National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie Review

Voyage to Voyageurs.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 8, 2013

Allowed to be free.

Mill Creek has done it again with the mouthful-of-a-title National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters, a simple but well put-together Documentary that highlights one of the United States' most beautiful stretches of land, this one hailing from the northernmost stretches of the nation across the border with Canada, nestled high up on the Minnesota map. For fans familiar with the broad spectrum of National Parks releases -- from Yellowstone to The Great Smoky Mountains -- this one will feel very familiar and comfortable in the way it so easily takes the viewers' hands and gently guides them through the sights, sounds, history, and culture of the area, making the scenery spring to life not just with dull facts and figures but impassioned firsthand accounts from famous writings and chats with rangers and historians who bleed Voyageurs green, respect the land, and have dedicated their lives to sharing its beauty and preserving its wonders. The passion more than makes up for lower quality photography and the relatively cheap feel of the whole Blu-ray package. Basic, focused natural documentaries really don't get much better than this.

The park.

Called "a land of rock, water, and forrest," Voyageurs National Park is one of the most spectacular examples of nature as it once was, a pristine presentation of God's country uncluttered and shaped only by the course of time, not the manipulation of man's hand. It's one million acres of gorgeous scenery, unchanged since the last ice age, a place where trees and water give way only to an unblemished view of the nighttime sky, free of the light and air pollutants that have clouded man's vision of the heavens. Clear waters, green vegetation, and diverse wildlife -- from moose to beaver -- define its landscape under the sun. It's a place where man may soak up the sights and sounds of nature, removed from the bustle of modern life and enveloped by the welcoming arms of a world that's all too foreign anymore, a place that speaks to the soul, pleases the eyes, and stills the mind. It's a place of spiritual outpourings, a place mother nature still calls "home."

National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters is broken up into four basic segments, all of which follow a simple overview prologue that's heavy on readings from one of the Park's founding fathers, Sigurd F. Olson. The story begins with "Beauty and Spirit," a piece that takes a look at the diverse elemental attributes of the park region as well as the native peoples and their strong spiritual connections to the area. That's followed by an examination of the park's geological characteristics, which begins with further discussion of the park's founding before moving on to a rather detailed, but not overwhelming, scientific discussion of how things work around the park, and why. Next, the Documentary studies the area's ecosystem, including tree species and smaller vegetation, such as the carnivorous Bog plant. It also highlights the diversity of wildlife in Voyageurs, including wolves, loons, moose, and beaver. Finally, it looks in closer detail at the human history of the area and other nearby parks, including Isle Royale.

Voyageurs is practically identical to its Mill Creek National Parks Exploration Series brethren, identifiable only by the subject material. It retains the same high quality narration, the same visual style, the same blend of building the narrative through readings, park ranger interviews, chats with experts, and dialogue with those who simply love the area. Voyageurs showcases some wonderful people whose passion for the place comes through with every syllable, and how couldn't anyone adore something of such natural beauty? The film does a wonderful job of bringing the park to life, even in the constraints of a 70-minute runtime. Though the video quality is a little subpar by today's standards, there's no missing the sheer spectacle that is Voyageurs. As with the other National Parks features, this is very much suitable for classroom usage and a fine overview for those who wish to experience the park but who cannot make it up to Minnesota to soak in the real thing.

National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters doesn't offer viewers the prettiest high definition experience, but Mill Creek's 1.78:1-framed presentation isn't all bad. It reveals some fantastic details in close-up shots, particularly of the Bog plants and cat tails. Close-ups for various rangers and other interviewees reveal adequate clarity of texturing on faces and clothes. Clumps of trees can look a bit smeary and undefined at medium to long distance, but again close-up shots suffice. There's a fairly bland lower end HD video sheen to the image. Light blockiness and banding are frequently evident, but not to a terribly distracting level. Colors are fair; skies often look washed out, but greens are well balanced and flesh tones fairly natural. This isn't demo material, but it satisfies under budget tile constraints.

National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters features a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack that gets the job done, but nothing more. Mill Creek's sound presentation is all about the basics, not clarity or realism. Narration comes through best, with a naturally deep and even and commanding presence. Interviewee dialogue is a little more iffy, largely because of the uncontrolled nature of the sound recording process. Gusty winds and ambient effects sometimes wreak havoc on the spoken word, never quite so bad as with other releases in this series but disruptive natural sound elements do continue to plague the track. Otherwise, this one is ridiculously straightforward. There's not much else to report; what little music there is plays evenly and with acceptable clarity, and only rarely does the sound feel unbalanced across the front. This won't win any sound awards, but it gets listeners through the Documentary with minimal effort and no problems that destroy the experience.

National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters contains no supplemental content.

National Parks Exploration Series - Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Those who have been collecting the National Parks releases -- whether for private consumption, classroom duty, or whatever the case may be -- will definitely want to pick up National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters. It's not a special release, but it's consistent, in-line with the other Documentaries in the series. And that's a wonderful thing. It doesn't enjoy the best production values, but it's an honest, well-narrated, nicely scripted, and fairly engaging overview that will leave audiences as satisfied as they can be without soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of Voyageurs in person. Mill Creek's Blu-ray release of National Parks Exploration Series: Voyageurs National Park - Spirit of the Boundary Waters features, as always, decent video and audio and no supplements. Recommended.