The Official "Roller Coasters in the Raw!" Review

[pianojohn]

'Twas several nights before Christmas, when all through my house

Everyone was stirring, since I work for Mickey Mouse!

 

The mailbox was mounted by the roadside with care,

In hopes that my TPR DVD's soon would be there;

 

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from my laptop to see what was the matter.

 

Away to the mailbox I flew like a flash,

Threw on my black Croc's and made a mad dash!

 

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But my DVD's from Robb, a fitting end to this year!

 

With a clever new title, and editing so slick

I knew in an instant "These DVD's are gonna be sick!"

 

I watched each disc once, then twice it seemed

And the footage from Spain turned me envy-shaded green!

 

The woodies were fast, and El Toro was great

So why don't they build one in Florida state?

 

The POV shots were filmed with the greatest of ease

And from my couch I think I got some negative g's.

 

Furious Baco was weird, and Abismo was too

I think that I'll stick to Sheikra, thank you!

 

But for those of us who haven't been overseas

These DVD's as they used to say are " the bee's knees."*

 

So I end this review with a big "alright"

"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"the bee's knees"

 

(Phrase Origins)

 

A bee's "corbiculae", or pollen-baskets, are located on its

tibiae (midsegments of its legs). The phrase "the bee's knees",

meaning "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in

the 1920s, along with "the cat's whiskers" (possibly from the use

of these in radio crystal sets), "the cat's pajamas" (pyjamas were

still new enough to be daring), and similar phrases which made less

sense and didn't endure: "the eel's ankle", "the elephant's

instep", "the snake's hip". Stories in circulation about the

phrase's origin include: "b's and e's", short for "be-alls and

end-alls"; and a corruption of "business".

 

And now you know!!

[SharkTums]

^Amazing!

 

You get TWO bags of crap!!!!

[JimmyBo]

I posted this in the official "Raw" thread but I might as well post it here so I might be able to get a bag of crap as a gift from TPR for the holiday season.

 

Just watched the RAW DVD and I must that Robb and Elissa did a great job. I wasn't too sure how I would like this DVD since I love to see crazy TPR antics and such but this was fun to watch. I don't know if it was the pacing and how you guys edited but it wasn't boring at all.

 

No offense guys, but I found your earlier "Coaster Footage" DVD's (the first couple of volumes) to be boring at times just because there's random music in the background the keep the audience "entertained" while watching. This was nothing like that and it was funny at times to listen to the riders.

 

Things I liked: I liked your commentary on Eeja-whatever-eeka. Looks like I'm in no rush to get over there. The Bonus Footage on the steel disc brings back memories and that was the best ride of the trip.

 

Things that weren't so great: Honestly, I wasn't a fan of what looked like footage that you receive from certain parks. The helicopter flying next to Tatsu and over Kingda Ka. When I get a TPR DVD I want to see what you guys shoot because you guys can shoot some amazing shots. The footage the parks provided was good filler but the Kingda Ka video looked more like a video the park releases...unless that's what you were going for.

 

Anyway, enough rambling and giving my two pennies...great job and keep it you guys.

 

Robb and Elissa kick @$$

 

JimmyBo

 

P.S. I watched it again since I posted this before and I must say that this is the first TPR DVD that I've watched twice within a month of each viewing. That's means you guys definitely have a winner DVD on your hands.

[Bruno Lancetti]

Hey my big "dude-friends" !!! I have received 3 different e-mails with strong good reviews from some guys (including the Super Hero Robin Schroder ) that I met during the 2007 Mini Europe Trip . I have also red all the above comments/posts and... argh!!!, urk!!!, sob!!! I would like to be honest... !!! Yeah !!! Finally I was forced to buy one (yesterday)!!!!!! So now I'm waiting the double dvd like a child is waiting to suck a big & bounce tit !!! I will post soon my review!!!

[ParkTrips]

So now I'm waiting the double dvd like a child is waiting to suck a big & bounce tit !!!

that's awesome!!!!!

[jten11]

Well I finally got mines today(It came faster than I thought!) on my lunch break, so I was able to get a peek on what on there....what did I think about it? I'll let you know when I finish watching both disks....

[toniokatun]

I received the DVD very quickly!!!!

 

It's an amazing DVD, coaster footage are so so great, really a great DVD!!!!

Thank you TPR!!!

[texcoaster]

Here's my official review:

 

VERY NICE. I love having the full-ride POV footage, and watching on Guruguy's huge-ass screen made it even better. It was also a great idea to put all the woodies on one disc and the steelies on another.

 

Menus were easy to navigate and it was refreshing to hear the comments of the riders (and the beautiful sounds that a wood coaster makes on its own) without having to tune out the music.

 

The only complaint I have is that there's no back-catalog of raw footage from the numerous other coaster expedition DVDs I have. While I enjoy those, and they are GREAT for showing to folks who aren't coaster fanatics, since there's actual entertainment value in those in addition to coaster footage, I'd still love to have a lot of those rides in raw format, too.

[GriffyTiffy]

When I first put the DVD in the machine, I realized that I was watching what must be the best quality coaster DVD I have ever seen! The Maverick and Furis Baco were the most impressive! Great Job!

 

I also need to salute the ride comentary on Eejanaika!

