Customer Reviews

Living Landscapes: Earthscapes - Bali [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently went to Bali on my honeymoon, so when I saw this was coming out on blu-ray I couldn't wait to see it and potentially revisit some of my favorite locales. After viewing it, I couldn't be more disappointed with this sorry waste of money. For starters, it is under 48 minutes long, not the 60 minutes that Amazon and the package advertise. Apparently the photographers who shot this video felt is was only necessary to go to approximately 3 places on the whole island and shoot all of their footage there. Clearly they went to the Bali Bird Park and shot at least 15 minutes of footage there of various birds (without giving any credit to the park), thereby misleading the viewer into thinking that these birds are just randomly roaming the island. An additional 20 minutes of footage showed various dragonflies and butterflies...exciting. They advertised that the video includes footage of one of the most breathtaking sights on all of Bali, the Tanah Lot temple. In total there is about 8 seconds of footage of it during the beginning and end credits. There is no footage at all of any of the resort areas, cities, Ubud, the volcanoes, or anyplace else recognizeable. Some of the background music is Balinese, but most of it is muzak garbage. All in all, whether you are a prior visitor to Bali or hoping to become acquainted with this wonderful island, this video will do nothing but disappoint. Avoid it at all costs.

Watching this video I became immersed in the rich imagery. I felt like I was on a virtual vacation to this exotic place. The people and culture are wonderous to behold. The beatiful art and design of the buildings is amazing and very different from western culture. The HiDef video really defines things so clearly that you feel like your there. Unbelievable photographic detail allows you appreciate the culture on a very deep and profound level. I highly recommend this videographic adventure!

This is a beautiful film - the high definition brings me right back to my trip there a few years ago. I don't want narration or education I wanted the experience back of being there. When I found this blu-ray I was hopeful that it would deliver that kind of experience.
It makes my living room become Bali and I can step back into the lush jungle, ocean and beautiful countryside instantly when I put this on. It makes my big old flat screen tv something of beauty rather than a kind of cold, gigantic 'thing' on the wall.
I've got quite a few of these living landscape DVDs for this very reason. they're cheap enough so I can bring a variety of 'feelings' to my home. It calms me down and picks up my spirit to watch these and just have them on in the background. I love them.

Viewing this beautiful footage of Bali gave me the feeling of "being there." I could almost smell the smells and feel the warm breeze. I got a feel for these beautiful people on the island of Bali and a sense of their sacred culture and insight into the role of art and creativity there. I thought, "I can be a world traveler without ever having to get on an airplane again!" I am going to get all of Michael Heumann's Blu Ray Living Landscapes. The photography is amazing.

I am an avid collector of nature dvds. I love them as background while I complete tedious chores around the house. This series brings something different into the genre. Each disc is a destination, not just a theme.

The Bali disc is exotic in its local, and the soundtrack is exquisite. I like the option of turning on nature sounds and off the music to change things up, but this music is so well interwoven with the video, it is entrancing.

I recommend this series to any nature enthusiast, and I encourage all office bound working folk like myself to add something like this to your viewing collection to provide an escape to a tranquil locale at any time.

These titles are shot in HD, and I can only imagine how much more spectacular the picture is on an HD set since I do not yet have one.

More titles are due to be produced in this series, and I will be first in line to get them.

Dana Paull "teagal" (Reno, NV USA)
Originally posted for Standard Definition version of this DVD

Based on some comments left on several "Living landscapes" volumes by Mr. Heumann (from the producing Studio), I purchased nine volumes from this blu-ray series - all from the same Amazon seller - with the certainty that I could turn the music off, and hear just nature's sounds.

Out of the nine I purchased, there are THREE("World's most beautiful Sunrises & Sunsets", "Four seasons and "Bali" - sadly, among my favourite ones), that do not provide any audio option at all (I made dead sure about that): you just have to watch them with the music playing.

I figure they're part of an older batch, but I believe the producing Studio should have made sure that ALL of them were pulled out of the market, before reassuring the customers about the adio specs.

Needless to say, I'm very disappointed by all of that. I've been meaning to contact the producing Studio to get a replacement but couldn't find an email contact for the life of me.

It's a shame, cause I'd be happy about my purchase if it wasn't for that.

If you are interested only in nature, this is quite stunning. A very good blu-ray product.
But I had hoped to see more of the culture which is an aspect that is actually very much linked to Bali's nature, and that was only very sparse.