American Journey Vol. 1 - Dreaming Arizona

Rating:
Summary: One of the best I've seen
Review: As a fan of the American Southwest I have rarely seen more spectacular widescreen images. The video is sharp and very colorful, obviously from a high definition source. The whole presentation is top notch. Also, musically, this DVD introduced me to American Indian New Age music, which is the perfect companion to the aerial images and car rides, boat rides featured. The aerials around Monument Valley and Lake Powell really get under under your skin when you watch them with American Indian music. The alternative music track is also very powerful, but a different musical style. It reminds me of action movie sound tracks. Also notable is the map movie featured in the bonus materials. Nice way of showing you where the DVD was filmed. I have bought quite a few travel DVDs about the Southwest. Most of those use old footage and recut shows we've seen before. This one is very fresh. I highly recommend it. Friends of mine have borrowed this DVD and they all love it.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: First the negatives: I already own Desert Vision (which I love) and expected a similar type of experience but with updated high definition video from Dreaming Arizona. I was very disappointed by this DVD. The first thing I noticed was the aerial photography is not very smooth (screen jerks and jumps at times and is very annoying). There is some redundancy (same type of scenes over and over again). The video seems amateurish. In many of the video scenes while driving down the road you can see the antenna of the car on the left side of the screen. It looks like whoever was taking the video was taking it out the passenger window and would sometimes angle in too much. On some of the other shots you can see what looks like a small piece of lint or something on the screen. The new age music selection is 'okay' at best.

Positives: Many of the scenes are very beautiful and the video is clear. The symphonic music selection is very nice and enjoyable to listen to.

Overall: Knowing what I know now, I would not have bought this DVD. The negatives outweigh the positives.



Rating:
Summary: What a trip!
Review: I sort of expected music and pretty pictures. I was pleasantly surprised when this DVD made me kick back and take a ride, almost like a virtual ride, through Arizona with mesmerizing music. The stunning images and the incredible music almost put me in a trance. I forgot where I was. Especially the Native American music put me into an altered state. The widescreen images are out of this world. We also used the loop feature to play this DVD in our den while a party was going on in the rest of the house. Guests would drift in and out and stay glued to our widescreen plasma TV. I highly recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money
Review: The reviews about immersion attracted me to buy this DVD. Unfortunately, both the audio and video photography are very dissapointing. The Native American music is simply awful and is mostly a rock fusion - Guns & Roses with powow! The cinematic symphony alternate to the native music is even worse. I am of course comparing it to the AV Compositions in the likes of Baraka or Naqoyquatsi. Which brings us to the video aspect: repititive film footage and way too much fly by on Lake Powell. The flyby footage of the rest of the Canyons and Monument Valleys is conceptually good but grossly lacking in execution. As to the cities that are shown you will only see the store fronts of Jerome, Sedona and Prescott and their parked cars and not the the awe-inspiring landscape. I dont recall seeing a single SantaFe architecture unique to southwest but plenty of euro-trash tinroofs and saloons that you can see in anyplace across the country. Any claim of "immersion" is grossly exaggerated. Something like Over Califormia or Over America is better. I guess the likes of me have to wait untill someone else figures out how to use aerial photography on the singularly most beautiful lanscape of America and immersive music. Its a tourist video for dumping on captive audience who visit these places. Amateurish: Is the one word for this. And it is very short.

Rating:
Summary: Uplifting trip to Arizona's most beautiful places
Review: This is a very good looking, fresh dvd of Arizona. I have been to Arizona many times but I've never seen it like this. The dvd moves you around with fluid movements and takes you to the most beautiful places in Arizona with your choice of music. It's actually better than going there, because within this 50 minute gliding journey, I saw more of the beauty of Arizona than I could experience in the time I was there. It's a real insider's view.