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List Price: $99.99 | | Label: PBS (DIRECT)
Salesrank: 116
Released: October 6, 2009 |
| Our Price: $57.88 |
| Used Price: $88.98 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
THE NATIONAL PARKS is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved for everyone. The series traces the birth of the national park idea in the mid-1800s and follows its evolution for nearly 150 years, chronicling the addition of new parks through the stories of the people who helped create them.
This film is presented in "widescreen" format. Enchanced for 16x9 televisions.
Audio: English 5.1 Surround, English 2.0 Stereo, Spanish 2.0 Stereo, Described Video for the Visualy Impaired
Subtitles: English & Spanish
Region: NTSC 1
Ken Burns: National Parks - America's Best Idea Reviews:
Wonderful video for the whole family to enjoy 
2009-11-27 - The DVD's brought back some warm memories. There was a statement that visiting the National Parks is 'like coming home', I believe this to be very true. I believe very American should be given the opportunity to view these wonderful DVD's I know my family enjoyed them. It was like coming home. If these DVD's are not in every school in America they should be, the history lesson was inspiritually.
The Star should have been the National Parks 
2009-11-26 - I love our National Parks and Memorials, and think they are some of our greatest national treasures. I have personally visited Yellowstone National Park, Grand Tetons National Park, Glacier National Park, Acadia National Park, Zion National Park, Bryce National Park, Olympia National Park, Mt. Rainier National Park, Mesa Verde National Park, Arches National Park, Everglades National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, Sequoia National Park, Devil's Tower National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Navajo National Monument, Crater Lake National Park, Mammoth Cave National Park, Mt Rushmore National Monument, and Badlands National Park. I was so looking forward to the latest Ken Burns movie, National Parks - America's Best Idea, but I was terribly disappointed. I wanted to hear some of the history, but I didn't want it to be a large chunk of the series. I often felt like I was hearing Dayton Duncan's vacation story, and why the park was important to him. I expected the most beautiful scenery I had ever seen, vistas that are often overlooked, interviews with the people visiting the park, tips on must see excursions, etc. I was hoping to see things that I missed, and be inspired to return to the parks to experience them. I felt rather empty after seeing this series, with my past experiences remaining my guiding compass to return to the parks, experiencing new venues and re-experiencing previous highlights. My memories of a butterfly landing on my small child's finger in Acadia, seeing coyotes running through the campground in Yellowstone, camping in Navajo National Monument with only 2 other groups in the park and being spooked by the wind, going whale and puffin watching off the coast of Acadia, and walking around the glaciers in Glacier National Park, will continue to be some of the reasons I go back to the parks.
Unique story, beautiful cinematography
2009-11-15 - Who knew a history of the national parks could be this interesting? Unique story. Beautiful cinematography. Well worth the price to buy and time to watch.
DVD Series
2009-11-12 - I bought this as a Christmas present for my wife after viewing the series on television. Great product, great price, quick delivery. The perfect combination.
Should be called "Political History of National Parks"
2009-11-11 - This should have been entitled "A Political History of National Parks". And even if it would have had that title, it would still be boring.
How can a respected film-maker like Ken Burns whose previous series are endlessly entertaining and informative at the same time (which is what a documentary should be), come up with this poorly edited, poorly written montage of political interviews? The answer is he didn't. The credits note that Dayton Duncan actually wrote the show. Dayton Duncan is a leftist bureacrat who wrote a book called "Out West" about 20 years ago where he did a modern day car trip that roughly paralleled Lewis and Clark. So I warn you that you think you are getting a Burns documentary but it is really not his product. Kind of like the latest Tom Clancy books that are plastered with his name but turn out to have been "inspired" by Clancy or he has read over the plot of some other author. Not the same thing at all.
So you have to watch this knowing that it really isn't the typical Ken Burns product.
Also the series is mostly about the politics behind the National Parks. Which is an interesting subject but not necessarily what you think you are getting. And even when this series is lecturing on some political struggle, it could have actually showed you parks instead of some scruffy-looking, boring ranger.
I really wanted to like this series. As a biologist, I am in love with the American National Parks idea. I enjoy history and politics. But this series is not at all what it could and should have been. A couple of hours is plenty to discuss the politics of National Parks.
The worst part of this series is frankly that it is boring. How do you take a majestic subject like National Parks and make it boring? Even if you only concentrate on politics, there have been enough political shenanigans involving them that it would be hard not to make this interesting and even controversial. I think that Duncan was trying to give us an environmental and political lecture and hiding it behind the National Parks idea. These are not compatible, in my view. Also, many of the lecturers are the same tired bunch of people that have popped up in Duncan's writings for decades. I've read their thoughts before and didn't find this reincarnation to be any different.
I fear the glowing pollyanna-like 5 star reviews have mostly not watched the series, and if they have, they are simply stating that they like wilderness and National Park ideals (as do I).
I've been in the Sierra Club, I've worked in this field, and I still had to force myself to watch these episodes hoping that the next part would be better. Way too often I woke up an hour later snoring. 2 stars is the best I could muster for this mixed-up and poorly edited series. Before you buy, by all means check out the 5 star reviews also. But I think you'll find I was right.
