Customer Reviews

Windham Hill - Water's Path

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

 

 

KEEP IN MIND: THIS SELECTION APPEARS IN "SPECIAL INTERESTS"!

Now, with that under our belts, the technology involved in the
making of the first four Windham Hill music videos, (and that is
what they truly are), was direct-to-digital audio and video "nailed" to a laserdisk and presented to the public. New Age music and unique complimentary video presentations will have you
relaxed in less than ten minutes. The music is soothing and the pictures have far more eye appeal than a travelogue. No story; no
plot; just eye-ear choreography guaranteed to satisfy.

Well,I am a fan of the Autumn Portrait DVD, and I must say that this here Water's Edge is no Autumn Portrait. Lots of industial oriented landscapes. Huge oil tanker looking boat scene was a bit much, not to mention long scenes of a bridges with cars passing by. Given all the scenes were on "the waters edge", but just not enough nature for me.Music was great as always and what nature scenes it does have are wonderfull.......

I remember this series on Laserdisk and at the time it was a nice background diversion. But times have changed and my equipment has improved. The video quality is very bad. The film grain is very evident and flaws in the film are clearly visible. It's the first DVD I've seen that looks like bad TV reception.

Ignoring for the moment the artistic merit of new age music -- you wouldn't be reading this review if you weren't predisposed to enjoy it -- this DVD shows the age of its release. Pioneer doesn't say whether this reissue was created from original materials or from captured LaserDisc frames; it shows all the wear and tear of a print at a second-run art house! Get used to black specks, white spots, and the occasional vertical bars from a color sync problem on the left side of the picture. Sound quality is acceptable. (You get your choice of PCM or Dolby Digital.) My advice: buy the excerpted CD's instead, and skip the DVD -- unless you just fell in love with some scene from your old LaserDisc copy. You are of an age that you bought the LaserDisc in 1984, right? Sure, I knew you did... Why else would you even be considering this DVD?

I rented this video in the early-nineties and appreciated it very much for its relaxation value for me. I wanted to purchase it on DVD if it was available and searched for it on Amazon. The reviews weren't too favorable about it being put on DVD but decided to get it anyway. I'm VERY happy with it and glad I went for it! Again, I needed something to help all of my senses relax after a stressful day at work and this does the trick perfectly.

I enjoy environmental CDs, usually rain or ocean waves. Although I've had CDs with music in addition to the natural sounds, I've usually found them a little repetitious. They're not something one can put on repeat and play continuously in the background. I got Water's Path because I thought it might provide a visual input missing from the environmental CDs. The music did in fact produce a sense of monotony, almost irritation, but the scenes were lovely. I play the film on a 52 inch screen, so it's almost like looking out of a window. When I find the music too much to deal with, I put the sound on mute.

Excellent, better than c.d. quality d.v.d that is crisp with beautiful imagry. Dissapointing length. If The Three Stooges can have 222 minutes on a d.v.d. why only 50 minutes here?

I used to rent this dvd in VHS form from the library. When I looked it up on

Amazon.com and found out that I can buy it I was thrilled. It is such a soothing

film and the music is too. I watch it all the time when I want to clear my head

of to much busy-ness.

The sound tracks are pleasant and typical of Windham Hill; reason enough for purchasing. However, I have been profoundly disappointed with the DVD product. I was originally acquainted with the Laser Disc releases in the late 1980s and remembered them as visually stunning. However, the quality of video imagery on the DVD version is very poor resolution and not at all comparable to what is shown on the cover. Unfortunately there is better satisfaction from CD versions without distracting video.

I have the entire series of Windham Hill DVDs, and I believe this is my favorite as far as beauty and serenity for promoting relaxation. Those who use white noise and sound conditioning to help with rest might find this useful to watch while trying to induce sleep. As with all of the videos in this series, the scenery is exquisite and the music flawless with very peaceful and smooth transitions between the pieces. However, I live in a part of Texas that has frequent drought; and the water theme is definitely something I cling to in times of desperation so this may have something to do with my choice of Water's Path as favorite.

J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles