Customer Reviews

Living Landscapes: Earthscapes - California Redwoods [Blu-ray]

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

 

 

I love the redwoods in California. They are mystical and breathtaking. This blu-ray gets me the closest I can get to the real thing. The high definition brings me present with the clarity that I feel when I'm in the woods themselves.

My living room gets transformed when I put it on. The music is wonderful but I can turn it off too and just immerse myself in the beauty and quiet of the forest. Totally calming and serene - I get to just be in it and it changes my whole day.

This series isn't meant to educate - it's for 'experiencing' the majesty of places that calm us, inspire us and bring us joy. It's a virtual experience that's exquisite.

I love watching movies like this in high def but I usually find the accompanying soundtracks to be shallow and tedious at best. Thankfully this disc has the option to watch the movie with the music or just the nature sounds! Perfect! I have not watched it with the music on (which I might, just to see what it is like) but I think if you are really into New Age soundscapes you might like it... But if not you can opt out of the music and let your mind wander to the sounds of birds and rain.

Of course, if you are expecting a travelogue or informative documentary with this title you will be disappointed. This is just video and audio of the ambient environment of the redwood forest (with music if you want.) There is no dialogue or text, just the scenery. You can think of it as a cheap and easy virtual vacation. I wouldn't say videos like these are intended for "party" watching, but for individual exploration or relaxation you can't beat it unless you get off the couch and actually go to the forest!

Some of the still scenes last too long. There are too many close-ups such as a stone in a streams or a cluster of pine leaves.

You owe it yourself to wrap your senses with this beautiful BluRay edition of California Redwoods. Truly a visually gluttony for the eyes and message of the ears.

As you watch the beautiful images fade, one in to the other, accompanied by the often reverential music treatment, one begins to understand why many call these

oldest living things a Cathedral to God. It is awe inspiring to stand in the presence of trees that were alive when Jesus and other historical figures walked the earth. If you have never visited this area, you can now with the aid of this beautifully crafted experience. I don't think you will be disappointed. Some may not prefer the music but the natural sounds envelop you as the 5.1 surround sucks you right into the visual feast. I play this disc a lot in my home theater. I think my plasma TV enjoys displaying the beautiful artful video photography. I recommend you do your High Definition TV a favor and get this experience for yourself. Enjoy a walk through the paths that wind among these sequoia gentle giants. You will smell the redwood forest, you will feel the moisture of the rain as it falls upon the leaves and ponds of water. As you gaze upon the shafts of sunlight filtered by three thousand year old growth you will feel small. It might even make you look to the heavens and wonder.

Whether you like this video or not will depend on your tastes, desires, and past experiences. This review is mainly based on my personal viewpoint, however I'll start by mentioning a couple of other possible views. As a vehicle for certain kinds of meditation, this video might be quite satisfactory. Or, if you want a taste of a redwood forest, and have no opportunity for a direct experience, this video is a good starting place. For these purposes, I'd offer a four-star rating. (If those goals match your intentions, you might want to stop reading here, and shift to one of the 4- or 5-star reviews already available!)

The "Digital Environments" or "Earthscapes" designation is a good description of the main goal of this video. It is an attempt to allow you to experience a redwood forest. The DVD offers the choice of a natural soundtrack or one that includes both natural sounds and music. The technical quality is excellent, presenting some of the sights and sounds you would encounter among the redwoods.

Now, to my personal evaluation. This video is "narrow": mostly a beautiful, but slow-paced and monotonous slide show. The videography is unimaginative and includes only a fraction of the visual experiences of an actual visit to a redwood forest. The mood of the video is resolutely contemplative: any spontaneity or eagerness to view a new environment have been carefully excluded. After watching half the video, one begins to find it exciting when a bug momentarily flies through the scene. The time lapse sequences of fog provide (only) a too-short interval of contrasting scenes, while not offering much relief to the slow pace of the video. Unless you are meditating, skip the music: it is eminently forgettable, and serves only to provide a continuous input for your auditory sense, in case you can't stand a relatively quiet environment, or your viewing area has distracting sounds that need to be masked.

My wife and I lived in California and found the Redwood forests fascinating. We visited 4 different parks, 1-3 times each over a 10 year period. For us, this video fails to recreate much of the experience. This video is a nice view of the redwoods, but it's not a replacement for a visit to a redwood forest, nor is it a stimulating revelation of the environment.

While I place great importance on the reviews I read from others, this is the first time I've bothered to write a review for Amazon. I'm a positive, 'glass half full,' nature loving person, and yet, I can't help but write this review. "Living Landscapes" dvd on the Redwoods of northern California is a rip-off, in my opinion. I knew it wasn't an educational video. I knew it would be only a series of scenic video shots, both distant and close up. And, I knew the scenes would have gentle music playing. But the photography is horrible and boring! Many of the shots were filmed in the middle of the day when light is the worst for photography. There were repeated shots where the camera panned slowly across a scene, which seems fine. Except it moved to slowly and lasted so long it was difficult to watch. I even found several shots that were in the film two or three times! I kept hoping it would get better so I watched the whole thing. Then, I took it out of the player, put it back in the case and dropped it in the garbage.

Nothing will ever compare to actually being in a Redwood forest because the feel of spongy earth beneath one's feet and the aroma of enormous trees filling one's nostrils will never be captured through photography - no matter how magical the lens. That said, 'California Redwoods' does its best to rekindle those sensations through a poetic unfolding of imagery that I find quite delightful. Often, in meditative nature videos, there is a lot of 'quick cuts' wherein the images move from one to another very rapidly, and when that happens I find myself unable to relax into the environment. Happily, most of the imagery in 'California Redwoods' moves quite slowly, like the trees themselves, and that allows for a nice, gentle entry into the forest. There is music (by Raphael) accompanying the imagery and most of it I find calm and appealing. However if the music is not to your liking, there is always the volume button (and/or you can substitute your own music). Lastly, for me, this video serves me best when I use it as ambiance rather than as something to 'sit down and watch.' Many times I have created artwork and/or read whilst the video played in the background - just spicing my living room with redwoods.

Happy journeys!

sorry had to ogive 3 stars because most of the scenes looked faded out in spite of high definition. i expected lush green settings with vivid colors, but except for a few shots most of scenes were bland.

their other bluray "fall in new england" is 1000 times better looking for the same price.