Glacier

Studio: Finley Holiday Film
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Teenage nostalgia does not age well.
Slow moving rotoscoped animation
Action Packed Fantasy Fun!
One of my all-time favorites. A real gem of a film.
Frazetta animated, 'nuff said!

Fire and Ice (2-Disc Limited Edition)
Starring: Randy Norton , Cynthia Leake , Steve Sandor , Sean Hannon , and Leo Gordon
Director: Ralph Bakshi , and Lance Laspina
Manufacturer: Blue Underground
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Wizards
Frazetta - Painting with Fire
Rock & Rule (2-Disc Collector's Edition)
Icon
Starchaser - Legend of Orin

ASIN: B000A2LV4W
Release Date: 2005-08-30

Amazon.com

The mighty-muscled heroes and big-bottomed babes of fantasy artist Frank Frazetta inspired animator Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat, Wizards) to create the swords-and-sorcery epic Fire and Ice. Bakshi uses a technique called rotoscoping, which uses live-action film of actors as the template for animation, allowing him to put realistic action into fantastic environments. The verisimilitude of movement in a cartoon can be startling, but that's about all Fire and Ice has to offer; the wafer-thin story, overwrought characters, and clumsy dialogue are vapid cliches. Of much greater interest are the extras in this two-disc set, including a making-of feature that demonstrates the painstaking process of rotoscoping; enthusiastic commentary from Bakshi, who's a jovial, down-to-earth guy with a thick Brooklyn accent; deliriously fatuous diary notes from one of the actors; and a feature-length documentary called Frazetta: Painting with Fire, which reveals the artist to be more intriguing than any of the barbarians he's famous for. The effusive praise of other fantasy artists and "Frazetta historians" occasionally veers into Spinal Tap territory, but it's fascinating watching Frazetta turn from a 1950s James-Dean-style tough guy into the king of fantasy art. Though his work is often dismissed as adolescent kitsch, the documentary persuasively argues that Frazetta deservedly dominates his corner of the art world. --Bret Fetzer

Description

From The Director Of The Original Animated LORD OF THE RINGS And The Illustrator Of CONAN THE BARBARIAN

It began as a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between two of the greatest icons of the fantasy genre: Controversial animator Ralph Bakshi (director of FRITZ THE CAT, WIZARDS and the original THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and legendary illustrator Frank Frazetta (creator of the iconic CONAN THE BARBARIAN, VAMPIRELLA and Edgar Rice Burroughs book covers). It became - and remains - one of the most startling animation epics of all time. Now experience a world unlike any ever seen, where savage warriors, horrific monsters and luscious maidens battle for the soul of a civilization in a time of good and evil, pleasure and pain, and FIRE & ICE

This long-unavailable cult favorite has been remastered in High Definition from the original vault materials, remixed in stunning 6.1 DTS-ES and 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX, and loaded with exciting Extras.

Disc 2 contains FRAZETTA: PAINTING WITH FIRE, the acclaimed 93 minute documentary that explores the remarkable life and career of the man who changed fantasy art forever.

Archer Winsten, NEW YORK POST
"Fantastic Monsters, Nightmarish Visions And Gobs Of Action!"

Customer Reviews:

Teenage nostalgia does not age well........2007-06-26

Fire and Ice (Ralph Bakshi, 1983)

Sometimes I wonder what on earth filmmakers were thinking when they made movies. More often, I wonder what I was thinking when I was enthralled with them. In this case, though, I don't need to do either--when Fire and Ice came out, I was fourteen years old, male, and not terribly experienced with the opposite sex--in other words, I was Ralph Bakshi's exact target audience. Now I'm thirty-eight, married, and have a more encyclopedic knowledge of eighties and nineties exploitation cinema (read: porn) than I'm sure anyone in my family would like to acknowledge; rewatching Fire and Ice these days, I look back and grieve that my fourteen-year-old self had such bad taste. (But then, in 1983, my all-time favorite movie was Deathsport. No, I can't explain it either.)

