You know that Blu-ray has come of age when niche marketing embraces the new format. And it doesn't get any nichier than these offerings from Questar Entertainment. Questar has developed a DVD boxed set called "Treasures of America's National Parks," but, filming and mastering the discs in High Definition, they're also releasing a series of three discs in Blu-ray. These are shows that were produced in partnership with and aired on the Travel Channel in 2006.
"Scenic National Parks" features three Blu-rays that are available singly or in a specially priced three-pack. The first, "Yellowstone," also includes neighboring Grand Teton National Park and features segments on whitewater rafting, working a dude ranch, and hiking numerous trails. "Yosemite" shows those granite peaks, towering sequoias, and thundering waterfalls that are among the world's tallest, with bears putting in an appearance and a canyon-floor view of "rattlesnake country." The third disc, "Grand Canyon," is the one that I was sent to review. And I have to say, straight off, that I found the production values, script, and editing to be impressive. This is no amateur effort, but neither is it an Imax experience that's designed to take your breath away. There are breathtaking shots here too, but the camera angles and the narrative itself are less auspicious than "Planet Earth" narratives and more down to earth, if that makes any sense. It's all more matter-of-fact than it is scripted "ooos" and "aahhhs."
Maybe it's the inclusion of activities one is apt to encounter that makes this seem more like a tourism sampler than a Blu-ray that exalts nature's grandeur. But I found that refreshing. After all, most people who enjoy nature like to experience it first-hand, and this series includes the kind of adventures you might have if you were to travel to one of the featured National Parks.
"Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon" is a nice blend of facts, aerial footage, and up-close-and-personal shots of people experiencing the park. We're told that Grand Canyon occupies some 1.2 million acres and spreads 18 miles from rim to rim across the northern corner of Arizona. There are just enough talking heads here to add a little authority, but not so many that they begin to vie for screen time with the scenery itself, and that's another plus. The "heads" are also judiciously selected. We hear from a Northern Arizona University historian and geologist, a whitewater rafting operator, a livery manager who's in charge of maintaining the mules that are used to ride down to the canyon floor, a "rim runner," a park ranger, and even a Hualapai tribal historian who talks about the sacredness of the canyonlands that are not part of the National Park.
What's nice about this collection is that it meanders, rather than rushes through. Instead of just a few seconds' clip about exploring the canyon via mule train, we see and hear the instructions that the riders are given before they mount up, and we follow them down the zig-zap path to their eventual destination: Phantom Ranch. Instead of just a quick burst of footage showing the highlights of a whitewater rafting trip, we're again treated to a fuller sense of what it entails-from the preparation and "doldrums" through the rapids and finally the quieter (or sillier) moments. You'll know after watching this Blu-ray whether hopping in a car and signing up for a whitewater trip or mule ride is the thing for you.
There's history here, too, from former Illinois Wesleyan University professor John Wesley Powell's early excursions-he was the first professor to take students on field trips, and what field trips they were!-to a more current pioneer, a woman named Georgie White Clark who was the first to design a bigger raft to accommodate more people at more affordable prices. There's footage of the people responsible for protecting the hikers and adventurers, too, and we learn that there are 400 emergencies per year, several daily during the peak summer months. It's more than a little interesting to see proactive "rangering," as rangers stop hikers on their way down the canyon to ask them about how far they plan on going, and to gauge whether they have the stamina, the time, the weather conditions, and the food and water to enable them to carry out their plan. Or else, they talk them into "Plan B." Only 10 percent of the park's visitors make it to the north rim, we're told, and so I can imagine people watching footage of Grand Canyon Lodge and thinking, I've got to be one of the few who actually gets there.
You know that Blu-ray has come of age when niche marketing embraces the new format. And it doesn't get any nichier than these offerings from Questar Entertainment. Questar has developed a DVD boxed set called "Treasures of America's National Parks," but, filming and mastering the discs in High Definition, they're also releasing a series of three discs in Blu-ray. These are shows that were produced in partnership with and aired on the Travel Channel in 2006.
"Scenic National Parks" features three Blu-rays that are available singly or in a specially priced three-pack. The first, "Yellowstone," also includes neighboring Grand Teton National Park and features segments on whitewater rafting, working a dude ranch, and hiking numerous trails. "Yosemite" shows those granite peaks, towering sequoias, and thundering waterfalls that are among the world's tallest, with bears putting in an appearance and a canyon-floor view of "rattlesnake country." The third disc, "Grand Canyon," is the one that I was sent to review. And I have to say, straight off, that I found the production values, script, and editing to be impressive. This is no amateur effort, but neither is it an Imax experience that's designed to take your breath away. There are breathtaking shots here too, but the camera angles and the narrative itself are less auspicious than "Planet Earth" narratives and more down to earth, if that makes any sense. It's all more matter-of-fact than it is scripted "ooos" and "aahhhs."
Maybe it's the inclusion of activities one is apt to encounter that makes this seem more like a tourism sampler than a Blu-ray that exalts nature's grandeur. But I found that refreshing. After all, most people who enjoy nature like to experience it first-hand, and this series includes the kind of adventures you might have if you were to travel to one of the featured National Parks.
"Scenic National Parks: Grand Canyon" is a nice blend of facts, aerial footage, and up-close-and-personal shots of people experiencing the park. We're told that Grand Canyon occupies some 1.2 million acres and spreads 18 miles from rim to rim across the northern corner of Arizona. There are just enough talking heads here to add a little authority, but not so many that they begin to vie for screen time with the scenery itself, and that's another plus. The "heads" are also judiciously selected. We hear from a Northern Arizona University historian and geologist, a whitewater rafting operator, a livery manager who's in charge of maintaining the mules that are used to ride down to the canyon floor, a "rim runner," a park ranger, and even a Hualapai tribal historian who talks about the sacredness of the canyonlands that are not part of the National Park.
What's nice about this collection is that it meanders, rather than rushes through. Instead of just a few seconds' clip about exploring the canyon via mule train, we see and hear the instructions that the riders are given before they mount up, and we follow them down the zig-zap path to their eventual destination: Phantom Ranch. Instead of just a quick burst of footage showing the highlights of a whitewater rafting trip, we're again treated to a fuller sense of what it entails-from the preparation and "doldrums" through the rapids and finally the quieter (or sillier) moments. You'll know after watching this Blu-ray whether hopping in a car and signing up for a whitewater trip or mule ride is the thing for you.
There's history here, too, from former Illinois Wesleyan University professor John Wesley Powell's early excursions-he was the first professor to take students on field trips, and what field trips they were!-to a more current pioneer, a woman named Georgie White Clark who was the first to design a bigger raft to accommodate more people at more affordable prices. There's footage of the people responsible for protecting the hikers and adventurers, too, and we learn that there are 400 emergencies per year, several daily during the peak summer months. It's more than a little interesting to see proactive "rangering," as rangers stop hikers on their way down the canyon to ask them about how far they plan on going, and to gauge whether they have the stamina, the time, the weather conditions, and the food and water to enable them to carry out their plan. Or else, they talk them into "Plan B." Only 10 percent of the park's visitors make it to the north rim, we're told, and so I can imagine people watching footage of Grand Canyon Lodge and thinking, I've got to be one of the few who actually gets there.
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