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Moonshadow1968
Reviews
Canyon Dreams (1987)
I love this movie. (possible spoilers)
I must respectfully disagree with the gentleman ahead of me who wrote a review for this film. I personally feel that "Canyon Dreams" is one of the better albums to come out from Edgar Froese and company. Much of TD's catalogue tends to be recycled, remixed, or live albums. Rarely do we get an album of actual fresh material. Canyon Dreams is one of those fresh ones. I think my favorite track is "Canyon Carver" set to footage of the Colorado River. The tempo of the music fits so well with the white water rapids and the rising and falling of the rafters. The music is done by the line up of Froese (who founded the band, and continues to record under the band name with his son Jerome), Christopher Franke (Perhaps best known for his musical work on the series Babylon 5), and Paul Haslinger. This, I believe, is considered by many to be the best lineup of the group of all. Frakne's orchestral flourishes can definitely be felt on this album, and one can hear his "thumbprint" here pop up again later on the Babylon 5 series.
The footage is simply breathtaking. I think this would make a spectacular movie to show at an Imax dome theatre. From the soaring over the cliffs, to walking through narrow slot canyons barely big enough for two people two walk side by side. The gorgeous waterfall sequence is also a favorite of mine. I find myself wishing I'd been born with wings, so as to soar over the valleys, and plains and cliffs of the Grand Canyon, to experience the land in a whole new way.
One of the only complaints I have about the movie is that it doesn't contain all of the music that is on the album. There are actually three versions of Canyon Dreams... The first is the original album, released in 1987. It has 9 songs:
1. Shadow Flyer
2. Canyon Carver
3. Water's Gift
4. Canyon Voices
5. Sudden Revelation
6. A Matter of Time
7. Purple Nightfall
8. Colorado Dawn
9. Rocky Mountain Hawk
Then there's the Miramar re-release in 1991 which has 8 songs:
1. Shadow Flyer
2. Canyon Carver
3. Water's Gift
4. Canyon Voices
5. Sudden Revelation
6. A Matter of Time
7. Purple Nightfall
8. Colorado Dawn
The video, also released by Miramar, has 6 songs:
1. Shadow Flyer
2. Canyon Carver
3. A Matter of Time
4. Water's Gift
5. Canyon Voices
6. Sudden Revelation
Why there's a difference, I have no clue. I don't know why Miramar released the album minus one song. I don't know why the video is short two (or three, depending on which version you have) songs. The songs on the video are also sequenced differently than on the albums. That's the reason I gave it an 8 instead of 10.
The gentleman ahead of me said, "the transfer to DVD looks blurry and dim." I don't see that...maybe he's got a bad copy or something, I don't know. Even on my ancient TV, it still looks great.
All in all, I truly love this movie, the music, and the band. Discover why the southwest US is considered to be such a fantastic and magical place to see. This video manages to capture some of that majesty. Watch it - you'll enjoy it, I'm sure.
Babylon 5 (1993)
Brilliant. Just Freakin' Brilliant.
If I could meet Straczynsi in person and had the chance to tell him anything I wanted - it would be this: Thank You. Thank you for creating what is arguably the best sci fi series ever to hit the small screen. Thank you for creating a story so rich, so deep, so detailed that its like will not likely be seen again for a very long time, if ever.
I just finished watching all 5 seasons of the series, plus the 5 movies (the sixth - Legend of the Rangers is die for release in March 2006), AND the entire run of Crusade - the sequel/spin off series.
This is about the fourth or fifth time I've done this now. Like the person ahead of me said - you'll be saying things like "So THAT'S what that meant..." quite a lot. This show is amazing...incredible....just watch it. you'll see what I mean.