Fire and Ice, which All-Movie Guide calls "Bakshi's last stab at epic fantasy", concerns two kingdoms, the established human kingdom ruled by fire, and the upstart kingdom of outcasts and half-breeds, the kingdom of Ice. Needless to say, one is wise and good, and the other is twisted and evil. Interestingly, there are a few places in the script where denizens of either kingdom could waver from their one-dimensionality and suddenly bring depth and richness to the script; we're dangling there waiting for Bakshi to drop the apple into our mouths, but of course it's snatched away as quickly as it's offered. Cruel, I tell you. But then, no one's supposed to be paying attention to the script; we're supposed to be too busy, erm, "watching" Tigre (voice of Cynthia Leake), who starts the movie wearing something that looks as if it's supposed to be a diaphanous lavender negligee over a couple of pieces of filmy stuff that pass as underwear. But only for the first third of the movie, after which the negligee-thing goes away. Draw some luscious, and entirely unrealistic, curves, and the audience's collective brain will be interested in nothing else; at least, this seems to have been the thinking behind this production. (Add in a cameo from Batman--and I swear, the character looks like the ancestor of the animated version of Batman from the seventies--and you'll kill off the last few collective brain cells still struggling to recover from the onslaught of Tigre-flesh.)

But the worst part is that, after realizing all this, I still sat through the entire eighty-one minutes this weekend. I'm pretty sure I didn't drool, but there may be some extra gaps in the gray matter I should probably have my doctor take a look at. *

Slow moving rotoscoped animation.......2007-05-26

The storyline for this movie was interesting, but took so long to get moving I started to lose interest. If it was a one-hour movie, it probably would have been more entertaining. The Big Bad Evil Ice Guy is attempting to conquer the Good Guy Fire King, but most of the time is spent with the Fire King's scantily clad, fantasy-proportioned princess running from ape-like soldiers and being rescued over-and-over by a sole-surviving warrior from one of her father/king's tribes. It all wraps up very quickly in the end. If you like Frazzetta, then you'll notice this is a whole movie of his paintings in rotoscoped animation.

Action Packed Fantasy Fun!.......2007-01-03

If you liked Conan the Barbarian or even Thundarr the Barbarian you'll like this movie.

One of my all-time favorites. A real gem of a film........2006-12-01

I highly recommend this title to anyone who likes films in the fantasy genre. Even after all these years I still enjoy watching this film for what could probably be the 100th time. The animation techniques were very innovative for the time. The storyline is compelling and the characters are fascinating. This is one DVD that I am very happy to have been able to get my hands on and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something unique and special.

Frazetta animated, 'nuff said!.......2006-11-22

He is awesome. Anyone who dobuts the Rotoscope, see this movie.

Know what's cooler? If you are an illustrator/animator, you could do that movie today? (Hopefully something original along those lines)

Just get Poser 5 or higher, a good animation software package (ToonBoom seems to be leading) and work out a storyboard. Then, have the 3D figs act out the basic moves and trace over them, using the computer to extend your art style.

A literal "Animated Movie" would still be a labor of Hercules, but 3-10 minute shorts would be quite doable;-)

Average customer rating:

Great Documentary
Packed with Facts -- MADE-UP FACTS
Don't miss this rare gem
gorgeous and safe for kids

Alaska: Spirit of the Wild

Manufacturer: Razor
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Over Alaska
IMAX Presents: Australia - Land Beyond Time
Alaska's Inside Passage
Africa the Serengeti
Whales - An Unforgettable Journey (Large Format)

ASIN: B000A0GXI8
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Customer Reviews:

Great Documentary.......2007-06-16

I thought this one was great. Disregard what old "Barbra" said. She cites Wikipedia as her official source for information. I won't even go there. She is obviously confused and probably in her senior years. This is a great fact filled documentary and I highly recommend it.

