Over Hawai'i Blu-ray Review
Finding the "Lost" islands.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, March 16, 2012
The history of Hawai'i isn't always an easy one to read or comprehend, but as troubled and disturbing as so many
elements of this one time island nation's past undoubtedly are, they make it all the more remarkable that its natives are
such a lovely, loving and welcoming people. The spirit of "aloha" has become something of a cliché, a slogan on a tourism
poster, but while
Over Hawai'i may indeed fly above this magical chain of islands in the Pacific, the effulgent heart
of its people is alive throughout the special, seen nationally on PBS stations. Several natives as well as a number of
"transplants" discuss their love of the land and the sea, the yearning quest to connect with a divine being who has
revealed so much in the natural beauties of these islands, and the oneness that is felt by most of the islands' inhabitants.
As with most productions in the
Over series,
Over Hawai'i is fairly brisk tour hitting a number of well known
spots along with some that only natives might have heard about, but it offers a sumptuously gorgeous overview (pun
intended) of one of the most remarkably wondrous locations in the world, let alone the United States. The special visits
the islands of Hawai'i, Maui, Lana'i, Moloka'i, O'ahu and Kaua'i, visiting a number of high profile destinations like Waikiki
and Pearl Harbor as well as hidden gems that are only accessible by flyover.
The first stop is Hawai'i, where a park ranger at Volcanoes National Park talks about this chain of islands being the most
isolated land mass in the world. The islands rest some 2,000 miles away from both North and South America, and all
but
one of the islands are well over one million years old (some are
several million years old). That exception is
Hawai'i, which is a "mere" 800,000 or so years old, which is part why it still is actively erupting. The entire island chain
is
the result of volcanic activity, something that is mentioned in several guises throughout the special as various islands
are
visited.
Various conceptions of Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, are mentioned as we are also treated to the park ranger
playing some ethnic music on a nose flute. The use of exhalation to produce music is then linked to the word
aloha which is broken down into its constituent parts in the original Hawai'ian language,
alo which
means face or body and
ha, which means breath of life. The
ha is in fact the same root that is in the
very word Hawai'i. (That final "I" that is in so many words in the language refers to the Divinity, according to this
special.) One of the slightly humorous comments that is made in this sequence comes from a biologist who actually
refers to Hawai'i's volcanoes as among the "gentlest" of their kind.
Other nice sequences here focus on the island's many large and graceful waterfalls, including one at Kohala. We also
fly over Hilo, one of the larger cities on the island, and take a look at its inviting, cobalt blue bay. A native Hawai'ian
talks about how seeing these vast expanses helps humans to understand that they are but a small puzzle piece in the
whole scheme of things, which then leads into a nice underwater sequence where we get to see some of the diversity
of sea life that surrounds the islands.
The next stop is Maui, where we're treated to a nice song by a native name Napua Makua. The opening sequence also
features some fantastic footage of absolutely gigantic rainbows arcing over vast forested peaks and valleys. We take a
bird's eye view of Haleakala National Park, including a fly by of the Haleakala Observatory. Haleakala is alternately
translated as house of the sun, path to the sun or path to life. This segment also talks about how 93% of all of the
volcanoes are under water, so that we are indeed only seeing the tip of a volcanic iceberg. One cool element here is a
look at the twiting and turning Hana Highway, which retraces an ancient footpath which circumscribed part of the island.
The town of Hana seems to simply emerge out of nothingness and it's mentioned that when Captain Cook stumbled on
the islands centuries ago he was amazed to find thousands of people living happily and healthily in the middle of
nowhere. The aerial tour of this island comes to a close with a great sequence following a paraglider operator flying
out over the ocean and a nice comment from a native stating how scenery like this demands our respect and protection.
Next up is Lana'i, which starts off with a brief discussion of how the volcanoes in Hawai'i are actually shaped differently
than everywhere else in the world. The Hawai'ian volcanoes tend to be very gently shoped and are actually called
shield volcanoes since they tend to spread out horizontally like a shield. People often ask where the volcanoes are
when the come to Hawai'i and it's joked here that tourists arrive at the volcanoes as soon as they land on any island,
they're simply not aware that they're already on a volcano. The huge diversity of speices is also addressed in this
segment with regard to non-native species. These species arrived at their new island home by what is called the
"three W's", wind, water and the wings of birds. Lana'i seems to be a somewhat less densely forested island, a bit
browner and dusty looking, at least in much of the footage shown here.
Moloka'i is the next destination and the spiky mountains that we fly over are likened to the dorsal fins of a fish, while
underwater there's "one big fish", meaning one massive geologic structure that comprises the entire island chain.
There's a nice close up view of one of Moloka'i's distinctive plant life species, a rare palm variety (see screencap 6).
O'ahu is in some ways the best known of the islands, home to Honolulu and Pearl Harbor and of course those are
featured here, with a nice stop by to visit one of the curators of the U.S.S. Missouri Memorial. We also fly by such icons
as Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head. This sequence features some of the most disparate scenery, as we get the
bustling cityscape of Honolulu contrasting with some gorgeous mist strewn shots of mountains covered in clouds and
rain with nary a sign of civilization in sight.
The last stop is Kaua'i, the oldest of the island chain, clocking in at around six million years old. While a lot of this island
is lush and green, there are some shots here of astounding rock formations that almost look like they've been
transported over from "John Ford country" in Southern Utah from locations like Zion, Bryce or Canyonlands. The ever
changing scenery is likened to seeing a painting that keeps getting touched up over time. The special ends with some
beautiful shots of red hued sunsets, bringing the tour to a close.
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