Customer Reviews

Over America [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

If you're looking for something to show off your new HDTV and Blu-Ray player, this MIGHT be of interest.

The footage is "old" - at least from before the World Trade Center was attacked in 2001. The photography is generally beautiful, as is the music track. Image quality is quite good, especially considering that this is early HD footage. No matter what I do, the image is slightly dropped down from the top on my Samsung 46" LCD.

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What's wrong with this video?

The narrative is inane and often wrong.
Examples: Over Philadelphia, the narrator says the rowers (in racing sculls) share THE river with tugboats and barges. In fact, in Philadelphia is between 2 rivers. The scullers are only on the smaller Schuylkill River (which the video misspells) and the big industrial river where the tugs, freighters and tankers run is the Delaware River. There is no "river sharing" going on.

Other annoying narration goes way overboard in attempting to be politically correct and historically wrong.

There's a lot of misinformation on this audio track.


If you laugh off the stupid narration and just watch the pretty pictures go by, for $9. it's a nice demo piece for your new HDTV.

If you are considering buying this 1-hour DVD, it is definitely worth it for the footage. It has random aerial views from across the country, including Alaska & Hawaii (similar to Blue Planet). Just the footage of NYC and the WTC is worth the price.

Most to all footage is complied from older PBS shows that I remember seeing in the mid-late 80's. While many shots look to be true HD, others are easily seen as not.

Once again, buy for the footage, but don't expect complete HD satisfaction. Had I known, I would have bought the standard DVD so my family could borrow it.

The Over America concept is a great one for HD, but this blu-ray fails to deliver as its cons outweigh its pros.

On the plus side:
- the footage is quite remarkable considering it was shot in 1994/1995. Not being a videophile or an HD historian, I didn't even know that HD technology was available back then.

On the negative side:
- It is less than 60 mins long (amazon claims 88 mins)
- In the < 60 minutes available, there is only time to pick and choose a few areas of the country to be covered. Broad swaths of the country are ignored, including New England (except NYC), the South/Southeast, the Great Lakes (except for incidental Chicago shots), the Plains, the Rockies, and the Pacific Northwest
- Scant narration provides little information and when it does happen, it often feels like empty propaganda (is Tom Skerrit the Iraqi Information Minister for Texas?)
- Scant on-screen labels may often leave you wondering what you are looking at
- And, finally, even though relatively much time is dedicated to Chicago, we don't see Wrigley Field!?

Overall, cannot recommend this DVD

Several things about this BD annoyed me, starting right with the packaging... there is a cardboard slipcover over the standard Blu-Ray case, yet the case itself has no insert, artwork or info whatsoever - it's just a clear blue case with the disc showing thru. So, you basically are forced to store the case in its slipcover if you want a presentable product that looks like your other titles. A minor complaint perhaps, but why do things this way? (I cut up the cardboard sleeve and made my own case insert. Ha!)

The videography itself is clear as a bell - no complaints there, as this is probably the best feature of the disc. However, the places visited (eight of them: New York, Midatlantic, Midwest, Texas, Southwest, California, Alaska and Hawaii) are visited far too briefly. It all feels like an empty sandwich: just a taste, but no meat. For example, they visit Washington, D.C. but don't even show the Capitol OR the White House! Some of the landmarks shown are labeled, others are not. The narration by actor Tom Skerritt, who has a fine voice for this, is poorly written. It isn't very informative, is rather sparsely and inconsistently sprinkled, and doesn't really add anything to the experience. Add to this the cheesy music, and it's more of a distraction than an enhancement.

My advice: This is probably best as a rental, with the sound off. I don't know that I'd want to watch it more than once.

Why not? Well, it's beautifully filmed and a great advertisement for blu-ray, but too short for the money and not that engaging throughout despite some magnificent shots.

I've seen several of these "armchair tourism" Blu-rays now (like Living Landscapes HD Hawaii [Blu-ray]). Most are little more than screensavers, so I had low expectations for Over America. Unlike some of the other reviewers, based on previous experience with such titles, I wasn't expecting a history lesson, comprehensive survey of American geography or cities, or a documentary of important American places. I took the title at face value and simply wanted to enjoy seeing America in a way that I knew I would probably never be able to -- short of spending my life savings. On that point, Over America delivers and is pleasantly good. There are some aerial fantastic shots that I would never be able to otherwise experience.

You can think of it as a glorified 55-minute sampler of American life, narrated by Tom Skerritt. The video moves from east to west, starting in NYC, going to PA, then DC, Chicago, moving across the heartland, out to CA, then ending in Alaska and Hawaii. There are maybe 15-20 cities/regions profiled. The music selection can seem a bit cliche and dated. I heard cool jazz on at least 3 cities (Chicago, LA, and NY, with the requisite "New York, New York"). I suppose it's appropriate for the region portrayed, as Texas has honky tonk and New Mexico has Spanish guitar. Other parts have more mellow orchestrated music, or simply pianos. The narration isn't particularly exciting or informative though, sounding a bit like a tourist bureau infomercial or a pre-recorded guided tour like you might find in a government visitor information center like the Smithsonian or Ellis Island.

Video quality is inconsistent, with some very good shots of golden canyons and verdant cropfields and some bad hazy shots, especially during low light situations like early morning, and many instances of lens flare and a strange moiring effect from buildings windows, crops, and crowds. New York, for example, has a sort of dreary look to the daytime shots and the autumn foliage of Central Park looks rather dull. Night scenes are most problematic, with severe grain and noise in many shots. On the upside, I really loved the flyovers of the American Heartland and the endless expanses of farmland as well as the canyons.

At the current low price, this is a pretty good bargain if you just want eye candy. All the places shown are subtitled with the name of the location so you can google them later or research further. I think the price is right, and I give it credit for that. This disc is probably best for people who don't have the budget, time, or inclination to travel across this huge country, or to introduce people to the majesty of some of America's places. It's good for footage shot 20 years ago, but not a great example of the Blu-ray format.

There was some great shots on the dvd, but the gave very little info about the places they shot and it is by no means a comprehensive guide. I would not recommend.

This was recommended by a film editor friend of mine as being a wonderful tour of the USA via fly-over photography using 1995 HD technology, which was really great back then because it wasn't as compressed as today's HD. So if you want to see some remarkable HD of scenic vistas, check this title out.

This is a gorgeous video now available on Amazon in high def BLU-RAY for only about $10. If you're like me and you enjoy viewing spectacular landscapes from above, this video is hard to beat.

This is a really Beautiful Blu-ray disc and it is so true America is Beautiful..