Packed with Facts -- MADE-UP FACTS.......2007-04-02

If you want to fill your kids with with misinformation about Alaska, this is the movie for you. The scriptwriter apparently flew by the seat of his pants, making stuff up as he went along.

The script says that the famous Iditarod dogsled race originated to commemorate the Gold Rush. Wrong. The Iditarod commemorates a desperate dogsled race against time to transport smallpox vaccine from Anchorage to Nome, where children where dying of the disease.

In another error-filled scene, the script refers to the fiercesome black bear. Clips are shown of wolves, foxes and even elk cowering and running for cover because of a black bear. They were probably running from the camera crew. Wikipedia describes black bears as omnivores whose diet relies most heavily on grasses, herbs, fruits, and mast. They also feed on carrion and insects such as carpenter ants, yellow jackets, bees, and termites, and raid bees nests for honey. They sometimes kill and eat small rodents. They seldom attack other animals unless cornered, threatened, or wounded.

People believe the stuff in these documentaries, especially children. Parents, beware of scriptwriters such as the one who wrote the narration for this film. He was intoxicated with his purple prose and made up his own drama when the real facts weren't conveniently at hand. This guy should be writing soaps, not nature documentaries.

A pox on this movie. Smallpox, if you like.

Don't miss this rare gem.......2006-07-15

This fine IMAX production really captures the spirit of the Alaska region, though focusing upon the animals and geological features, not the people. Not that people are not interesting (I would not mind seeing a documentary on innupiat), but it is not every day I see a polar bear for instance, so give me a break.

I have seen dumb IMAX movies before. This is not one of those duds. This is the best IMAX production I have ever seen bar none. There was one other IMAX movie about Alaskan explorers, or mountain climbers, something along those lines. It stunk. I don't even remember the title. I had paid the price of two tickets to see it. That was the last IMAX movie I ever paid to watch in the cinema.

The problem with cinema is they want to charge $5, $10, then hit you hard for snacks and drinks of lousy quality. Fine. Then the movie better be awesome. Yet ninety-five percent of movies stink. So I never go to the cinema, and hardly anyone I know ever goes to the cinema. If you are a cinema owner, this is why you are looking at bankruptcy down the road.

In a sea of dumb documentaries, this shines like a lighthouse, showing the way for all those wannabe producers struggling to navigate through the waters of film-making. Very hard-to-get footage. I am not sure how the camera crew got so near to wild predators like wolves and bears. You tell me.

gorgeous and safe for kids.......2006-04-06

This is wonderful for the family. Super shots of scenery and animals (the latter with good humor as well). Charleton Heston's narration is apt and not overdone (though the volume is a bit low as compared with the otherwise excellent music soundtrack that is Aaron Copeland-esque). A very nice intro to the glories of Alaska, it even includes a bit of history on the Gold Rush.

Great Lodges of the National Parks - Glacier & Pacific Northwest Lodges

Average customer rating:

Great Lodges of the National Parks - Glacier & Pacific Northwest Lodges

Manufacturer: Pbs (Direct)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

Great Lodges of the National Parks - Grand & Canyon Lodges
Great Lodges of the Canadian Rockies
Great Lodges of the National Parks: The Companion Book to the PBS Television Series
Great Lodges of the Canadian Rockies: The Companion Book to the PBS Television Series
The Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges, 5th (Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges)

ASIN: B00008G76E
Release Date: 2002-08-13

Description

GLACIER LODGES features lodges and a chalet in Montana's Glacier National Park: Glacier Park Lodge, with massive three-story atrium, Lake McDonald Lodge, smaller and more intimate; Many Glacier Lodge, perched in a glacial cirque; and elaborate hiking huts at Sperry Chalet. PACIFIC NORTHWEST LODGES showcases spectacular lodges in Washington and Oregon, including the Paradise Inn, Timberline Lodge, Oregon Caves Chateau, and Crater Lake Lodge.

