Sadly, there was the potential here to make a good travelogue, but while the landscape and scenic videography are excellent, commercial sites like stores, a knife museum, Kontry Kute towns and outlet malls are intercut into the narrative, detracting from the hoped-for message about the heritage, scenery and outdoor activities in the Great Smoky mountains. Much of the problem lies with the faux-folksy host Dave Krysty, whose specialty is mountain music, not history (he is allowed to get away with way, way too many generalizations). Believe it or not, the only mention of the Cherokee in the whole tape is when Krysty says "The Indians learned to appreciate European culture, so they would barter the knowledge they had for the knowledge the blacksmiths had." Up to that point he consistently gives the impression that the only thing the first pioneers encountered in the mountains were forested, uninhabited lands filled with wild animals. In addition, Krysty preaches; you wouldn't hear as many repeated mentions of the ‘Importance of Family' at a Dan Quayle speech, and he talks about Bibles and church-going as if they were a sadly lost thing of the past, which they are assuredly not in this country and especially not in this region. There should be a travel video of the mountains that is worthy of the place, but this isn't it. Strictly optional. Aud: P. (R. Reagan)
The Original Great Smoky Mountain Video Journal
(1995) 70 min. $12.98. Image Network. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-9652100-0-6. Vol. 11, Issue 4
The Original Great Smoky Mountain Video Journal
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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