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Beyond the Mind's Eye

Beyond the Mind's Eye

List Price: $9.98
Your Price: $9.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sync's great with "Gala"
Review: "Gala" is a release by the band, Lush. While the previous reviews state their preference for the music, some friends and I would play "Gala" as the soundtrack to watching this video. At the time, I would not necessarily think to have children around ;) but now I am curious as to this video's 'application' in that area as well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sync's great with "Gala"
Review: "Gala" is a release by the band, Lush. While the previous reviews state their preference for the music, some friends and I would play "Gala" as the soundtrack to watching this video. At the time, I would not necessarily think to have children around ;) but now I am curious as to this video's 'application' in that area as well.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Content - Excellent. Format - VHS, excellent; DVD, very good
Review: ...

Now, over a decade later,I have children and we watch it together - they love it too!

When I recently purchased a DVD player, I was pleased to find there was a DVD version of the video. I read the reviews on Amazon and all seemed positive, except one - who voiced concern over the quality of the DVD. I bought it anyway, knowing how impressed I was with the VHS. I thought I would get a great video, except with all the benefits of a DVD.

Upon arrival, my children and I were eager to try out the DVD. I was slightly disappointed by a few of things.

First, the image quality wasn't what I expected. I found the images to be less crisp and sharp than the VHS version and the brightness was "turned down" so the frames all seemed dark and lacking the detail of the VHS version. Second, the tracks on the DVD are different than the VHS. I actually prefer the tracks of the VHS to the DVD, but I own both so I'm not missing out! Lastly, the bonus video on the DVD was a real let down. But it wasn't why I bought the DVD in the first place, so that's ok.

My advice... if you buy the DVD, turn up the brightness on your set, it will bring the detail out a bit more. I'd still encourage people to buy the VHS as well! If you have only seen the DVD and love it (seems like most of the reviewers do), you'll be very pleasantly surprised by what the VHS delivers!

This is a great piece of work, highly recommended.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: simply fantastic!!
Review: a must-see

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Beyond The Mind's Eye
Review: A wonderful rendition of a well loved video. The video quality as well as the sound track lived up to the high standards set by the DVD format. The DVD version is NOT a replacement for the VHS version as there many noted differences. The DVD version contains many 5 to 15 second "snippets" which are never seen in the VHS version and likewise, some items in the VHS version are omited from the DVD version. There is a full selection in the VHS version which does not appear in the DVD version, and likewise, a full selection in the DVD version which does not appear in the VHS version. Missing the "Bonus" video would not be a great loss although it was somewhat amusing. Jan Hammer's music is soothing, upbeat, and strong enough to stand on it's own merit without the animations being necessary complete the experience. The high tech (of the time) cira 1990 Apple motherboard with it's 4 Mb of RAM in Brave New World serves as a reminder of the progress in technology of this past decade.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A good DVD despite previously-mentioned flaws
Review: Although one of the top reviewers notes that the DVD edition had poor visual quality, I believe this is simply because original mastering media was not available for the older (or cheaper) animations, thus magentic media conversion (probably from VHS) was required.

(For those not familiar with the term "Digital Remastering", it simply means converting from the earliest copy of a work available, in order to reduce defects caused by copying and re-copying done in a previous analog production. Because many animations were submitted for inclusion via VHS tape, original media was probably not available.)

Some tracks of the DVD are much better than others despite the broad claim of bad quality. The first track, as a bad example, jitters vertically just above your ability to notice it. On the other hand, Track 2 (for instance) appears mostly re-mastered, thus it and other tracks look very stunning.

I couldn't find the "snow in black" effect; perhaps this is an error with the reviewer's copy of the DVD, or his equipment.

On a greater plus side, I've found that this and other Odyssey DVDs make for great random-track play on advanced DVD players. Like a music CD, the DVD has independent tracks that are self-coherent, and random play allows you to enjoy it again, and again, with continual intererest like you would a music CD.

I recommend this DVD as a great video/audio enjoyment.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Rembrandt for the 90's
Review: Although the technology used to create this mind-bending computer animated journey is a little out of date, the artistic creativity makes up for it. Ian Hammer did a fantastic job of setting the musical ambiance - which is like a Syntho-musical van Gogh. After 5 minutes of watching the animation I was totally entranced, unable to take my eyes away even for a minute. The musical video cast's some kind of techno-hypnotic spell that draws you in and keeps you engrossed to the very end. This is a must-have for any DVD enthusiast.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wow - Great DVD for the price
Review: Am I seeing the price correctly? Wow, you have got to pick this classic up for the music alone. A must own DVD!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Artsy computer animation set to an awesome soundtrack
Review: Before I owned this DVD, I had the Soundtrack by Ian Hammer on CD. I loved the music then, and now to see it set to video is a super bonus! Ian Hammer is king of the synth. Of the current "Mind's Eye" series, I feel this one has the highest art value.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Artsy computer animation set to an awesome soundtrack
Review: Before I owned this DVD, I had the Soundtrack by Ian Hammer on CD. I loved the music then, and now to see it set to video is a super bonus! Ian Hammer is king of the synth. Of the current "Mind's Eye" series, I feel this one has the highest art value.


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