Visions Of Europe (Acorn Media DVD set)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B
The
popular Visions Of series finally
gets a box set on DVD, even as one smaller set on Blu-ray hit the market a few
months ago. Of the six titles in this set,
we have already covered four of them, as these links will show:
Italy Blu-ray
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8937/Visions+Of+Italy+++Visions+Of+Britai
France DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3314/Visions+Of+France+(Special+Interest
Germany DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/4815/Visions+Of+Germany+(Special+Interes
Greece DVD
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1573/Visions+Of+Greece+(Special+Interest)
The new
volumes are on Austria and Great Cities of Europe. Cities
is an amusing (and amused) look at the various cities previously covered with a
closer look at living in them. It is a
nice change of pace from the series and its usual approach, feeling like a very
laid back Lifestyles Of the Rich &
Famous without getting into figures and having a calm U.S. narrator. The Austria
volume is the equal of the previous releases, showing a plethora of great landmarks,
resorts, locations and other structures worth seeing, adding the glory of HD to
the travelogue vernacular. This has one
soundtrack with narration and is also one of the discs with extra footage. It took a while to catch up to it, but it
certainly belongs in this box and is a nice wrap-up to this set.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image ranges from some sharp images to some
soft ones throughout the six discs, all originating in 1080i High Definition
digital shooting. Needless to say
Blu-ray does a better job, but these DVDs still have their moments considering
the limits of the format. The Dolby
Digital 2.0 Stereo sound is not bad but nothing sonically amazing either, but
in combination with the images and narration (where applicable) works just
fine. Extras on the country-specific
discs are more bonus footage, but that is all.
- Nicholas Sheffo
