The National Parks: America's Best Idea

It is another example of what Ken Burns does so well. It is a film that brings a well known but little understood aspect of American history to life. The broad scope of the film is monumental. It covers, in fair detail, the creation of all the major National Parks while delving into the people, the politics, the conflicts, and the personal stories behind the scenes. As with other of Ken's work, you begin to feel that the people in the story are family friends or people you have known for years. You understand how personalities shape events and move American custom and law. You are left with an appreciation of American democracy and freedom and the unruly way Americans sometimes resolve internal conflict…how popularity and simply "the right thing" can win the day after a good fight.

The film is interspersed with glimpses of typical Americans and reveals their most delicate feelings in experiencing the National Parks. It is very effective at illustrating the transformative power of natural beauty, its healing and empowering effects on the soul, and our deep connections to nature and wildlife and our deep needs for it. The film is as much about the why humans seek to preserve natural beauty as it is a history of it.

It all works. It is a masterful piece of art and you will enjoy and be moved by it.

This documentary combines breathtaking scenery with historical narrative. The cinematography is sublime. I watched it for the first time about a decade ago, and just re-watched it now. It is even better than I remember it. My only regret is that image sharpness could be better, since it was filmed around 2008.

You can tell this was done before iPhones, when we all had longer attention spans. The entire series is 12 hours long, but none of it feels repetitive. It starts at the beginning, with the creation of Yosemite in California, moves on to our very first national park, Yellowstone. It's absolutely fascinating to see the historical figures without whom these parks would not exist - Muir and Roosevelt among them - and there are many. John Muir's writing is very moving, and the voice actor does an amazing job.

This may be my all-time favorite documentary and I will probably re-watch again in a year or so. Helps me compile my bucket list for each year's travels. Beautiful cinematography, a moving score, top-notch voice actors. Could not be better.

I absolutely love it! Extraordinary human stories behind the extraordinary beauty. Couldn't help watching it twice every night this week, thanks to WCMU, who broadcast each episode twice. Think I might catch it the third time in this weekend's marathon rerun!

What more can I add? I would love to hear Garrison Keillor's voice as he would be the best narrator for our national treasures (of which he is one himself).

Indeed, our National Parks are a place of love, as one commentator said so movingly in the film.

The history of our National Parks has enriched my appreciation of great nature with humanity... Enough talking, let's go to our National Parks now.

I am watching this series and am currently viewing part 5. I have been transfixed by the film. I am not a new immigrant, having come here back in 1964, but I have only visited two Parks in all that time I am disgusted to report. I have seen the Redwoods and Crater Lake, but now I want to see much more before it is too late. I just have not paid any attention to the Parks in my backyard it seems. Now I will.

I would quibble about the frequent references to religion but I understand it because most of the US was religious to some sort of degree. For instance, I did not feel the presence of some supernatural being standing among the redwoods or gazing at Crater Lake. I was impressed for sure but not awed.

I am mindful of the constant struggle to maintain the Parks and think schools should show major portions of this series in their classrooms. Young people need to be aware of what a valuable and irreplaceable resource we all share. I am sure, given the history of the Park system, that greedy people will continue to try to eat away at it. Vigilance is needed for now and forever. Once this country becomes so crowded it will be most difficult to maintain these Parks. As in the Hetch Hetchy dam the question will always be: What is more important, some scenery or the rights of multitudes who need the resources contained within the Parks? I fear the answer will be the needs of people.

I appreciate being able to see these videos and have my eyes opened, and tearing at times, many times. Thanks to Ken Burns for making this series.

"The knapsack of custom falls off his back with the first step he makes into these precincts. Here is sanctity which shames our religions, and reality which discredits our heroes. Here we find nature to be the circumstance which dwarfs every other circumstance, and judges like a god all men that come to her."

-A quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson in the movie

While there is no comparison to actually being in nature, the ideas that are presented in this masterpiece of a documentary are so new and refreshingly different to the common non-nature-goer that it can't help but bring the viewer, thankfully, away from their usual rat race-like trance and rhythm to a realization of a greater good and majestic context of reality.

What a beautiful and powerful reminder of what belongs to all us and what all of us, in turn, belong to!