National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie Review

Back to school.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 21, 2012

Far out beyond the last frontier.

Flash backwards to ninth grade (or, perhaps for a few, flash-forward or, well, some can just go to school on Monday) and imagine the most generic Geography video of all time, yes, that one that put darn near everyone -- including the teacher -- to sleep. Wait, huh? Is that the bell? Wipe up that drool and get to Algebra! Many may have never before seen National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West, and for those that have, most probably wouldn't remember it. But in spirit, everyone who's ever slept through an educational video has seen part of this one; come on, nobody fell asleep right off the bat, did they? Indeed, this is the epitome of the dry educational video. Thank goodness for stuff like Planet Earth that actually engages the audience rather than bores them to death with dry pronouncements, absent personalities, and lifeless photography. It gets the job done, though at the expense of charisma. This is one straightforward, no-frills schoolhouse piece if there ever was one. It's certainly not up to snuff to play as one of those films they show in museums and such, but if any teacher on a budget needs something that can kill some classroom time, National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West will at least pass the sniff test of even the strictest principal who demands only absolute educational value in the films his or her school shows its pupils.

This doesn't look so "bad."

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West covers a broad swath of topics on the land George Armstrong Custer once described as "hell with the fires burnt out" and noted Author John Steinbeck called "the work of an evil child." According to the film, however, they're both wrong. Instead, The Black Hills and the Badlands describes its geography as being the true gateway to the west, a land of "pinnacles, deep canyons, hidden caves," and a testament to the grace and majesty of the natural world. The film examines, amongst other things, the area's national parks and landmarks, its natural wildlife, physical diversity, richness for fossil discovery, and the bloody history of man's time in the area, including the slaughter of Native Americans and the shooting death of Wild Bill Hickok. It's a lot to absorb in just over an hour; this is a highlight reel, primarily, best used as an introductory piece rather than a film fit for analysis for a dissertation.

In a film such as this, presentation is key. It must grab its audience -- particularly if its audience is comprised of many people (read high school students) who would rather be at the dentist than watching it -- if it is to stand a chance of doing anything but passing on information. Sadly, National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West fails in that critical regard. It does offer a nice overview of the topics it covers, painting pictures of various subjects, but not painting them vividly. The wondrous beauty, the wildlife, the natural history, and man's place in the area are all put on display, but it's an empty presentation at best. The narrative and narrator reading it sounds straight out of a textbook, and the cadence is such that it sucks all the potential life from the material. Even the on-screen figures who are authorities in their field come across as rather dry, though certainly knowledgeable. The entire thing is anything but organic, playing instead as a robotic, stiff, and soulless string of words and images that are only that, never truly brought to life in any way that would engage its audiences.

Worse, National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West is a low production value venture. It's a straightforward point-and-shoot affair that lacks gripping photography or higher quality footage to draw the viewer into the world of the Black Hills and the Blacklands. Instead, it's cold and distant, showing all it has to offer from afar, a feeling that remains even in close-up shots of wildlife. At least the information is interesting on a base level. As dry as the narrative may be, the film smartly moves from one topic to another in swift fashion, staying only long enough to adequately introduce the basics and familiarize its audience just enough to give them a rudimentary knowledge of the various people, places, and things that are highlighted throughout. It's a decent enough effort and does what it sets out to do adequately. "No frills" is the name of the game here, and for a cheap, basic overview of this part of the world, this film serves its purpose admirably.

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West showcases a bland 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer. This is a lower-grade image that's sometimes blocky and very lifeless. The glossy video sheen harms the natural beauty of the area. Skies tend to wash out and are sometimes littered with massive blocking. General images range from rugged to ragged. Close-up shots of rocks reveal decent textures, ditto some similarly up-tight shots of animals. Distant shots of trees and grasses often look smeary and undefined. Still, it adequately captures the essence of its subjects and does a fair job of showcasing the grandeur of the general area. This will be fine for a small classroom TV.

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West features a workmanlike Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Narration is sharp and piercing, quite loud at reference volume. General clarity is adequate, and the narration remains grounded in the center channel. Ambience, too, is rather harsh. Chirping birds sound canned rather than natural. Gusty winds are crunchy and undefined. Music lacks crispness, though it is adequately spaced across the front. As with the video transfer, this will be fine coming from classroom TV speakers; home audiophiles won't like much of what they hear.

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West contains no supplemental features.

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West is a straightforward educational video that will remind all viewers over the age of 13 of those days back in school when the order of the day was dimming the lights and rolling the TV cart in front of the class for an easy afternoon of learning. Or sleeping. National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West epitomizes the generic educational video. It's just good enough at what it is does, but it lacks the dynamics and technical polish that will help to actually educate, not just tell its viewers. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of National Parks Exploration Series: The Black Hills and The Badlands - Gateway to the West features lower-tier video and audio and no supplements. For its price, it would make a fine addition to a Geography, Science, or American History classroom. Recommended for Middle School/High School educators in those settings.