Film Review: National Parks: America's Best Idea

Title:               National Parks: America’s Best Idea
Director:              Ken Burns
Producer:            Dayton Duncan, Ken Burns (Exec), Craig Mellish, Julie Dunfrey,
                                 David McMahon (Co), Aileen Silverstone, Susanna Steisel (Assoc.),
                                 Pam Tubridy Baucom (Coord.)
Screenwriter:     Dayton Duncan
Cinema:                Buddy Squires, Allen Moore, Lincoln Else, Ken Burns
Editor:                  Craig Mellish, Paul Barnes
Narrator:             Peter Coyote
Year:                      2009

Synopsis: The National Parks: America’s Best Idea is the story of an idea as uniquely American as the Declaration of Independence and just as radical: that the most special places in the nation should be preserved, not for royalty or the rich, but for everyone. As such, it follows in the tradition of Burns’s exploration of other American inventions, such as baseball and jazz.

Review: As a fan of documentary films, I admit that I take Ken Burns for granted. After all, his work is backed by GM (even during their bankruptcy) and he has built-in distribution through PBS. Also, Burns’ films are not restricted to 90-120 minutes in length. National Parks, for instance, is 12-hours long and aired in six parts over six consecutive nights. How many filmmakers can count on that type of distribution?

Even so, you have to admire what Burns does. He takes a huge, sprawling topic like America’s National Parks (or Baseball, the Civil War, Jazz, etc) and puts it into a format that is accessible, entertaining, and educational. His films are not hard-hitting or controversial, but they are sprawling, grand films that feed the head while touching the heart.

Burns is a terrific storyteller. Granted, he uses basically the same formula over and over to tell his stories, but the formula works. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

National Parks: America’s Best Idea follows in the footsteps of Burns other epic documentaries. That means that the writing is spot on, the narration is strong, but never gets in the way of the film, the still photos are used perfectly, and the cinematography is as good as it gets.

Burns does a tremendous job of intertwining America’s history with stories of individuals to make the film comprehensive, yet personal. As always, he highlights people both famous and unknown to tell the full story and to share perspectives that may not have before been considered.

For instance, you’ve almost certainly heard of John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt and John D. Rockefeller, but have you ever heard of Stephen Mather, George Melendez Wright, Stuart Udall, or Adolf Murie? They were all instrumental in the creation and evolution of our national parks and Burns does a tremendous job of telling their stories in great detail.

Burns has crafted another must-see film with National Parks: America’s Best Idea. I highly recommend it.

(4.0 out of 5.0)