No comments about Assisi Home of St. Francis.

No comments about Passport to Europe with Samantha Brown Season 1 Episode 2: Florence, Italy.

2 comments about Travel with Kids - Paris.

1. We watched this excellent DVD guide before, and many times after our recent trip to Paris! What an outstanding job! Finally, a real travel that we all can use. This DVD does NOT show a host eating bizarre foods, as it seems every travel show does now, or going to "secret hidden" places that we would never visit, but honest to goodness regular travel. The children in the video make a great addition to a travel guide. The kids are funny, but we think many tantrums were edited out, however the information and great visuals just keeps coming. We actually learned about Paris and France too, which we didn't expect. This show gave us a feel for what our own trip might be like, and put us at ease about taking our own children to Paris. There is Disneyland Resort segments, which our children were very excited to see. The sewer tour segment is a hoot and the scenes from atop the Eiffel Tower are stunning. I highly recommend this video to any family, or really anyone going to France.



2. finally a real CD to cover this topic...and like they say, the regular places which make a city real for all when traveling...I love the whole concept and would encourage one to consider

No comments about La Scala: A Documentary of Performances.

1 comments about Travel With Kids - Hawaii: Oahu.

1. If you're planning to take the little ones to Hawaii, this is the DVD for you: it portrays the Roberts family's tour of the Hawaiian islands - Oahu, here - and covers parks, museums, history and cultural centers, and kid-friendly adventures. The inclusion of tips on how to enjoy Hawaii with kids makes for a winning production indeed.
   
   Diane C. Donovan
   California Bookwatch

2 comments about Cruise Hawaii & Tahiti.

1. Despite the title "Cruise Hawaii & Tahiti", the DVD actually tells you nothing about cruising the islands. For me, that was OK because I didn't care about that; if you do, you will be disappointed.
   However, if you are looking for a comprehensive description of sights worth seeing, this is a good DVD.
   I have only previously traveled to The Big Island, Oahu, and Kauai. For each of those islands, the DVD did a great job of covering all the highlights I had seen, and some besides.
   The DVD also covers Lanai, Molokai, and Maui in the Hawaiian chain.
   It covers Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea (and quick mention of Tahaa), and Bora Bora from the Society Island chain of French Polynesia, and Rangiroa in the Tuamotus.
   Since I haven't been to any of those yet (I'll have done that after this Fall), I can't vouch for how thorough they were covered, but based on the three islands that I can compare to, I think they've done a good job.
   The DVD does not cover practical travel tips, such as transportation, hotels, dining, currency, and such. If you want one of those, go check out the Globe Trekker series.
   ---- UPDATE ----
   Have returned from my trip to Tahiti, Moorea, Huahine, Raiatea, Taha'a, Bora Bora, Maupiti, and Rangiroa.
   Looked at this DVD again after returning home, and can confirm that it does a pretty good job of covering the sights in the Society Islands and Rangiroa (but, as stated before, no practical traveler info).



2. This is a fair DVD travel video that looks at Hawaii and Tahiti. It spends about 10 minutes on each island giving a quick overview.
   
   It seems that this product falls short in both video quality and what they highlight.
   
   The quality is at time 'good' and at others to be rather 'poor', washed out and muted. I checked various shots from the DVD aginst other material and found dramatic differences in the richness and color. Having lived in or vistited all of the Hawaiian Islands, I noticed this problem the first time I watched the DVD.
   
   Their choice of what they covered is also aimed at a 65+ viewer, lots of glass bottom boats, churches, and 'educational' tours. Light on the beaches, surfing, adventure, and FUN!
   
   On Hawaii (the Big Island), they never show you any of the great Kohola beaches and resorts! Not Hapuna beach, Mona Kea beach, or A-beach, all great beaches! This is what most visitors spend much of their time at, not the Painted Church or the Jager reserch center.
   
   The half of the DVD dealing with Tahiti has better video quality and seems more helpfull.
   
   
   Overall score: C
   Video quality: D-/C+ Sound/Music: C- Enjoyment: C
   Commintary: C- Knowlege of Subject: C- (Hawaii)/ B (Tahiti)
   
   .

1 comments about National Parks of the West by Train.

1. This is a wonderful program about the American Orient Express as it travels from one national park to another. It is beautifully done. Everything is good about it! But be warned, this is only part one of a two-part production --- and part two has not been released on DVD. This disc includes the trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. The last part of the trip, which includes the Grand Canyon and Sunset Crater, is missing from the disc. To see them you'll have to buy part two. Unfortunately, part two doesn't exist on DVD. It's a shame, because this is a very nice program for fans of the American Orient Express. I hope part two will be released soon.

2 comments about Great Trains of America: Western Railroading.

1. If you want to spend money on a tourist train infomercial this is a good set(I bought east and west in one set). If you were planning a tourist train ride and want a sampler of what is our there this CD set would get you started. Great footage, scenes, maps, times etc. A very good job and a lot of information with wonderful people.

   OK now why do I hate it.

   Simply, not enough trains and locomotive shots, if you are into trains,trains,trains, you might as well try to use this set to replace your worn out frisbees.

   There are way too many interviews, talking heads, stupid tourist scene shots, wasted footage on kids heads, old peoples heads,hungry people, more people. They should have called this "Pictures of people who like trains"

   I really dont want to spend my money on a train CD that shows repeated footage of people being fed cheap food in a cafeteria. How about this... the inside of a bunch of offices, with more talking heads. They could have used space for some really good stills etc.

   Some of the train engineer interviews are good, and the video conversion is decent, but there is too much "tourist filler ugly wasted moronic footage" and not enough great train footage, if you have ever seen good train videos.

