The Great Alaska Train Adventure (Special Interest)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Main Programs: B-

 

 

James Coburn narrates The Great Alaska Train Adventure, featuring its two main segments, Anchorage To Seward and Anchorage To Fairbanks, lasting about an hour each.  Instead of the series of European-taped shows where half the time we get a point of view from the various trains, this is interested a bit more that usual in the history and development of Alaska.

 

Perhaps the rough terrains, mountains, snow and ice were just obstacles too huge to ignore, versus often flat Europe, but the usual idea (and myth) about trains in the United States is the idea of building the country by moving west.  Alaska was purchased much later and developed later as a result, though it was on time for the industrial age, for whatever industry it had and has.  That makes it a unique case among all such programs.  There are also more interviews than one would expect of the experiences of those visiting, but Coburn balances out the difference between the footage working silently on its own and this.  That makes The Great Alaska Train Adventure an installment with a difference that fans of this cycle will appreciate.

 

The full frame 1.33 X 1 image was shot on NTSC video and shows its age somewhat, despite being produced as recently as 1996.  Perhaps it is just exposure to so much digital High Definition-originated material, but this is just limited.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has vague Pro Logic surround activity, but it works fine otherwise, with James Coburn’s narration as clear as any audio element.  Extras include 19 stills of the history of trans in Alaska, a DVD-ROM link to Acorn Media’s site and a segment of tour information.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo