Sasquatch Odyssey: The Hunt for Bigfoot

Rating:
Summary: The true stories of those who search for Bigfoot
Review: "Sasquatch Odyssey" is a rather interesting look at the world of those obsessive people who are out there in the woods tracking down Bigfoot. Director Peter von Puttakmer of Canada talks to those scientists and hunters who are looking for the living missing link, including the late Rene Dahinden, who has spent 45 years searching for Bigfoot This 60 minute documentary, presented by Big Hairy Deal Films, also looks at the facts behind the myth. While there is some acknowledgment of the tabloid stories about Bigfoot, the focus of this documentary is on those who have had close encounters with the legendary Sasquatch and who know the myths and legends, such as Peter Byrne, John Green, and Grover Krantz. This 1999 film won the Best Foreign Documentary Award (it is from Canada, after all) at the New York International Independent Film Festival. "Sasquatch Odyssey" takes those who search for Bigfoot at face value, and even if dismiss their dogged attempts as futile efforts, you can certainly appreciate what compels them to go on looking.

Rating:
Summary: The true stories of those who search for Bigfoot
Review: "Sasquatch Odyssey" is a rather interesting look at the world of those obsessive people who are out there in the woods tracking down Bigfoot. Director Peter von Puttakmer of Canada talks to those scientists and hunters who are looking for the living missing link, including the late Rene Dahinden, who has spent 45 years searching for Bigfoot This 60 minute documentary, presented by Big Hairy Deal Films, also looks at the facts behind the myth. While there is some acknowledgment of the tabloid stories about Bigfoot, the focus of this documentary is on those who have had close encounters with the legendary Sasquatch and who know the myths and legends, such as Peter Byrne, John Green, and Grover Krantz. This 1999 film won the Best Foreign Documentary Award (it is from Canada, after all) at the New York International Independent Film Festival. "Sasquatch Odyssey" takes those who search for Bigfoot at face value, and even if dismiss their dogged attempts as futile efforts, you can certainly appreciate what compels them to go on looking.

Rating:
Summary: A great documentary about the Grand Old Men of Bigfootery
Review: I saw this documentary originally on video, presented as the original 70-minute documentary shown on television. This DVD, while it presents the original documentary, also has new segments, such as 3 short vignettes with Stan Winston ("Aliens", "Terminator 2") with him commenting that the Patterson/Gimlin film is most likely a brilliant hoax. There's a new question-and-answer segment with Bigfoot researcher Richard Noll in which he discusses his thoughts on Bigfoot and the Bigfoot field in general. It also shows him in the field finding a set of tracks. There is also a photo gallery featuring the four principles of the documentary. This documentary features the story of the four Grand Old Men of Bigfootery, John Green, Rene Dahinden, Peter Byrne and Grover Krantz, featuring rare classic footage of each man, which tells the story of each man's quest to find the Sasquatch. Two of the men (Krantz and Dahinden) have passed on since the filming of the documentary, but of the four, only Green continues to be semi-active in the hunt. Byrne is semi-retired and largely out of the public spotlight. This documentary is highly recommended for those who want to know more about the personalities in the field of Bigfoot research.

Rating:
Summary: One of the absolute best Sasquatch documentaries
Review: Sasquatch Odyssey is the best documentary ever made about the lives, times and personalites of those four most famous investigators in the sasquatch world. They are Rene Dahinden, John Green, Grover Krantz and Peter Byrne. Sasquatch Odyssey is a must-own for anyone who wants to understand the proposed scientific basis for the existence of this animal.

Director Peter von Puttkamer has documented an aspect of sasquatch research that is seldom seen in other documentaries. While there is a large and healthy dose about sasquatches themselves, much of this fascinating documentary is a look at what made the socalled "Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery" click. Each individual investigator is given an opportunity to candidly speak their mind about their own perspectives in the world of sasquatch. This is a trememdously interesting and absorbing exercise as it allows the viewer to see what truly makes these men tick.

There is also a healthy dose of skepticism and exploration of alternative viewpoints on the likely or unlikely existence of sasquatch.

Also included in this premier DVD is perhaps the clearest and most vivid footage of the Patterson/Gimlin film from October 20, 1967. This particular version of the film is brilliant in colour, contrast and detail and is must for anyone seriously interested in seeing the incredible anatomy and musculature of the unknown cryptid depicted in this seminal footage.

Having seen the original 48 minute version of the documentary, I was very pleased that the new 70 minute version is even more absorbing. The other extras such as the photo gallery, interviews with a well-known skeptical special effects and costumer, as well as a questions and answers segment with Rick Noll, one of the leading lights in this generation of sasquatch researchers, make this DVD a must ahve for all who ahve a curiosity concerning the unknown bipedal hairy hominid that stalks the montane forests of North America.

I thoroughly recommend Sasquatch Odyssey to all who would harbour a desire to come to know the subject of sasquatch more scientifically, intelligently and thoughtfully.

Two thumbs up!!

John Kirk,
President,
British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club,
Richmond, British Columbia,
Canada
http://bcscc.ca.tt

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining Record of "The Four Horsemen of Sasquatchery"
Review: The first thing to note about this film is that, contrary to most accounts, it is not really a humorous film and certainly not a comedy. In a few instances, you cannot repress a chuckle at the old-man animosity with which the so-called "four horsemen of sasquatchery" regard each other. Ever since their departure from each other's company in 1960, Peter Byrne, John Green, Rene Dahinden, and Grover Krantz have not had much pleasant to say about each other. Krantz and Dahinden have both since passed away, which makes this video all the more of a historical record, and in that sense, when someday the "mystery" of Bigfoot is finally resolved (one way or another), "Sasquatch Odyssey" will probably be regarded as the only worthwhile video on the subject.

This video is not about Bigfoot; it is about the search for Bigfoot by the four most notable characters to ever pursue the creature. It is definitely a very well-made production, and highly entertaining for anyone who ever wondered whether the Big Hairy Guy really exists. What marks this production as very different from the "A&E Ancient Mysteries" or "In Search Of" productions is that there is no creepy background music, peripherally suggesting that the creature really does exist (though, of course, we will leave it up to the viewer to decide for himself...blah, blah). In short: What makes these Bigfoot hunter guys tick? After watching Sasquatch Odyssey, you can't really tell if the producers support the existence or regard it as total folly. And that is why it really succeeds as a documentary.

Also appearing is one of Hollywood's greatest special effects legends, Stan Winston, creator of movie monsters such as the Jurassic Park dinosaurs, the apes in Congo, Alien, Predator, etc. Along with the late John Chambers (who created the apes in Planet of the Apes, and whom film director John Landis credits with being the man behind the Patterson-Gimlin footage creature from Bluff Creek on October 20, 1967), Winston is an undisputed master of movie trickery. He viewed the Patterson-Gimlin footage, and states: "It's a guy in a bad hair suit. Sorry." Later, "For under a thousand dollars -- in that day -- they could have had this suit made. If one of my [professional] colleagues created this for a movie, he'd be out of business." Pretty damning testimony against the most famous Bigfoot video footage. On the other hand, Winston is not a forensic scientist. Review "Toward a Resolution of the Bigfoot Phenomenon" by J. Glickman, Diplomate, American College of Forensic Examiners, a research report available on the Internet, which takes the Patterson-Gimlin footage apart pixel by pixel, and get a rather different testimony.

In summary, Sasquatch Odyssey is a worthwhile video for Bigfoot fans or, indeed, anyone with a penchant for off-the-beaten-track documentaries. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is because it also features, though briefly, a number of genuine nut cases who think Bigfoot is a visitor from another planet. One such Bozo, who authored "The Psychic Bigfoot," believes Bigfoot is a "para-physical being from another dimension" who can materialize on the mother ship at will. The producers could have spared us this nonsense. If I want to hear the opinions of lunatics, I can always listen to Rush Limbaugh.