Average customer rating:

The Ultimate DVD of New Zealand

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( U ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

New Zealand-Kiwi Country
T&T's Real Travels in New Zealand
Globe Trekker: New Zealand
New Zealand Maori Culture Traditions and History
Reader's Digest - Australia the Beautiful

ASIN: B000IAZO7G
Release Date: 2006-09-01

Description

From the producers of the award winning travel DVD "New Zealand Kiwi Country" comes "The Ultimate New Zealand DVD". Three quality New Zealand documentaries on one DVD. The first video on this 3 title DVD is entitled "Natuarlly it's New Zealand". In 30 minutes, this programme covers the best of New Zealand's fascinating and unique sights of both the North and South Islands. Second on the DVD is a 20 minute documentary about the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori. This programme is presented by New Zealand historian, Don Stafford and covers the culture, traditions and history of the Maori. The third programme is a stunning production featuring New Zealand's most walked national reserve, the Abel Tasman National Park. This video follows a typical 5 day walk through the coastal walking track of the Park. Being 43 Minutes in length, content includes beautiful golden sand beaches, lagoons, tidal estuaries and beach forests. Various accommodation options are also seen and described. This DVD represents excellent value and is perfect for those researching New Zealand or planning to visit or immigrate to this wonderful south Pacific Country.

Average customer rating:

Not bad...
Waste of Money
Stunning footage which speaks for itself
Nice, but could be better
Good images, Cheesy Music

Glacier National Park
Starring: Glacier National Park
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Music Video & Concerts | Genres | DVD | Video

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Yellowstone National Park
Yosemite National Park
Bryce & Zion National Parks
Grand Canyon National Park
National Geographic Road Guide to Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks (NG Road Guides)

ASIN: B00005UQ84
Release Date: 2002-02-19

Description

Glacier, America's northernmost national park, is an enchanting wilderness adventure. The majestic grandeur of the many glaciers, emerald lakes and streams creates a magical feeling, as if all of nature's gems were gathered and placed in one magnificent Montana park near the Canadian border. We'll journey to the top of Sun Mountain along the picturesque Going-to-the-Sun Highway, which has been described as the most beautiful sixteen-mile stretch of highway in the world.

Customer Reviews:

Not bad..........2005-09-10

I bought this DVD about a month ago. If I had to choose between this one and Yellowstone I would choose this one. The music in this DVD is more appropriate. I do not care for time-lapsed photography though, it is not good for the mind, and they wouldn't have lost anything had they left it out completely.

There is some awesome footage in this DVD but I wouldn't spend $20 on it again, for sure. If you are looking for relaxation The Waves DVDs are definitely the best. Voevodsky just needs to do something other than beaches. Wilderness DVDs, a site that sells DVDs made by the blind, also has some awesome relaxation DVDs and they offer a free sample collection, which I have, very, very nice.

Waste of Money.......2005-03-24

I am a school teacher and I bought this to show to my class. I did not know there is no narrative. It is one hour of sleeping music put to video. I would have returned it, but it was too late.

Stunning footage which speaks for itself.......2004-08-20

I really liked this one a lot ! How can I describe this ? Breathtaking footage which is comprehensive in scope and scale would be a start. All major locations in Glacier are filmed in stunning beauty, with some time-accelerated footage which is simply heart-dropping (for lack of a better adjective). All the waterfalls (at least all the ones I know of) are shown in stunning beauty to the backdrop of original and classical compositions. Local flora and fauna are also shown in their natural habitat with a sweetness and innocence which is truly endearing. Mr. Glusic certainly knows how to capture and use nature as a model in all her grandeur, and chooses bold clouds and fog in his scenes in a manner which is truly a sight to behold. Aerial fly overs of the entire park and lakes is almost a sight impossible to describe! Scenes of animals and flowers are interspersed with grand vistas of mountains and gentle waterfalls to really give the viewer a truer picture of what a visit to Glacier is actually like. All the major hotels on the lakes are shown, (which should aid the viewer in making an appropriate choice in lodging decisions.) Seasons are vividly captured, including a blustery wintery storm (brrrr), with snow falling into raging rapids. If you want something to quench the thirst of your soul, well, this did it for me. As a matter of fact, the winter scenes (especially Logan Pass footage) are some of my favorite. All in all a great DVD...I watch this with my baby on my tummy, and he loves the music. Can't wait until he is older and can appreciate the visuals as well !!! Well worth the money, IMHO.

