Toon,
As you said, the movie would have been better if it had more landscape. I was a disappointed too there wasn't more landscape of the trail - were she ended her trip was right by one of the best parts of the trail and they show nothing of the trail. The trail community back in 1995 was not the same as it is today. When I did the trail in 1993, there were a total of 17 thru-hikers who finished (I was the last one to finish that year).
Wolf