DVD Review: 40th-Anniversary Patterson/Gimlin Film Celebration

This DVD, clocking in at just over 3 hours, is a real treat for those who were unable to attend the 40th-Anniversary Patterson/Gimlin Film Celebration held October 20, 2007 in Willow Creek, California. It consists of 3 parts, the first being a presentation by Daniel Perez (after organizer Tom Yamarone performed one of his new Bigfoot songs Jerry Crew (He Knew What To Do) which uses quite a few slides as visual aides regarding the film, as well as Perez holding up a copy of the camera Patterson used (the original camera had a pistol grip on it, but the camera Perez had did not). He also passed around a few artifacts, such as sand from the Bluff Creek filmsite, a roll of 16-millimeter film to demonstrate just what kind of film Patterson used, the camera itself and I believe a frame from the film itself. Next was Tom's performance of Roger and Bob (Rode Out That Day) followed by a presentation by longtime Willow Creek resident and Bigfoot enthusiast Al Hodgson, who described not only the events as he remembered them of October 20, 1967, but also of reports from the area that he knew about from over the years. Following that is another song from Tom Yamarone (which I do not know the name of, but it too is another new song). Then, David Murphy, the author of the Biography on Patterson, gave an excellent presentation on the life of Roger Patterson and even gave some interesting tidbits on Bob Heironimus. Then, Cliff Barackman gave a presentation on tracks, more particularly tracks that match (or seemingly match) the prints left by "Patty" on the sandbar at Bluff Creek. Finally, it all wraps up with a presentation by Scott McClean on historical news clippings surrounding the film and also news clippings that predated the film, as well as Scott's recounting of his own sighting in 1984 of what he described as a "Jawa" which was all he could equate it to at the time. A very well-done presentation all the way around, and a great glimpse into the once-in-a-lifetime celebration of the most famous piece of wildlife footage ever shot. I give it about 4 1/2 out of five stars.