30 Years of National Geographic Specials (1995)
Film:
DVD:

Written by Gail Willumsen
Narrated by Richard Kiley

Features:

• Bonus Program: "Best of Cameramen Who Dared"
  
• Photo gallery
  
• National Geographic Achievements Timeline
  
• Trivia quiz
  
• Trailers for The Filmmakers, The Photographers and Secrets of the Titanic
  

Anamorphic: N/A; appears in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

My Advice: Rent It.

This program, produced to celebrate exactly what the title suggests, is a very interesting mix. It's about sixty percent "Best Of", showcasing some really amazing footage that the last thirty years and National Geographic have given us. The other thirty percent is pretty much a rah-rah for the organization, talking at length in places regarding what good stuff the Society has been up to. From most groups, such back slapping would be a bit annoying--but well, this is National Geographic we're dealing with. If we can allow some self congratulations for anybody, it would be them. And the rest of the program backs this up. The remaining ten percent is a bit of an eco-sermon that is effective and doesn't grate on the nerves--so this is a good thing.

The aforementioned footage is, in many places, positively breathtaking. Whether it's Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey working with our simian cousins or animals hauling ass full tilt in search of survival--it's great stuff. How many other specials take you from the top of Mount Everest to the bottom of the ocean, roving about with the submersible Alvin? Answer: not many.

The program is split into sections that cover most of what National Geographic is concerned with, chapters called "The Blue Planet" and "Keepers of the Wild." What's also interesting is the wide variety of narrators that National Geographic has had on hand--everyone from Burgess Meredith to Denzel Washington. I think a featurette regarding the narrators they've had on hand over the last thirty years would have been a nice addition.

However, the featurette that is included, "Best of Cameramen Who Dared", is nothing to sneeze at. This covers the National Geographic photographers who are obviously on something. No. Really. Sure you get photographers in cages being menaced by polar bears on land and sharks under the water. You've got them climbing mountains and diving under ice. And worse than that--hanging around to film the fall of Saigon. These people are maniacs. But you also get tales of photographers who laid down their life for their artform, and some of that footage is harsh. Most moving, though, is Everest photographer John Noel's account of the fateful expedition where Mallory and Irvine disappeared. His picture of the X made in the snow by searchers--signalling that the men were missing and declared dead--is stark and amazing. It's only heightened by his own emotional recounting of the tale itself.

As far as the other features go, the galleries and quiz are negligible, but the timeline is actually interesting. It hits the high points in the history of National Geographic and gives some new tidbits that the viewer probably wasn't previously aware of.

A very interesting retrospective of the society coupled with the cameramen featurette makes for a worthy disc. I don't know that I would advise purchase (unless you are a National Geographic completist), but at least a single viewing is necessary.