Nice, but could be better.......2004-04-17

I liked it. But I would appreciate the ability to mute the music and just hear the sounds of nature. Also, in general, they move too quickly for my taste from one scene to the next. I freely admit however that this is a personal preference and my preference changes from scene to scene. Some scenes I like and wish they would have dwelled on, others they couldn't change the scene fast enough for me. However, I think that in general they move a little too quickly from one scene to another.

I also picked up Bryce and Zion National Parks DVD as well, by the same people and the same comments apply to it. As I have found (on Amaazon anyway) no alternative to these DVDs, I appreciate that they exist and they are definitely of good quality. But, as the title says, they could be better, in my humble opinion.

Good images, Cheesy Music.......2003-08-12

This video is great if you like cheesy, vapid music and no narration. Not what I expected. Great imagery, but very little information.

Average customer rating:

Alaska Travel Video
The title is slightly misleading

Cruise: Alaska

Manufacturer: Questar
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

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( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Alaska's Inside Passage
Video Visits: Discovering Alaska
Alaska by Cruise Ship: The Complete Guide to Cruising Alaska with Giant Pull-out Map (5th Edition)
The America's Scenic Rail Journeys: Great Alaska Train Adventure
Over Alaska

ASIN: B0000AYLJW
Release Date: 2005-05-17

Description

Roam the dramatic amnd beautiful wilderness, climb the remote and rugged mountains and glaciers, and get close to rare and wonderful wildlife. Your itinerary includes densely forested Ketchikan, with its colorful, mysterious totem poles created by early natives; mountainous Sitka, once the capital of Russian Alaska; pristine Juneau, the only state capital unreachable by car; racous Skagway, the jumping-off point for prospectors in the Klondike's great Gold Rush; charming Haines, home to the world's largest concentration of bald eagles; remote Seward, where stunning Kenai Fjords National Park went largely unexplored until the 1960s; complex Anchorage, a bustling metropolis surrounded by vast wilderness; untouched Denali, home to the first people to cross the Bering Strait from Siberia; indomitable Valdez, which overcame both the Exxon oil spill and the massive earthquake of 1964; fish-rich Homer, with its artist colony aptly named Pioneer Avenue; lush Kodiak, Alaska's largest island and longtime home to Eskimos; and historic Fairbanks, an adventurer's city lying just 200 miles south of the Artic Circle. Extra Features: Grandeur of the Glaciers - They move under their own power, crush or reshape everything in their path, and sometimes give birth to entire ecosystems. This extra feature takes a cold, hard look at these massive and magnificent ice forms. Top 10 Attractions - Lead a sled-dog team. Walk on glacial ice. Approach grouchy bears snacking on salmon. Can an average person really do all these things? This program suggests 10 activites to help make your Alaskan trip an experience of a lifetime.

Customer Reviews:

Alaska Travel Video.......2007-03-15

I was not impressed. The quality of the video is poor and seemed outdated. Don't waste your money. It's more about history then about the Port of Calls visited on your cruise. The best part was the beautiful scenery.

The title is slightly misleading.......2004-03-16

When I see a title of "Cruise Alaska", I think of views as seen from a cruise ship as it makes way through the area. This is more of an information... travel to Alaska... promotion DVD. It is well done with nice views and information of all the various towns. The female narrator gets a little dramatic for my taste, but I have seen much worse. I was not as interested in all the aspects of the various towns. I wanted to take a trip in and around Alaska with views from a cruise ship.