   How many people do we have to look at in each section,wasnt this supposed to be about trains??

   Sorry, but this is a canned production that would make a Disney hype package look amatuerish on any day,but if you are wanting to take a train trip......then buy this..... it is superb, you could probably find more faster on the Web, and not have to suffer through all the people shots,but it is a great tourist CD package. The side shots of trains being worked on are ok first time around but that becomes filler too.

   In all fairness they were trying to capture the whole train tourist experience scenery,the spirit behind it all and present a well rounded CD, so there it succeeds,very very well.

   Next time around more trains , way,way,way, less people shots and train rider shots and train robber shots, and kids, and more kids, and more kids, and people on a bench, and people eating and people walking,and people in line and people in offices,and more people (I was amazed there wasnt a bathroom on the train shot) ......IF ITS GREAT TRAINS OF AMERICA... THEN BRING ON THE TRAINS. Keep up the good work!!!




2. ...an episode was selected off this disc at random (Grand Canyon Railroad) and by studying both screen seconds and total shots, I found that a ridiculous ONE-THIRD of the show had tourists as the obvious focus of attention, i. e. "cute" kids, elderly people, people looking out of windows, etc... On top of that, the steam locomotive in action recieved only about 5.5 minutes out of the show's 30-minute running time, which is about ONE-FIFTH of the show. Excuse me???
   
   When neither of those things are on screen, it's mostly talking heads. One or two of the speakers are good -focusing on the railroad's history - but the others were terrible - in paticular a conductor who won't stop gushing about "the smiles on peoples' faces" and how "if they're happy, I'm happy."
   
   From my statistics, it's obvious why these shows were produced - simply as giant, half-hour long commercials. That's not a bad thing if you're planning a family vacation, but if you're here to see steam locomotives, turn elsewhere. If that's the case, I highly recommend the far more professionally made Pentrex videos instead of this gettaway-planner schlock.

4 comments about Luxury Trains of the World: The New Polar Express.

1. THE NEW POLAR EXPRESS is a travel documentary featuring the 5-day journey of the Polar Express, a tourist train, from Stockholm up through central Sweden, across the Arctic Circle, and over the border into Norway to the coastal city of Narvik - and back again by the same route. No, this isn't the animated POLAR EXPRESS of 2004 starring Tom Hanks in multiple roles.
   
   My advice is to save yourself whatever kroner it takes to buy or rent the DVD, or what it costs to take the actual trip - the equivalent of two thousand dollars per person, double occupancy. The major attractions of the jaunt seem to be the midnight sun and the mountains of Norway. I suggest that if you go rather to Alaska, the midnight sun across the Arctic Circle will be the same, and both the mountains and the mosquitoes will be bigger. And you can perhaps find a cheeseburger along the way instead of the flatbread and jam sandwich and tea brewed in a battered kettle enjoyed in an animal skin tent by our intrepid vacationers.
   
   The DVD presentation isn't all that great, either. If the operators of the Polar Express hope this production will boost reservations, think again. While the sleeper cars are vintage carriages from the old Orient Express (Paris-Istanbul), the interior shots linger in the more modern, domed observation car and the downstairs bar. While the former is suitably impressive, where does one sleep? There's no visual hint of the quality of the bedroom accommodations. And a description of the meals to be had along the way - except for the flatbread and jam feast - is non-existent. Oral intake aboard the Express seems to be limited to alcohol - lots of it.
   
   The majority of the scenes filmed from the moving train are either looking forward along the line of cars towards the locomotive, or back towards the proverbial caboose. I can vouch that the metal skin of the cars is shiny and the tracks of the rail bed are well laid. And the narrative dialogue was written for grade schoolers, such as - and I'm paraphrasing:
   
   "The travelers watched the train return to the station from the siding where it had been while they explored Narvik."
   
   Oh, and how about that short trek at the rail stop to the outdoor wooden stage where each adventurer is given a cheesy certificate commemorating for posterity the feat of crossing the Artic Circle, marked by a line of white-washed rocks? Framed, that could replace the velvet picture of Elvis on the wall back in the double-wide.
   
   The high point of the DVD was perhaps on the return to Stockholm after the paying riders had disembarked and the crew was filmed removing bags of trash from the Polar Express. That just about summed up the vicarious thrill for me.



2. Sadly the DVD is for the USA - the Region code for S.Africa is Region 2 which is also the format for the PAL system - so we are unable to watch this DVD . Is there any way to ensure that this error does not occur again?



3. I first purchased this DVD about 12 months ago. I wanted it to complete a set. I found that this DVD had lots of outside shots and showed scenery and interviews with interesting persons. Unlike most other train DVDs the personal interviews were mercifully short and did not advertise the company running the train. I have found that ALL the DVDs in this series were most informative. In fact the information contained in them has influenced my travel list. New Polar Express is wish number 2. This series is far superior to the first edition which was a sales pitch and teold how good thew trains wereI would recommend this DVD to any person of any age group.
   
   Yours etc.
   
   Peter Gallagher



4. I was a bit disappointed with this film. From the title I had assumed I might be seeing some spectacular mountainous snow and ice scenes... but not one drop. It was just lots of trees and water - all very nice - but not what I thought I was getting. Also as one previous review states there were no decent shots of the train's interior apart from the observation dome and the bar. I know the idea is to sell the trip not the train but a bit more imagination and interest in the actual train I'm sure would give an added dimension to the feature that wouldn't be wasted on the viewers. The introductory data on Stockholm was interesting and there still are some pretty good panoramic vistas to see so all is not lost but for some reason not enough to get me to give it more than 2 stars.

No comments about Great Hotels Season 1 - Episode 1: Portofino Bay - Orlando.