Encountering Wildlife in the Canadian Rockies

Wildlife photographer Leon Lorenz is a one-man-band in this easy-going nature tape that introduces viewers to the bear, eagles, salmon, wolves, moose, etc., of Robson Valley in east central British Columbia. Lorenz's effort is a bit of a mixed bag: his inventive and refreshingly close-range videography and wonderful score are somewhat marred by inconsistent lighting and focus (as, in fairness, tends to occur in the wild). And the narration's rather plebeian, emotional-yet-flatly-delivered first-person angle, while unusual for this genre ("the blossoms and flowers are bursting everywhere; it makes me feel glad that I am alive"), actually adds an element of behind-the scenes interest. Overall, though, the engaging and in some cases infrequently-seen animal activity is just not supported by enough actual zoological information, and the script has too many mispronounced words and grammatical errors ("all aspects of this video was done by Leon Lorenz") to make this more than an optional purchase. Aud: I, J, H, P. (K. Glaser)