Visions Of Scotland (Special Interest/Geography/Travel/DVD-Video)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Episodes: B-
Visions Of Scotland (2005) is the sixth program in
the same series of High Definition-produced tours of major countries, set to pleasant
music and informative facts. Since the
last DVD-Video installment, I have watched hundreds of HD discs and seen more
broadcast/cable/satellite HD than expected.
Even some videogames are in HD now.
So how do these programs hold up in the face of all that?
Very well, actually.
These nicely-produced shows are made with more ambition than most HD
productions since, especially feature-length dramas. As with early DVD releases, this is a
two-part program that shoots every possible name location in the ancient world
survivor with what was then the best High Definition digital video they could
get their hands on. The result is
comprehensive and has its moments typical of the series.
What I like about this volume is that it shows off
Scotland in a way that is long overdue, once again showing depth and a respect
for each land that makes this series a winner.
Wait until you see the real Castle Rock.
Scotland is amazing and this just begins to scratch the surface of what
the country has to offer.
The anamorphically enhanced 16 X 9/1.78 X 1 image has some
detail troubles for whatever reason, but the color is very nice
throughout. On the non-anamorphic,
similarly framed extra footage, detail is a larger issue and it is odd that it
would not get the same treatment. This
is likely 1080i and not 1080p HD. D..
The sound is Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo throughout and has no surround
information, despite that really pleasant music score. There is about 26 minutes of bonus footage
that apparently could not fit into the main program running about an hour, but
is just as compelling.
Hope we see this series in an HD format soon, because
actual HD footage has been impressive.
- Nicholas Sheffo
