 | This is the most spectacular set of HD videos available on the web today, bar none. They're from Operation Red Flag, a US Air Force exercise in which US fighter pilots fly into mock combat with pilots from other airforces. The aircraft, the scenery and the action are spectacular. It's in 720p and comes in multiple parts (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5).
An honourable mention for flying videos goes to the Philips HD Demo Air Show. This is just a HD demo by the Philips electronics company, but it's 1min 40secs of stunningly Full HD 1080p high-res aircraft.
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| You'll need a full day to watch this crazy 1080p video because it's 7 and 1/2 hours long. It's 21 GBs worth of HD scenic train ride between Bergen on the Norwegian west coast and the capital Oslo, crossing endless snow-bound landscapes and lakes. It's best downloaded as a torrent, from the official site of the NRK, Norway's railway authority. However, there is a 10min 720p preview on YouTube that will give you an idea before you commit.
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| What's it like on the summit of the world's tallest mountain? A climber films the perilous ascent in stunningly crisp 1080p HD, making it seem as if you're with the climbers when they reach the top. There's heaps of shaky HD videos of the Himalayas, but this other one, Nepal elevation is just stunning, beautifully shot and edited.
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| We love this 8 min video because it's just two guys having a great time flying paramotors. Most of all, they make you feel as if you're actually flying one too, with great point-of-view filming. It seems so easy and uncomplicated, we want a paramotor too!
If you're into more extreme sports, they don't come any more extreme than wingsuit flying: Wingsuit Base-jumping to Drum and Bass is an incredible video of wingsuit fliers rocketing past cliff faces, and this one is of a guy who flew 17km in a wingsuit. If not into wingsuits, you might try base-jumping. This 3min 1080p video takes you on a base jump with some other jumpers.
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 | The first plane crash recorded in 1080p. Instead of a distant plane that drops out of the sky in a grainy clip, this aircraft nearly collects the videographer as it crashes metres from him, in glorious high-def. And while we're on heart-stopping events, check this 720p video of a scary great white shark attack.
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 | It's an old clip, transferred from film to 720p, but no other video shows the
monstrous power of a nuclear device as well as this one. Just keep your eye
on the ships. Yet another great quality archival film shows a nuke being fired from a cannon.
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 | Nature and landscapes are big on HD. The combination of Yellowstone, glistening snow, geysers and wolves makes for a stunning 10 min 720p doco, which appears to be a condensed YouTube rip of a BBC show. HD is perfect for nature films so there's heaps of them about varied subjects. The Alps on IMAX (part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4
| part 5) are awesome, while the beaty of Ireland has never been captured better than in Beautiful Ireland - a 720p video taken from a low flying helicopter. Another stunning video is Images
of the West Kimberly
- the cinematography is amazing, though the author
likes to intersperse the video with ho-hum photos. Dude, we
just want high def video, OK? |
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 | Like an Inconvenient Truth, this is a big environmental movie, taking advantage of its 720p format to show stunning imagery highlighting the beauty and fragility of the earth. It goes for an hour and 33 minutes. In effect, it's an earth gallery, of which there are dozens in HD. It
was inevitable that high definition would see endless compilations of scenery, animals, sea anemones and
flowers that highlight the environment, many set to chill-out music. Earth Amazing Sights is another.
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 | The space category is stacked with HD videos, but in reality, they all come from one source, NASA. There are several versions of this 7min 33s 720p video. It provides a crystal clear view of the Shuttle Atlantis as it blasts off into space and then circles the earth, providing stunning views of the planet. You may find a version without the cheesy music. We'd prefer to hear the extraordinary roar of the shuttle as it takes off instead!
If you have several hours to spare, the greatest collection of space videos ever is A View from Space with Heavenly Music, on You Tube (part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5| part 6)
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 | You can't have a list of best HD videos without one showing fireworks. New Year's fireworks have become a bit of a trademark for Sydney. This is a rip of a Nine network telecast, but you can't get more spectacular coverage of the explosions of colour that brought in the New Year.
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| | Found a great HD video on the web? Let us know.
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