Descent into the Ice - Exploring Mont Blanc's hidden glacial lakes (NOVA)

Average customer rating:

A search for lakes hidden under the glaciers

Descent into the Ice - Exploring Mont Blanc's hidden glacial lakes (NOVA)
Starring: PBS
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Nova - Volcano Above the Clouds: Kilimanjaro, Africa's Tallest Mountain
NOVA: Mountain of Ice
NOVA: Deadly Ascent
NOVA - Magnetic Storm
NOVA - Lightning!

ASIN: B00018U99I
Release Date: 2004-04-27

Description

Join daredevil glacionauts for a plunge into a hidden waterworld.

Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest peak, rises majestically in the Alps. But deep inside its massive glaciers lurks a hidden danger-killer lakes with the potential to burst free—just as they did in 1892 when a mid-summer torrent of cascading mud and water claimed 200 lives. Armed with high-tech gear and boundless courage, a NOVA team goes where no one has gone before—deep inside the sub-freezing waters of Mont Blanc's 1000-foot-thick Mer de Glace ("Sea of Ice").

Looking for clues to find out if Mt. Blanc's historic catastrophe is ready to repeat itself, scientists dive into the eerie inner world of glacial cracks, crevasses, ice shafts, water wells, and tunnels, searching for the dangerous hidden lakes.

Descent Into the Ice gives you the most intimate look at mountain glaciers ever filmed. Spectacular footage captures these icy behemoths in motion from above and, most astoundingly, from below-while a new breed of explorers known as "glacionauts" reveal the mountain's uniquely beautiful and threatening waterworld.

Special DVD features include: materials and activities for educators; a link to the NOVA Web site; scene selections; closed captions; and described video for the visually impaired.

On one DVD5 disc. Region coding: All regions. Audio: Dolby stereo. Screen format: Letterboxed.

Customer Reviews:

A search for lakes hidden under the glaciers.......2005-03-26

Although beautifully made this movie will only be interesting for people who are in love with glacier stuff. A team in search of lakes hidden under the glaciers of mount blanc of Europe is depicted in this movie. A great deal of information on how do they go inside the glacier, what equipments are used, how the blockage of water is detected from top to bottom flow of water by adding colour to it and all that stuff. Watch worthy and value for money for those who are interested.

Average customer rating:

Great acting by clouds

Storm Over Mont Blanc
Starring: Leni Riefenstahl , Sepp Rist , Ernst Udet , Mathias Wieman , and Friedrich Kayßler
Director: Arnold Fanck
Manufacturer: Kino Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The White Hell of Pitz Palu
S.O.S. Iceberg
The Holy Mountain
The Blue Light
OLYMPIA -The LENI RIEFENSTAHL Archival Collection

ASIN: B000B837WY
Release Date: 2005-11-08

Customer Reviews:

Great acting by clouds.......2006-11-15

No, seriously...this is another German Mountain Film by Joseph Fanck, the director Leni Riefenstahl worked for as an actress and learned so much from. Fanck's filming technique clearly influenced Riefenstahl's own directorial work; one can especially see this in Olympia, her film of the 1934 Berlin Olympics.

This film was mostly silent but had some speaking parts and sound effects. Mostly silent because this film focuses on the elements of nature...hence my title "Great acting by clouds"...Fanck really focuses on the beauty of the mountains, the cloud formations as they drift by the jagged mountain peaks, the deep snow and the crevasses, the avalanches, etc. It is a visually beautiful film, and the cloud action is quite stunning.

The basic story is about a sturdy rugged German man who monitors a weather station in a fragile hut precariously perched on a precipitous peak in the Pyrenees. His is a lonely life, spent gazing at the clouds drifting by, having a nice soapy sponge bath from his enamel bowl, smoking his pipe, listening to his organist friend play on the radio, and taking daily jaunts to his anemometer to check the current wind speed.

