Costa Rica - A Traveler's Guide
by Dennis Zambataro, Leo Mileman
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DVD details
Author: Aria AlexandraDirector: Dennis Zambataro, Leo Mileman
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 52 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-08-21
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Travel Sophisticate
DVD Reviews of Costa Rica - A Traveler's Guide
DVD Review: Red Alert!! Something's very fishy about the many 5 star reviews that gush about how wonderful this film is!
Summary: 2 Stars
Something is strange about some of the other reviews. I.e. I was reading one of the other reviews, and noticed that one review by "Romano" starts at the very beginning with the phrase "As I said, a great video" Did the reviewer say this before?? That's at the start of the review that he says this. But wait, there's another review by "John", written very close in date to Romano's, for this video that starts with "A great video." Could Romano be the same person as John? They both gave the video 5 stars and seem to be referencing each other... And it doesn't stop there, I noticed there's a whole slew of 5 star reviews gushing about how wonderful the video is and all sounding strangely similar in tone... Something's fishy. My guess is that the producer or someone got worried that this video was getting bad ratings, so they created a whole bunch of fictional names and used them to give out 5 star ratings. Shameless. If the video was good to begin with, then someone wouldn't need to do this.
The back of this video says that it includes info on "six exclusive boutique hotels and spas." That it does, and one of those fishy 5 star reviewers defends the plethora of hotel info by saying that 'that's what the back of the case says.' Yes the back of the case says that, I and others just thought it wouldn't be so shameless and blatantly obvious that this is the main focus of the film. I thought it would have been a little more integrated. Overall there's too much on hotels and the hostess prancing around in her skimpy outfits, and not enough on Costa Rica
However the film has some nice scenery in places and a decent soundtrack, but a more accurate title would be "Costa Rica: A Traveler's Guide to Certain Upscale Hotels and Spas - Also Includes Brief Overview of Some Famous Tourist Destinations"
DVD Review: Costa Rica - A Traveler's Guide
Summary: 2 Stars
I personally didn't CARE for this video. I wanted to see a more comprehensive view of places to stay while traveling in Costa Rica. It seemed to cater to the refined high end traveler vs family or adventure traveler.DVD Review: This was a shameless promotion for the hotels!!! I want my money back!!!
Summary: 1 Stars
This video should just be sold to people who are using "Travel Sophisticate" (the sponsor of this DVD) for tours and are interested in finding out about the hotels and the tours they offer. The DVD is very limited and is purely an advertisement for the hotels they offer.
The video spends most of the time INSIDE hotels...and whenever the host is NOT in the hotel, she's on a tour organized by the hotels...and even then, the sightseeing is only 10-15% of the "movie".
It's all an advertisement and is a waste of money, not to mention time.
For those who really want to see Costa Rica and find out more about the people, the culture, different national parks, the party life in different towns, the beach life, etc., this video is NOT FOR US.
All it does is show you a few hotels in a FEW places in Costa Rica who I'm sure is linked to "Travel Sophisticate". It spends a LOT OF TIME zooming in on vases and paintings in hotel rooms, and the host sitting in spas. Oh, and they zoom in on the food they serve in the hotels. And oh, they interview hotel owners. Ooooh, big f-n deal.
Most people who want to go to Costa Rica want adventure and to see the country for its natural beauty, as well as to find out about the culture and the people and the nightlife.
It can't be said enough times that this video is a waste of money. It's such a rip-off!!!! It should just be sold to those who are 60years old and over and are just in Costa Rica to hang out in hotels. And they're not even the better hotels in costa rica!
DON'T BUY IT! WASTE OF MONEY.
DVD Review: I want those 52 minutes back...
Summary: 1 Stars
ok, well i guess ill list the positives first: The film is only 52 minutes long, and there's monkeys - that's about it. Anything else that may be somewhat entertaining/educational is due to the country itself, not the way it was shot. That annoying thing blocking the camera is the host, who also provides a pointless narration. About 20 minutes is wasted watching her eat something, blocking a nice sunset, or trying to pull off a personality. Another half hour is spent listening to ex-american hotel/resort owners babbling about the posh sense of style of their establishments.
Once you get past the out-of-place host, shaky camera, infommercials, and tons of filler, there is some nice "stock footage". If you plan on taking a trip there, this will probably not help you in any way. Buy the books.
DVD Review: Not really bad ! Not really good either !
Summary: 3 Stars
Wow, I can't believe the passions that this video has aroused in
my fellow travelers here on Amazon.com. I bought and watched
this video out of curiousity and because I have been to Costa
Rica and Central America many times.
1) OK, parts of the video is shameless promotion of a few
expensive hotels and spas but that in itself is not so bad.
It is just that so much was left out. They left out some
other expensive hotels particularly in the Quepos area that
would put the ones in the video to shame because they are
much more beautiful, elegant and worth more for your money.
2) The film quality of the video itself is very good and even
beautiful in the parts where the lovely hostess is not
prancing around a few select hotels and spas. 30 more
minutes of nature and this video would have been 4 stars.
3) If you have never been to Costa Rica you will see some of it
in this video and it looks great, unfortunately there is not
much variety. The hostess herself tells you in the last few
minutes of the video that she is sad that her 2 weeks in
Costa Rica have come to an end. Well, there you go! Two weeks
of very fast, albeit decent camera work is what you get.
4) Buy the used video version and maybe you won't feel so bad
about the price and the lack of depth and variety. Remember,
up-to-date videos about Costa Rica and Central America in
general are rare. Even the 2005 Globetrekker video did not
do such a great job on presenting Costa Rica and especially
did a poor presentation on Nicaragua.
Good luck on your travels in beautiful Costa Rica. It is not to
be missed and it is getting more and more expensive every minute!! Don't forget beautiful but forgotten Nicaragua !
You won't be disappointed!! Pura Vida !!
Description of Costa Rica - A Traveler's Guide
Are you ready to experience the latest and best in hotels, restaurants, nature tours, nightclubs and wildlife that Costa Rica has to offer?? Join our host, Aria Alexandra, as she explores the best of Costa Rica, including the Damas Mangrove tour, deep sea fishing off Quepos, Manuel Antonio National Park, Monteverde Cloud Forest Tours, Volcano Arenal, the beautiful beaches of the Central Pacific Coast and the La Paz Waterfalls. Featuring outstanding boutique hotels and spas such as Xandari Resort & Spa, La Mansion at Manuel Antonio, La Mansion at Lake Arenal, Villa Caletas, Monteverde Lodge, Hotel Alta and much more. Use this traveler's guide to plan your next trip to Costa Rica. Filmed and released in 2004, this DVD is the very latest video travel guide to Costa Rica.General DVDs
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