Ben's Vortex

[Griffo]

I found the DVD quite fascinating, and I was really suprised by the dissenting opinions in the end based on previous reports I had read.
I was awed by the amazing videography and decided that while cave diving is certainly in my future, sidemount crawling through tight squeezes is certainly not

The quality of the video was fine, but I have to agree about the DVD menu. No offence but I've created better menu's with free software, and I'm the least artistic person in the world. Having the word "Project" in the menu title is also a bit strange. I say this as the low quality menu, and the fact that they've created chapters automatically every minute, do detract from the overall quality of what is a great production IMHO.

 

[57Writer]

I found the DVD quite fascinating, and I was really suprised by the dissenting opinions in the end based on previous reports I had read.
I was awed by the amazing videography and decided that while cave diving is certainly in my future, sidemount crawling through tight squeezes is certainly not

The quality of the video was fine, but I have to agree about the DVD menu. No offence but I've created better menu's with free software, and I'm the least artistic person in the world. Having the word "Project" in the menu title is also a bit strange. I say this as the low quality menu, and the fact that they've created chapters automatically every minute, do detract from the overall quality of what is a great production IMHO.

Thanks for your feedback. The menu is, indeed a software glitch that was created while encoding, and is being corrected for future DVD replication runs. Cheers!

 

[JamesK]

any plans on a downloadable copy any time soon?

 

[57Writer]

any plans on a downloadable copy any time soon?

Probably not until after the new year.

 

[JamesK]

Damn. Ok thanks.

 

[BabyDuck]

we watched it last week. there was some good stuff in there, but my personal opinion (as if there were any other kind...) is that there wasn't enough time spent explaining why ben wasn't a cave diver - steve mentioned the list of classes, but that was about it. that's the reason he 'wasn't accepted' - he didn't try. he wasn't in the clique because he didn't make any effort to be in the clique. and if he did, like the wayne's world guys, but failed, then that should have been heavily stressed, too. you really can't learn cave diving from the books, on purpose. they leave big gaps for your instructor to fill, on purpose. him owning the books means diddly squat, but non-cave-divers take away that he was doing his due diligence by reading the books & that's pure bs.

otherwise, i thought it was pretty good, reasonably balanced, theories explored, etc. thanks, robert & jill for the good effort.

 

[The Chairman]

I really liked Ben's Vortex and not just because I was in it.

I have to say that I was convinced that Ben was NOT in the cave until they showed the shovel. Now... well now, I think it's more than likely that he's in there. I am sure he got disoriented while going the wrong way and simply panicked. Like so many people with adrenaline coursing through their veins, he did the improbable and pushed back somewhere no one has been to and should not even think about going to.

FWIW, I didn't have any problems with the video and I thought it was incredibly fair. Not only to the survivors, but also to Ben.

 

[Hetland]

I have to say that I was convinced that Ben was NOT in the cave until they showed the shovel. Now... well now, I think it's more than likely that he's in there.

One of the guys that searched between the time that Edd looked, and the time that Jill was shooting the footage said the shovel belonged to him (the searcher) not Ben.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the film, as did my non-diving wife.

 

[JamesK]

Probably not until after the new year.

I don't know if this was posted on here yet, but I just wanted to let everyone know that this video is know available for an internet download where you can buy or rent it.

Movie

 

[57Writer]

I don't know if this was posted on here yet, but I just wanted to let everyone know that this video is know available for an internet download where you can buy or rent it.

Movie

Thanks. Lots of streams and downloads already from people who prefer streaming instead of DVDs.