his first video camera, took a tour on a train, recorded his trip with fellow travelers making awkward comments, a few lame tour director narratives, then got home and used video editing software to piece it together. The photography is generally poor. Poor focus, poor exposure, poor composition, poorly positioned, jerking from one view to the next. The camera is pulled into a dark environment without adjusting the exposure, then switched into bright light, with glare and overexposure slowly adjusted back. Most is shot in basically poor light, either high contrast or heavy overcast. You do not, except for rare occasions, get a good view of the National Parks or the train ride there and back. It would not make you want to take the trip. All the talk about the American Orient Express is wasted, since the camera work makes it all look very ordinary. Many other DVDs have been made on similar topics with dramatically better results. I am not sure it is worth even this low price. Perhaps this explains why a Part 2 has not been made.