Into the Amazon DVD

Into the Amazon DVD 4 DVD set Length: 300 minutes Publisher: Vision Forum Ministries Released: 2011

Source: Bought through Answers in Genesis.

DVD Description from Publishers Website:
Join Doug Phillips and his team of thirty men on an adventure you will never forget — to the Amazon jungle, high into the Andes Mountains, and to the Great Peruvian Desert — and bring your entire family! Explore piranha-infested rivers and vampire bat caves, discover strange insects and fascinating plant life, fly over the strange Nazca lines, and encounter the remains of pagan civilizations that continue to negatively influence modern cultures. Together your family will discover why the Amazon is one of the most controversial places on earth, and your children will learn the truth in the battle between radical environmentalism and biblical Christianity.


My Review:
Into the Amazon follows a tour group of 30 men as they explore the Amazon, the Inca Stones, Great Peruvian Desert, the Nazca lines, and Machu Picchu. The visual was nicely done overall, but sometimes the audio was difficult to hear due to people in the background making noise or when the sound dropped when those speaking turned their head or moved too fast.

The focus of the series was primarily "biblical dominion versus radial environmentalism." Don't expect a creation science focus, though the speakers do come from a biblical viewpoint.

The first disc contained the episodes: "The Mystery of the Meaning of the Amazon" (15 minutes and 35 seconds) and "The Mystery of the Lost Legacy of Adventure & Dominion--Part One and Two" (22 minutes 34 seconds). This disc was mainly aimed at men. Much of it was Doug Phillips standing in front of a tree giving a lecture on some of the history of the exploration of the Amazon and on what he feels is the biblical view of dominion and adventure. (What he qualifies as dominion and adventure seemed very narrowly defined to me.) It also included the group hiking in the Amazon and not turning back soon enough. They ended up lost in the dark and, after having fun being lost for a while, they finally used their GPS to get home.

The second disc contained the episodes: "The Mystery of the Strange Creatures of the Amazon" (34 minutes) which showed some captive animals up close, then we follow their trips out to find some wild animals. They were successful at finding monkeys and cave bats but not at finding anacondas. In "The Mystery of the Plants of the Amazon" (22 minutes), we're shown a variety of plants and told how they are used medically by the locals. In "The Mystery of the Lost Tribes (21 minutes, 21 seconds), we learn about remote Amazon tribes and about missionary efforts to these tribes. We follow the group as they go to a remote village to offer a medical clinic (though we only briefly see the medical clinic).

The third disc contained the episodes: "The Mystery of the Inca Stones, the Nazca Lines, and the Great Peruvian Desert" (25 minutes 9 seconds) which follows the tour group as they study the Inca Stone collection and discuss them, fly over the Nazca Lines and discuss them, and play in the Great Peruvian Desert and look for whale bones there. "The Mystery of Machu Picchu" (29 minutes 38 seconds) gave a detailed tour of Machu Picchu. While Doug Phillips stated some things as fact that archaeologists don't all agree on, he did a nice job of showing the viewer all over Machu Picchu. This disc was more what I had been expecting of the whole series, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The fourth disc contained some bonus clips of other things they saw (mainly things in the cities they went through) and episode trailers.


If you've watched this movie, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Movie Trailer: