Product Description

Spectacular views from bustling Edinburgh to the wild, windswept Highlands

See bonny Scotland as you never could, even on the most lavish tour. Thanks to a high-definition, helicopter-mounted camera, you soar effortlessly over Scotland’s historic cities, tranquil villages, rugged highlands, and steel-blue lakes. See the country’s legendary landmarks—the dizzying heights of Edinburgh’s Castle Rock, immaculate greens of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, mysterious glacial waters of Loch Ness, and many more—from a unique aerial perspective. Chase wild deer across green hills splashed with yellow gorse. Swoop down on coastal villages so close that you can almost taste the sweet, smoky salmon. With a poetic narration and a soundtrack of authentic regional music, Visions of Scotland opens your eyes, ears, and heart to this legendary land.

Includes bonus footage not seen on public television.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16259 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-05-29
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 88 minutes

Amazon.com
Taking the concept of Visions of England and moving it north, Visions of Scotland is a treat for fans of the country or anyone who loves spectacular scenery. The gently gliding aerial footage (shot from a helicopter) captures the rolling hills and classic architecture of the Scots, traveling from Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to St. Andrews Royal and Ancient Golf Club, to Perth, the northern Lochs (including Loch Ness, of course, and its famous ruins of Urquhart Castle), Duart Castle, McCaig’s Towers, and many other points. The sights range from the sublime (a lone bird soaring over the highlands) to the mundane (the Friday commute in Glasgow). Narration provides brief and helpful descriptions of the locations plus small dabs of history, such as John Knox, Robert the Bruce, and William Wallace. The music is pleasant, both classical and regional (though the bagpipes sound slightly electronic), and what else besides the famous folk song could accompany the sight of Loch Lomond? In addition to the hourlong main program, there’s 25 minutes of narrator-less bonus footage, including the charming sight of tiny sheep scampering across the Isle of Kerrera. --David Horiuchi

Chicago Tribune
The visuals -- all from an aerial perspective -- are stunning, a visual feast, and unabashedly romantic.

Louisville Courier-Journal
If you can't get to Scotland, curl up in front of your television with this very enjoyable video tour.

Customer Reviews

Missing Star is for What;'s Left Out
This is a beautiful flyover with good narration and a lovely score, so the missing star is for what's left out. Of course, no tour of Scotland could include everything (I spent two years of my life there, and there is much I missed), but I was so disappointed when it ended without a look at so many of Scotland's most famous places. Yes, Stirling and Edinburgh were there, and Loch Lomond, Loch Ness and a brief glimpse of Inverness... We see Bannockburn, but not Culloden. The Isle of Mull, but not Iona. Nothing of Glencoe. And nothing of the Isle of Skye, the most famous of all Scottish islands and arguably the most beautiful. Nor do we reach the far north, so there is nothing of Orkney or Shetland. Perhaps there were rules about flying over St. Andrews, so we see the cathedral ruins at one end and the golf course at the other, but absolutely nothing of the jewel of an ancient cathedral town that lies in between.... The other enormous omission is the lack of identification (on either credits or liner notes, which were absent altogether) of the many beautiful songs underlying the narrative. These were well-chosen, in a variety of styles, and remarkably un-cliched, so that we had choral works, folk songs, classical and contemporary, well representing the range of Scotland's culture, but I'd have loved to know the names, the artists and possibly what CDs might contain them. For a Scotophile and a music lover, this is a serious omission. I can only hope there is a Visions of Scotland, Part II, that lets us see the Scotland we missed - and maybe a companion CD, or at least a link to the artists whose music provided so much beauty and atmosphere.

Gorgeous
Although the islands are ignored, the crisp photography, narrator with a pleasant burr and fine music make this an exceptional entry in the "Visions of" collection. Almost equal to "Over Ireland," still the best of the fly-by films.

Visions of Scotland
This was so beautiful, but I would have loved it to be much longer!!! Couldn't get enough of that lovely country.