Ken Burns: The National Parks: America's Best Idea DVD

I just purchased this Blu-ray set  The National Parks: America's Best Idea [Blu-ray ]. We watched discs 2-6 rented from Netflix, disc 1 is listed in our queue as "Long Wait" :-(There is so much to say about the experience of watching this series, I don't know where to begin... I guess I'll say that Ken Burns has done it again! Thanks to him and his crew. And regardless what others claim, Blu-ray is currently the best format for watching this (HD-DVD is long dead, unfortunately, so BD is the best even with BD-Java). BUY IT!!!My utter enjoyment of this series is amplified by my personal experiences. In 1952, my family drove "across country" in a '51 Ford Woodie station wagon. We camped in many places (couldn't afford hotels/motels... my dad was a Master Sergeant in the US Marines), but my strongest memories are of Yellowstone NP, Badlands NP, and Mount Rushmore NM. Watching this series brought so much back (and tears to my eyes, even now, thinking how fast a lifetime flies) about that trip, as well as other "return" trips to National Parks. One particularly vivid memory was when we were stuck for hours in one of the infamous traffic jams in Yellowstone caused by folks wanting to feed the black bears or wanting to watch folks feeding the black bears. As we sat there, we were all (5 people) watching a family feed several black bears to the left of our car. A (LARGE!) black bear stuck its head into my mom's window and nosed her head... there was quite a ruckus to say the very least, and the fastest upping-windows ever! Man that was cool! I was also a National Park Ranger in the Golden Gate National Recreational Area for two years before I began working for the man.Since 1952, I've been fortunate enough to travel (and many places camp in) this beautiful world of ours including Canada (NWT, BC, Yukon, Alberta), England, Scotland, France (Ahhh, Paris!), Netherlands, Switzerland (ahhhh, Grindelwald), Austria, Philippines, Hong Kong, Australia... but I've never seen anything to compare with our National Park System.In the past 57-years, I've visited the following parks, many more than one visit: Redwood NP, Great Smokey Mountains NP, Grand Canyon NP, Arches NM, Canyonlands NP, Grand Tetons NP, Rocky Mountains NP, Saguaro NP, Tuzigoot NM, Dinosaur NP, Zion NP, Bryce Canyon NP, Death Valley NP, Lake Mead NRA, Joshua Tree NP, Yosemite NP, Pinacles NM, Lassen Volcanic NP (honeymooned there), Point Reyes NS, Muir Woods NM, Lava Beds NM, all of Washington DC's fabulous places, Oregon Caves NM, Mount Rainier NP, Olympic NP, Craters of the Moon NM & Preserve, Colonial NP, several Civil War Battlefields, Shenandoah NP, Gettysburg NMP, Valley Forge NHP, Ellis Island NM, Statue of Liberty NM, Boston NHP, Robert E. Lee Memorial, Jamestown NHS, Theodore Roosevelt Island Park, Everglades NP, Carlsbad Caverns NP, Haleakala NP, Hawaii Volcanoes NP, Glacier Bay NP & Preserve, Sitka NHP, Denali NP, Wrangell-St.Elias NP & Preserve.After watching this series, my wife and I have decided we "need" to visit Yellowstone in the Winter season (maybe this year), and definitely Crater Lake NP.

It seems like I rewatch this series every time I go to a national park. Ken Burns is one my favorites!

I bought this DVD especially to watch it on National Park Service Day, August 25th,as well as the month of August "National Park Month." As well as having great still photography and cinematography, it goes into detailed history of the national parks even before the designation of Yellowstone as the world's first national park. There is not just the miniseries, itself, but special features such as the famous Buffalo Soldiers, narrated, and hosted, by an African American ranger named Shelton Johnson. There are such great scenes as grizzly bears at Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, Alaska's vast wilderness, the Grand Canyon, Glacier National Park, and Acadia's rugged shoreline. It features people such as John Muir, Horace Albright(founder of the National Park Service), and Theodore Roosevelt. I learned from this DVD as though I were part of this living classroom. It inspired me to visit Acadia National Park and to share, with others, the significance of our national parks and the thankfulness of being an American. If you have even the slightest love for the beauty of God's grand creation., buy this DVD. THE PHOTOS POSTED ARE PHOTOS I TOOK IN THE NATIONAL PARKS THIS DOCUMENTARY PROMOTES.

Ken Burns is of course, a great documentary filmmaker, perhaps the greatest ever. (What other documentary filmmaker has an “effect” named after him?) But with “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” Burns is transcendent. It is not only a great, great documentary, it needs to be seen by every American. In Utah, where I live, there is a current furor over President Obama possibly declaring a new National Monument at Bear’s Ears. This is a situation where environmentalists want it, Native Americans want it, but the state government, certain locals and certain corporate interests are dead set against it, claiming it will cost jobs, damage the economy, violate state rights, impede needed development etc. How extraordinary to find that these same competing viewpoints have been going on for over 150 years ever since Abraham Lincoln set aside Yosemite as the Nation’s first protected area. The 12-hour documentary has astounding footage of the parks and their fauna and flora. It has heroes and villains galore. I suppose what is truly astonishing is how the heroes, like John Muir, Charles Young, George Bird Grinnell, Stephen Mather, Harold Ickes, Stuart Yudall, Adolph Murie, and Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, could face down such powerful opposition and persevere. It is a good reminder to us to neither be shocked by greedy ignorance, nor to give up our efforts. The documentary also brilliantly interweaves history and peoples’ stories as the Park system evolves. It covers almost 200 years of history, but if there is one take home point it is this: the National Parks remind us that we are Americans first, not Utahns, not Texans, not New Yorkers – we are Americans. This is OUR country and we must preserve it. I have had a fortunate life. I have been to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and seen new land being created from molten lava. I have taken river trips through the Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, and Dinosaur National Monument. I have done extensive hiking from the rivers in those parks. I have seen the great redwoods and sequoias, I have seen the Tetons, and yet as I watched this documentary, I find myself wishing that I had spent more time when I was younger, truly immersing myself in as many parks as I could. Not driving through them, but walking, sitting, being. I can only wish that my children and grandchildren can experience this unique heritage that Ken Burns has shown us so beautifully.

product as described

Great documentary, good price!

Anything Ken Burns does I usually like and this is no exception. Having had the privilege of walking through the Western National Parks three summers back this brings back many good memories, and also gives insight into how these parks came into being

Nach dem Einlegen der DVD bekommt man die Nachricht, dass der DVD in diesem Gebiet nicht abgespielt werden kann.Leider !!

Quality photography - and well written, to describe what is being observed.

Another triumph for Ken Burns with this great production!Thank you seller.