Focusing on earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods--including the San Francisco quakes of 1906 and 1989 and Hurricane

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Product Description

Nature's Fury includes the riveting one-hour program, in Dolby Surround Sound 5.1, on the destructive forces of Mother Nature; plus two additional action-packed never-before-released 20-minute films, Tornado Hunters and Lightning Strikes; an assortment of photographs in the Photo Gallery; an interactive map of U.S. natural disasters; an interactive trivia quiz; and trailers of other related National Geographic programs.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58210 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2000-02-15
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 55 minutes

Amazon.com
The savage fury of nature is vividly profiled in this video from National Geographic. Focusing on earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods--including the San Francisco quakes of 1906 and 1989 and Hurricane Andrew, which ravaged southern Florida in 1992--the production features terrifying footage shot during natural disasters as well as interviews filmed with survivors. Film shot from helicopters provides startling looks at the scale of devastation resulting from these disasters, but this documentary goes beyond looking at just the immediate effects of catastrophes. Personal stories of preparation, survival, and cleanup put a human face on nature's wrath. Solid scientific information is provided throughout, with computer graphics, for instance, demonstrating how the Mississippi floods formed in 1993. An explanation of Doppler radar and a visit with researchers who are attempting to predict earthquakes provide insight into the cutting edge of science. But it's the raw human drama in the video that steals the show. A climactic scene of a heavy-equipment operator risking his life while driving his bucket loader out onto a Mississippi River levee in a futile effort to stop the river from breaking through is more exciting than anything Hollywood could devise. --Robert J. McNamara

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Customer Reviews

Good, not great
This isn't really a bad DVD release, but it is on the low end of the quality material expected from National Geographic. The heavy metal music blaring over MTV-style edits of tornadoes and lightning storms occasionally dips into the murky waters of the worst of reality TV programming about disasters. Ditto the black-and-white recreations of tragedy a la Rescue 911. Techniques like these are used mostly during sections about disasters that don't get caught on tape as often, but it's still annoying.

The feature is only 55 minutes in length, but the DVD contains two extra programs, both around 20 minutes long (one on lightning strikes and one on tornadoes and storm chasers). They are both interesting and somewhat informative...in fact, I liked the program about tornadoes better than the feature.

And, while I do expect National Geographic to produce a more top-shelf product with a little more substance, the 5.1 audio and the crystal clear picture produces a treat for your senses. This release is definately designed to entertain rather than inform.

Agreed - very good video but short on tornados
I agree with the other reviewers who gave this DVD 5 stars except on the point about tornados. There is one very good sequence in the video but the remainder of the tornado section is very sparse, especially compared to the time spent on other natural events. If you want tornados, I suggest finding another video.

One of NG's Best
I owned this on VHS. So when it came out on DVD, I just had to get it. National Geographic has always done an excellent job on their documentries.Natures Fury is a good example. The picture clarity is what you would expect on a DVD. The sound quality makes the tornadoes and booming thunder sound like it is in the room. If you like to chase violent storms or enjoy watching these wonders of nature, waste no time and buy this DVD!