Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk

Save for some very nice white water rafting shots, this movie was a ripoff. Three different narrators preaching in pious and ominous tones saying things that weren't even self-consistent.

I went to this movie because I am going to the Grand Canyon next week and wanted to learn more about the park, the flora, fauna, the river, the geology, the anthropology, etc.. Instead, I got a 50 minutes sermon about nonsense like shower head flow restrictors. There was one convservation point that made sense: those using the water for agriculture should pay a reasonable amount for the water which will justify much more efficient irrigation methods.

I, as some other reviewers have noted, found the changing narrators confusing also.

This should have been a great experience, even if it was a bit preachy.

However, some moron used the noise of one of the least talented people ever in the music business, Dave Matthews, for almost the entire audio. His nerve racking chalkboard on fingernails not only ruins any possible enjoyment, but distracts from whatever else is shown or said.

The visuals were working well. Most of us got this tape to see the video, and learn more about the area. True, Redford and gang made this into more of a propaganda film, but the propaganda is based on what I believe to be good Science, simply because it is Science without an agenda. No one gets rich by exposing global warming. Instead, the only corporate interests are in drowning out talk of global warming.

But this really shouldn't be about preaching politics. That is a bad format, and politics in a spectacle should be much more subtle. That said, the formula for the film probably could have been more informative than political.

The ideas were well founded, and structured in a decent way. This narrative could have been watchable, except for one thing. The grinding of Matthews and his band. It is IMPOSSIBLE for any one not on severe drugs to listen to this more than a few minutes, and we want to hear the narration. Matthews must really hate Redford to ruin his narration with this garbage.

This should be remade, with a better band. Of course there is always the chance that the narration will be equally ruined by some of the other no talent big name bands out there.

Watched this a couple times on my 4k television. They try to compare pre dam images with today's water flow. The dams tamed the river and made life possible by having water always available year round instead of just during snow melt season. Anyway the pictures are just great and the boating scenes with the big rafting boats convinced me not to try this.

Beautiful film about a one of the most beautiful places in America. Having just come back from an all-paddle trip down the Colorado, I can guarantee you that the film brought back many spine tingling moments on the river.

If you've recently rafted the canyon, you'll recognize many places seen only from the river. If you aren't able to raft the Colorado, this film comes as close as you can possible get without going there.

The name of the film is "river at risk", and after spending a week in a canyon with experts, I can certify that the title is aptly named. Yes, the film is part lecture and lesson, but how can you not look at lake levels at the Hoover Dam and not understand the problem.

Please don't listen to the that other review posted by the Haliburton CEO. I'm not sure he even went to the movie based on his comments. He's obviously very uneducated.

Go see this film. It's enjoyable from beginning to end, exciting, and important.

Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk (2008)

*** (out of 4)

Robert Redford narrates this "warning" flick that explains that the Colorado River might soon be a thing of the path due to several things including Global Warming. A group of people, including Robert Kennedy, Jr., travel through the Grand Canyon to show off its beauty while we learn why the river is so important. If you're worried about having another film preach at you about Global Warming then you might think twice about renting this film but thankfully the preaching isn't too bad so the visuals make the film worth seeing. I'll start with the preaching because your opinion on Global Warming and if it's real or not will probably throw in some politics that weren't really needed. The film starts off talking about water conservation, which I'm fine with but some of the comments were just a tad bit too doom and gloom for my liking. We're warned that the Colorado River might be gone forever if we don't act now but yet we never really get any evidence to back this up so I'm guessing the producers just wanted us to take their word. Yes, we're given a few photos showing how much the water has gone down over the past couple decades and we learn that Las Vegas takes up way too much water but there are things being done to help keep the water flowing yet these things really aren't mentioned. The main reason to watch this movie is for the scenery and boy do we get some terrific images. The stuff with the river is just downright beautiful and especially the scenes where they're white water rafting. Seeing the Grand Canyon so close really makes you jaw drop to its beauty and this here is reason alone to check out this 44- minute documentary.