Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie Review

In Western culture, the Book of Genesis gives Mankind dominion over all of the earth. The Maoris take that same responsibility to heart with their concept of Kaitiakitanga.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 21, 2010

New Zealand remains one of the most enigmatic places in the world, perhaps due to the fact that it was, as host Richard Bangs explains in Quest for Kaitiakitanga, the last major land mass on our planet to be inhabited and settled by mankind. This incredibly diverse set of two islands is often thought of as a mere appendage to Australia, its nearest island neighbor, and yet New Zealand offers a panoply of its own delights, many of which are on in display in this interesting episode from Bangs’ Adventures with Purpose series. Bangs makes no bones about championing the eco-friendliness of various locales which he visits, and he’s not shy about waxing poetic about New Zealand’s own long tradition of caring for the environment. In fact the Maori term “Kaitiakitanga,” which might be loosely translated as “caring,” here is given the connotation of nurturing that which is important to a people, perhaps because ensuring the survival of whatever is cared for also guarantees, or at least may aid, the continued existence of Mankind itself.

Richard Bangs in the scenic wonder of New Zealand.

The Maoris, the first settlers of New Zealand, had a pantheistic theology which saw the spirit of God move through all living things, including such supposedly inanimate items like mountains, rivers and streams. In fact Maoris first identify themselves to each other not by their given names, but by the natural wonders that surround their birthplaces. Bangs explores some of these fascinating Maori traditions as he also looks at the very modern approaches current day New Zealand is taking at the forefront of the “green” movement. One of the segments in Quest for Kaitikitanga is a very interesting visit to an incredibly cool looking “eco-lodge” at the edge of New Zealand’s Aspiring National Park. Set in a locale so remote it takes either a multi-day hike or a long helicopter flight to get there, this lodge is anything but rustic, though it’s completely self-sustaining. Water is gathered from rain off of a steeply pitched roof and deposited into barrels and all the power in the lodge comes from either solar or wind sources. There was such an outcry from environmentalists when development by Aspiring National Park was brought up that this sort of structure was quickly “green”-lit to prove that building and staying in tune with nature needn’t be mutually exclusive activities.

Bangs also spends time in various exotic locations as he travels from the more southerly island to the very tip of the northern island. (Maori legend has it the the northern island is the body of a gigantic fish that the Maori god Maui pulled from the sea, while the southern island is the overturned canoe that Maui was piloting). New Zealand has an unbelievably diverse ecology, and so the viewer is exposed to everything from a near tropical bird paradise on the island of Kapiti to several glaciers that dot peaks that are more than a bit reminiscent of the Alps. Along the way Bangs attempts to discern just what exactly this strange Maori term of “Kaitikitanga” really means, and he comes to the conclusion that it really is an almost Biblical, and certainly spiritual, pronouncement that Man is the guardian of the planet and must take that responsibility to heart in his everyday life. This doesn’t just mean acting in an environmentally friendly way, something that is obviously near and dear to Bangs’ own heart, but also simply acting in a friendly way toward other people, something that’s fully on display from the Maori descendants (some of them so-called Kiwi’s, children of intermarriages between Europeans and indigenous Maoris) Bangs interviews.

This is another beautiful episode in the often visually spectacular Adventures with Purpose series. New Zealand offers such an amazing variety of sights that one might be forgiven for thinking this episode is actually a round the globe affair. This particular episode seems closest to Bangs’ own eco-centric approach toward travel, and perhaps for that reason he seems unusually invested in the proceedings. In fact he states up front that he’s been to New Zealand many times in his world travels, and it’s one of the few places that seems to grow in allure and its own self perpetuating pristine quality with every repeat visit. Luckily this episode proves that the spirit of Kaitikitanga is still alive and well, and not just New Zealand, but our entire planet, is better off as a result of it.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

I guess maybe I should start paraphrasing Dickens' famous opening to A Tale of Two Cities when I take on these Adventures with Purpose Blu-ray titles, for once again, "it was the best of image qualities, it was the worst of image qualities." Do you look at your MPEG-2 encoded, 1080i 1.78:1 image as being half-good or half-bad? Actually that ratio may be a bit unfair, as quite a bit of New Zealand looks spectacular, with some gorgeously saturated hues and impressive detail as Bangs makes his way over two vastly different islands. Water hues can vary from pale grey to the lushest of blues, while snowcapped peaks offer brilliantly popping whites. Some nice sunrises and sunsets offer an amazing array of reds and oranges on which to feast your eyes. And yet there's the same troubling shimmer and video noise cropping up in this episode that there has been in virtually every other Adventures with Purpose title I've reviewed. This time it's not just centered on busy leafwork, but on such other patterned environments as speckled granite and the like. Stuff like this may indeed not distract or bother you very much, but my hunch is the more persnickety videophiles out there are not going to be able to ignore it.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As has been the case with most of the other titles in this series, we are offered a lossless stereo track delivered via LPCM. There's not too much to complain about, however, in the dearth of a surround track, as this Adventures with Purpose follows the series' tradition and offers pretty much exclusive Bangs narration, either on screen or via voiceover, mixed with on screen interviews. This particular episode is not beset with the obviously different sound qualities of live versus post-dubbed recording that is so noticeable in some other Adventures with Purpose. Bangs and his interview subjects are always front and center, and completely clear and easy to hear. Nothing remarkable here, but certainly a completely serviceable soundtrack that does what it's supposed to.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Ho-hum. How many ways can I put this? When you advertise a SD-DVD version of the same title on a Blu-ray, and that advertisement touts "hours" of extra features, the Blu-ray purchaser may wonder why none of them ended up on their preferred format.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: New Zealand, Quest for Kaitiakitanga Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Richard Bangs isn't your everyday tourguide. He takes the ecology movement very seriously, and a lot of his Adventures with Purpose series address ecological concerns. There's probably no better locale for him to explore, then, than New Zealand, a country which takes its own ecological responsibilities very seriously. This is a wonderful travelogue with a serious subtext, and armchair travelers should enjoy at least a rental of this title.