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Rainier the Mountain Blu-ray Review |
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Rainier the Mountain Blu-ray
Topics Entertainment | 60 mins | Not rated | Sep 08, 2009
Rainier the Mountain Blu-ray ReviewAn unusual release from Topics, an actual documentary about Washington's signature mountain.Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, February 1, 2010 Those of us lucky enough to live in the Pacific Northwest are graced with some of the most beautiful environments in the United States. Lush, rolling hills, formed from eons of volcanic activity, suddenly give way to usually singular thrusting peaks, the two best known of which are my home state of Oregon's Mount Hood and neighboring state Washington's Mount Rainier. Topics Entertainment is a niche Blu-ray distributor that has probably become best known for its HD Moods and Over series, both of which exploit the visual potential of high definition systems, the first with what I've termed "ambient television," virtual wallpaper of a sort featuring such items as aquariums or trains, and the second similarly offering visual splendors via aerial tours of various locales. When you see Rainier the Mountain among the Topics titles online or at your various big box retailers, you may therefore be tempted to assume it's something akin to the Over titles. In fact, that's what I thought I'd be watching. And while this slightly less than hour long piece does in fact offer a surfeit of really stunning aerial views of the glorious mountain, it is in fact a rather well crafted documentary much more in keeping with the recent Ken Burns piece, The National Parks: America's Best Idea.
In fact, Mount Rainier is itself part of and is surrounded by a large national park, something that is touched on repeatedly throughout the piece. Filmed in 1999, there was evidently a big push to build a 40 million dollar resort destination at the time, something that has several onscreen interviewees up in arms. Split into several discrete sections, Rainier the Mountain details many different aspects of working, living and recreating on the mountain. We start out with some of the rescue operations and a ranger is interviewed detailing some of the precarious spots various hikers have found themselves in. Other segments detail the creation of the national park (with the then controversial decision not to keep the original Indian name for the peak, Mount Tacoma), the history of tourism there and some of the nascent activities which sprung up in the 1930s, notably alpine skiing. A number of authors and historians are interviewed, my personal favorite being a wonderful man improbably named Floyd Schmoe, who was the park's first naturalist. He is interviewed at the ripe age of 90 in a film clip from the 1980's, and then, rather amazingly, in a then contemporaneous moment where he's the ripe old age of 103. What Schmoe personifies is the intimate and deep relationship Mount Rainier seems to foster in those who have spent a lot of time on it. Rainier the Mountain also has some fun archival footage interpolated throughout its running time. There are some fun and sometimes funny snippets of early drivers attempting to ford streams in their Model T's, and some completely chaotic footage of what may have been the first bevy of downhill skiers on the hillsides, acolytes of a sport they hadn't quite yet mastered. Several segments from various films from the 1980's and 1990's are also shown, one of the more interesting documenting a climbing expedition which consisted of handicapped people. There's an alarming moment in this sequence where an avalanche almost takes the entire group out. But the bulk of the footage is vintage 1999, with some gorgeous aerial photography, a la Topics' Over series, as well as a lot of land based views of the lush wildflowers and sometimes barren rock faces which cohabitate on the mountain. Mount Rainier is the largest glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states and several of its conquerors state unequivocally that it is America's version of Mount Everest, not just in size but in the difficulty of scaling it. In fact several of its climbing guides are people who have managed to make it to the top of Everest. But even for those who simply walk its base on its 93 mile Wonderland Trail, or even enjoy its immense beauty from far off urban centers, the allure of the mountain can't be denied. But there's danger that accompanies that beauty. I was in Portland when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1981, and I can tell you personally what havoc was wreaked, even though Portland is quite a distance from that volcano. Mount Rainier by contrast has seen its proximities increasingly urbanized and its eventual eruption (it's a question of when, not if, as amply stated in the documentary) may well be a tragedy of epic proportions for those who have chosen to live in its shadow. Rainier the Mountain is an unusually thoughtful and frequently stunningly beautiful visit to one of America's crown jewels. Filled with some wonderful first person accounts of what the mountain has meant to various peoples (going back to the Indian tribes who viewed the edifice as a living God), this is a fascinating and worthwhile documentary that is both informative and fun to watch. Video  The bulk of Rainier the Mountain's 1080i VC-1 encoded image is beautifully sharp. Colors are OK, if a bit skewed toward the yellow side of things, especially in flesh tones. When we do get a brightly variegated palette, as in some of the shots of the wildflowers, reds, purples and greens all pop very nicely. Unfortunately there are a few instances of artifacting, notably some distracting shimmer on such items as mountain peaks and silver fox fur. Overall, though, the interlaced source material holds up very well. As you might expect, some of the archival footage is in pretty rough shape and a lot of it was obviously blown up from 16mm, or in a couple of cases, even what looks to be 8mm, source elements. These segments do display some damage, grain and fuzziness. Audio As seems to be Topics' wont with these bargain priced Blu's, only a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack is offered. Strangely, there's little to no ambient sound on this outing, only a pleasant collection of music tracks, some of them ethnically tinged Native American pieces, with others being more grounded in the Western classical or pop traditions. On screen interview segments and the occasional narration all sound clear and crisp and are unfailingly front and center. Taken in and of itself, this is a fine soundtrack. Taken in the context of high definition Blu-ray potential, it's woefully inadequate. Supplements  No supplements are offered on this budget priced Blu-ray. Final words  Whether you're an armchair sightseer or looking for more historical information, Rainier the Mountain has both visual splendor and informative acuity to recommend it. This is a nice departure for Topics Entertainment, and my hope is they can release more of this kind of documentary feature in the future. 
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