Customer Reviews

Visions of Italy [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

STUNNING! There is filmed such stunning picture composition at every moment that this DVD set is like looking at a continually changing souvenir picture postcard. Panoramic and close-up views all come from a moving helicopter mounted camera. What a ride. What a optical experience.
____AND, the accented narrator offers so much local color in her voice as all of the detailed facts she discloses. Educational as well as aesthetic. It comes on 2 DVDs, but in 3 parts. For the Blu-ray version, a third DVD is included, "VISIONS OF THE GREAT CITIES", which I have not bought and did not come with the original "Visions of Italy (2005)" dvd set. The Blu-ray also has subtitles, and the option of music only (eliminating the narration) added since the original release.

Italy, Northern Style
____Winter Alps begins the show and then takes the viewer to Mediterranean fishing villages. the views looking from the water toward land, and helicopter elevation, is a vista few have ever seen. Delightful.
____I have been to Italy, took the train along the coast, but this DVD is even more spectacular than what I saw in person from a train. With "VISIONS OF ITALY" on DVD, you see a point of observation ONLY available via a helicopter.
____Names of locations (at least 32) appear in the corner of the scene but the narrator's pronunciation is so much more sensual (and correct) than my attempts were. Add the excellent music background and this is 5-star travel excellence all the way.
____Northern bonus segment is 21 minutes long, out of the 160 total minutes contained in both Northern and Southern Style segments.

Italy, Southern Style
____This part of the Italy experience has a romantic, exotic coastal footage with an erotic beauty, making every mile a desirable destination. It was filmed in 2001, so it is 'very current.'
____41 different locations are listed on the paper insert inside the DVD case. What a perfect preview for anyone planning an Italian vacation. Look at this prior to making out your itinerary. It's better than a travel agent.
____Having traveled Italy some, I believe this DVD offers views that are better than what can be seen in person, sometimes. Honest!
____Southern bonus material last 21 minutes. It's so soothing, with the scenery rolling by and the fine music background. Do it right, have wine, cheese, and a baguette while watching.

Visions of Sicily
____This special DVD and segment on Sicily covers territory I have never seen in person. It is lovely, and the filming is a continuation of the excellence seen in VISIONS OF ITALY. Having never seen Sicily in person, I was amazed at how modern (21st century) it looks, including excellent roads and bridges. You see some spectacular bridges. It almost looks like Disney helped design Sicily. There are, even so, many very old churches and buildings to explore visually. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

This is also available for regular viewing, or NON Blu-ray.
Worth 5-stars regardless of your video equipment.
Wonderful travel documentary. Great for schools and libraries, too.

Visions of Italy [Blu-ray] If you have a blu-ray player buy this one. It costs less than the 2 DVDs available and has a lot more material. You could spend an entire weekend watching these 2 blu-rays. The videos are beautiful, the music is great and the narrations are excellent. Sicily alone is worth the price. Divetirti!

The photography is superb. Sicily is very different than I envisioned but the video helped me make my decision to visit. It was thorough and complete and kept me interested for the entire video. I have not viewed the other DVD on Italy but will view that before I visit.

Having been to Italy, both North and South, this was a beautiful representation with a different view. My husband and I enjoyed watching the aerial view of places we visited. This is a quality DVD!!!!

The first TV show that I've seen that showed the true promise of HDTVs was this show on PBS. That was several years ago. When I got my own hd TV, I wanted to see how amazing the pictures can be in Blu ray. Visions of Italy did not fail in that regards. The camera work is outstanding, the colors are vibrant, and should be in every Blu ray owner's library. However, out of the several hundred minutes of flying over one red-tiled town after another, it does get very repetitive. I was bored for too long. Sometimes a shot over a town would be so fantastic, you'd want the helicopter to just land already and show us the streets! Alas, they'd glaze over it, on to the next town. The worse parts were the section on southern Italy after the Amalfi as several non-descript towns get their flyovers. Brevity here would've worked wonders.

I, must say I really, was quite suprised, when I received my order!

When, I put the Blue Ray, in my player...I was astondised..at the clarity..the color and the scenery..

It, was *Better than I, ever could imagine..it defintely exceeded..my expectations!!

I am, enjoying it to the point..I am, on my own* personal vacation..that, I can, take over and over again..and again

So, in my opinion..if you love lots and lots of beautiful scenery..then this is the dvd for you, the Blue Ray..with plenty of *bonus scenes as well...

Detroit, Mich

Watched this last night, and I was very impressed with the quality of the video. I believe it's 1080i, and it looked really good. I have many BluRay on Italy, and this is by a good measure the best from a photographic standpoint. All of the footage is taken from helicoptors in the air, so there are no inside views of any landmarks or attractions. But the from-the-sky perspective is one I've not seen before and really gives another perspective of Italy. Combined with the high quality of the video, and it's very rewarding to watch.

There are 2 BR disks in the set, and unfortunately there is a bit of overlap in the footage between them. Some of the Florence, Rome and Capri footage is common, as are a few other snippets (altho' the narration is completely different between the two). But most of it is unique to each disk. The narrator is different on each disk. The woman on the one disk is a bit hard to understand sometimes, but both do an excellent job at talking about interesting facts and perspectives on the material.

The camera operators do an excellent job finding interesting things to augment the views, and of panning to keep interesting landmarks in view as the helicoptors are flying around. It's actually almost stomach turning in a few point, so if you get seasick easily you might find it a bit interesting. Not enough not to buy, just in a couple of places. They will find kites on the beach, or other interesting activities, to add to the already interesting scenes, so it's not just a picture of something interesting, but also an activity that makes it more interesting at times. In most of the views they are flying low, so you really get a close perspective on the sights from the air. Combine that with the high resolution video, and you really get to see a lot. The stabilized video platforms they used are good, and all of the video is rock smooth.

I have been to Italy a number of times, and this video provided many things that I want to go back and see and photograph that I had missed on earlier trips.

I don't think this would be the best choice as the only overview of Italy if you are looking for what to do on the ground, but either to augment, or as a beautiful overview, or just for the beaty of it, it simply can't be beat. Lots of content, too.

Highly recommended.

Unfortunately, Amazon didn't published nor warned that this Blue ray is Region A only, therefore the only way to watch it in other parts of the world is in computer with Blue ray ROM installed.
What a pity.

Show this on your big screen, sit back and sigh. The music and soothing voice will take you away. I love Italy and this is a fabulous way to overview it. Photography and audio were fabulous!

Still the same beautiful scenery, and warm narrative, but not entirely the same musical score as the original WLIW21 version. I was disappointed that some knucklehead took it upon himself to alter any part of this fine program. Do they think they made it better? That no one would notice? It's all over television, and anyone and everyone who has seen the original will be disappointed.

Hey Amazon - did any of you guys notice?