America By Air: Treasures Of The West

This is the fourth entry in the "Video Album Collection," and had the earlier titles such as Desert Vision and Natural States not set such high expectations, we would probably have enjoyed this more. Produced and directed by Douglas Kahan, with music by Grant Reeves (not the team who produced and scored the earlier works), this aerial tour visits a number of key sites in the American West. Beginning in my backyard with Mt. Rainier, the flight zooms over Olympic National Park, zips down to the Great Salt Lake and surrounding environs in Utah, checks out the Grand Canyon, looks at the farmlands of Idaho and Oregon, soars over the Golden Gate Bridge and other locations along the San Andreas Fault Line, and ends up in the ancient Indian sites dotting the landscape in Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona. The "new age" soundtrack is pleasant, with one or two memorable cuts, and the visual image is characteristically superb. However, if you have seen the other productions, you might be disappointed in the lack of variety in the shooting style. Whereas the other tapes featured slow motion, a number of different camera angles, and special visual effects, much of this video is as the crow flies--straight over. This aside, the program is nevertheless recommended as a comparatively inexpensive vacation to the West. (Available from most distributors.)