[Coasternerdette]

I ordered a couple of the DVD's including this one a little before Thanksgiving. I've spent the last two weeks pouncing on the mailman, trying to beat my boyfriend from accidently getting his own Christmas present.

 

It's been quite a hysterical effort on my part to keep this a secret. I'm sure hoping I get these soon, otherwise the mailman is going to be referring to me as the crazy lady that attacks him every day!

[Noxegon]

I enjoyed the DVD, not least because my ankles appear in quite a large amount of the Phaethon footage - with the rest of me making a special guest appearance for a few seconds

 

It's great to get a DVD like this that lets me remember what a coaster was like - I'm watching the Sheikra footage as I type this...

[TheRapidsNerd]

December 19th 2007. Huntsville. Alabama.

 

...It arrived...

 

Yep, I ordered Roller Coasters in the Raw Volume 1. The package from Alvey Land was still red hot from the smokin' fast turn-around from when I mailed my check (coffee stains and crappy folding job and all). I did a double take as I drove up to my flat. Oh yeah!

 

With a steel mug of Big K cola I watched the Steelies gleefully. To keep it simple, some of my fav parts:

 

* The eerie and hair-raising silence while cresting the top of Kingda Ka during the PoV.

* Big Mike's (?) face while riding Kingda Ka

* The AWESOME bonus coaster

* The big yawn somebody let out on the Kumali lift hill in the PoV

* Robbs subtle and eloquent musings on Ejanaika

 

Yes friends, short of one of the big trips and hanging with the Alveys, these DVD's of their adventures are WELL worth the money. Stop what you're doing...right now...yes, put down the sandwich (it'll be fine, really) , put some clothes on or whatever and order these DVDs. They rock!

 

Robb and Elissa, thank you for the ninja fast turn around and for the most honorable videos. I salute you.

[robbalvey]

The only complaint I have is that there's no back-catalog of raw footage from the numerous other coaster expedition DVDs I have.

That will be coming soon!

 

I wanted the first edition of this DVD series to be mostly "new" stuff.

 

The other problem is that from some of the back catalog coasters I wasn't planning on doing a "raw" video, so some of the audio is either really bad, or I might not have it at all.

 

Since the idea was to add music, I didn't worry too much about audio in the past years.

 

But I'll salvage as much of it as I can!

 

--Robb

[texcoaster]

some of the audio is either really bad, or I might not have it at all.

 

--Robb

 

With notable exceptions, I'd say that I watch a "raw" coaster DVD about 99% for the video and 1% for the audio. The audio track isn't a big deal... the video track is!

[jten11]

Ok time for my review...

 

When I first saw it in the mail, I was shocked to see it arrive so fast after ordering it. Couldn't see it all in one setting, due to I was on break from work when it arrived, so I saw bits and peices until I eventually watched both DvDs.

 

Very nice PoVs on both discs. I liked the different angles you used when recording the coasters, like you was trying to give us an overall feel of how the coaster traverse through the track. I'll be honest I didnt like the park footages in comparison to TPRs. (Well except the Voyage PoV. That was reallly nice) To me it took some of the character away from the crazy antics that is TPR(lol @ Eejanaika POV).

 

Quality wise you can see a huge difference vs watching a downloaded/streaming video online. I was pretty shocked to see how nice coasters look on a TV screen. I loved the raw sound of a coaster and the screams of guests. To me thats all the music I really need.

 

Overall I'm very satisfied with my purchase. Its a great DvD for coaster fans and enthusiasts and I'm looking forward to the next volume whenever that comes out.

[coasterbear30]

OK, so I got my copy of the Coasters in the RAW DVD quite a few weeks ago (along with TPR Videos 4, 5, & 6 and the Jiggity Johnsons Video.) I must say that after buying and watching almost all of the TPR videos, that RAW is the best one yet. It is so good to see POV's of so many new coasters that I have yet to ride. I also like the fact that you can hear the clickity clack of the coasters and the screams of their victims! There are so many good POV's of coasters that I want to ride like El Toro, Maverick, Voyage, Kanonen, Stealth and others. I don't know which part is better, the steelies or the woodies. I love them both. I hope that TPR will be doing more of these videos in the future because they are awesome! And at 10 bucks, who couldn't afford that?

 

The commentary on the coasters is so funny to hear too. Other than Eejankwhatever its called and the GD bomb dropped every 5 seconds, it was a good commentary. I am sure that I would have been cussing too with all that roughness though, and btw, it isn't bleeped out, at least not on my video.

 

Anyway, thank you Robb and Elissa for such a great site and wonderful videos that let us see and experience things we may never get to in real life! You guys are awesome.

[Absimilliard]

I got Rollercoasters in the Raw and Coaster Expedition Vol. 7 for christmas and finally got around to watching both.

 

Rollercoasters in the Raw is awesome! Interesting selection of rides, showing all kind of rides and the quality is great. One regret, you can't really hear the song on Hollywood Dream: The Ride...

 

Coaster Expedition shows a lot of interesting places. The little japanese parks, The Dells, the Ozark Wildcat, etc. The Tokyo Disneyland segment was good and seeing the Hong Kong Space Mountain footage with lights on a big screen was great! Felt like I was riding it!