Search - Hidden Hawaii (Large Format) on DVD

Not so much hidden, as missing

A. Howe | London, England | 08/16/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered this DVD as I plan to visit Hawaii in November, and wanted to see what I could look foward to. This DVD did not deliver however. It's very cinematic (thanks to the Imax filming) and the music/commentary is good, but don't expect shots of mainland Hawaii or the islands. The DVD is good if you want to know about the botanical and geological aspects of the islands, but not if you are looking for a traveller's guide. The smart money (IMHO) is with the Lonely Planet guide to Hawaii - much more insightful, and more useful. And it lasts considerably longer than 30 minutes!"

Extremely disappointed.

A. Howe | 11/01/1999

(1 out of 5 stars)

"There are few redeeming qualities I can point to in this very boring presentation. I kept hoping it would just end already. While there are moments of majestic Hawaiian views, they are few and far between. Much time is wasted focusing on a self-important "naturalist" who just tries to show off that he climbs rock faces without a safety line. Please. I wanted more waterfalls and volcanoes, not sedating ego trips. Too late for a refund?"

An Awesome IMAX Movie

hikingShoe | Middletown, Ohio, USA | 12/31/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"IMAX always delivers great movies with even greater scenery. This movie focuses on the scenery that is nearly inacessable to the normal person. It takes you all the way from the edge of volcano at 10,000 feet, to the depths of 4,000 feet under the ocean to watch the newest island being formed. Hidden Hawaii does show the hidden aspects. It shows you the Silversword flower that only grows in Hawaii, and also the Alula plant that clings to the steepest and highest cliffs. This movie will surely not dissapoint.The only downfall of the movie, like most IMAX movies, is that it is rather short. It's a great 35 minutes, but I would have loved more."

Not the picture quality I was expecting

hikingShoe | 02/21/2003

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I am a huge fan of IMAX films on DVD because they all seem to produce a picture quality next to High Definition. This was not the caase with this DVD.Out of all the IMAX films I have seen I have never written about poor picture quality and never expected to. However, this is absoultly the worst transfer to DVD that I have seen for any IMAX fi. It is grainy and blurred at times, and comes nowhere close to the quality I am use to with IMAX DVD. This is the ONLY IMAX DVD I have seen that in my opion is not up to standaard with IMAX film-to-DVD transfer. I am not into the techcal aspects of film transfers but all I can say is I was completly surprised to find grain on this one.Also, the technical aspects states that this is available in "widescreen" and it is not.Regardles of widescreen or not, ALL IMAX films (besides Hidden Hawaii) have a high deffinition quality to them and are the best looking picture quality on DVD available."