In the evenings, he gazes at stars through his telescope, a hobby he shares from a distance with a beautiful young friend (Leni Riefenstahl) who works with the professor at the local observatory. Later these two meet in his hut, for her father is a good friend of his. During this visit, tragedy happens, and the sturdy German weatherman sends Leni to visit his organist friend down in the village in case she gets lonely. The organist happens to be sick with a fever and Leni nurses him back to health. In her mind she is only a good friend to him, but he has fallen hard for his "nurse" and sends word to his weatherman friend up on the mountain they are soon to be engaged, before he even has asked Leni for her hand in marriage. This misunderstanding causes another tragedy to occur involving the weatherman...which begins when his gloves blow away when he visits the anemometer on a rather blustery day. All ends well though, and Leni comes to the rescue of her weatherman, and builds a fire for him in his little stove in the hut, and he now knows she loves him and not the organ player after all.

This film gives us an interesting glimpse of a weather station of long ago ( I worked in a weather station on the island of Bermuda, and so seeing the anemometer spinning brought back a lot of memories for me!) in a very dangerous place. I am surprised a man would live alone in such a place where danger could happen anytime. It was interesting to see the people skiing in just woolen knickers, shirts and sweater vests (there are some great skiing sequences in this film too), and to see men climbing mountains and leaping from peak to peak with very little safety equipment. This film is very good if you take it for what it is, a German MOUNTAIN film. It is about the mountains, the story is secondary. I must say I thought THE HOLY MOUNTAIN, another Fanck film also starring Leni Riefenstahl, was much better because the story had a bit more depth. It is good to see what the Germans were doing with film as compared to Hollywood at the time...Fanck gave beautiful imagery of nature more than imagery of the actors. It is good that Kino has made these films available for those who want to see some German Mountain films. Also, there are English subtitles for the few speaking parts in the film.

Discovering Yosemite National Park 2: Second Edition 2 DVD Set

Average customer rating:

Discovering Yosemite National Park 2: Second Edition 2 DVD Set

Manufacturer: Finley-Holiday Film Corp.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Special Interests | Genres | DVD | Video

Best Easy Day Hikes Yosemite National Park, 2nd (Best Easy Day Hikes Series)
The Photographer's Guide to Yosemite
Hiking Guide-Yosemite National Park

Product Features:

DVD Extra - Yosemite Music Video
DVD Extra - Where to Stay & Play in Yosemite
DVD Extra - Historical Firefalls Bonus
DVD Extra - Photo Gallery
DVD Extra - Bonus DVD - Bears of Our National Parks

ASIN: B000EJVBUK

Product Description

This fully narrated tour explores the incredible mountain scenery, wildlife, moods and geology of Yosemite National Park. From the forested Valley floor to the rugged High Sierra backcountry, this special collectors' edition presents the best of Yosemite. Two hours of video in all! BONUS DVD - This collectors' edition includes a bonus DVD - Bears in Our National Parks - an in-depth look at the challenge of bears in Yosemite and America's parklands. DVD EXTRAS - This special edition contains DVD extras that explore unique aspects of Yosemite, including longtime park traditions such as horseback riding and a brief look back at the famous Yosemite Firefalls.

Average customer rating:

A disappointment
Nice but could be better

National Parks of Alaska
Starring: National Parks of Alaska
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Over Alaska
The America's Scenic Rail Journeys: Great Alaska Train Adventure
Video Visits: Discovering Alaska
Glaciers: Alaska's Rivers of Ice
Alaska's Inside Passage

ASIN: B0000633SN
Release Date: 2002-04-02

Description

The beauty of the Alaskan landscape is unparalleled--from the towering and majestic Mt. McKinley in Denali Park to the abundant marine wildlife and magnificent glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park. You'll also find yourself mesmerized by the tranquil beauty of Katmai and the spectacular flora and fauna of Glacier Bay. Take a breath of fresh air, relax and explore with us some of Alaska's incredible natural wonders.

Customer Reviews:

A disappointment.......2006-08-13

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.

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.

Nice but could be better.......2004-08-15

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.

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