Last year (2000) Planet Rapture Productions responded to fan demand by putting out an official expo video that was put together after the fact. For what it was, it was great. This year the Planet Rapture folks were prepared for the fan demand for a video, and this time they dished out two of them!

Unlike the video for the first expo, these videos come in basic cardboard covers: one black and one white. Now, I understand that the covers were sacrificed this year in order to put out two videos instead of one. But black and white? How about yellow and black? If I wasn't such a collector, I'd take a yellow highlighter to the white box...

I was torn as to which video to put in first: Do I watch the Stryper performance tape right away, or do I stay in order and watch the other one? Closing my eyes and picking, fate picked video number one. It starts out with a Stryper collector showing some of his collectibles he brought in a suitcase. Ahh... it already had the right feel to it! Robert and Tim are shown being interviewed, I wish they would have showed more! The concert footage was good with a wide variety of angles and tight shots. The sound quality has a tin can quality to it, but more on that later.

This video features one song each from Sin Dizzy, Irene Kelly, Michael Sweet, and Disciple. My only beef with these songs is that it doesn't come across that they're playing to an audience. There are no crowd shots, and you can't even hear the crowd. The crowd was going nuts when Disciple covered More Than A Man, but you don't get any of that from watching this. You even see a Stryper in-store preformance without Michael the day before the expo, as Mike was delayed. Interview footage and scenes from throughout the event are shown, and even some cool Costa Rica footage thrown in to boot! The best thing about the Costa Rica footage is that you get to see just how wild the crowd was. They were going nuts! It's not professionally shot, but it doesn't matter. It has "the vibe" and it gives you a taste of what it was like to be there.

Unfortunately, this videotape is only a half-hour long. There was a lot of great interviews going on both days that are missing from the video, as well as some of the other bands playing. If you weren't there, you missed some great stuff! Maybe it's a clever marketing ploy from Planet Rapture to entice fans to the next expo, IF there ever will be another one. All in all, not a bad intro video to get your feet wet and prepare you for the Stryper performance video!

I popped the second video in, and re-lived the Stryper show all over again. I was very impressed with the production. It gives you over and above a front row seat, you're on the stage! To compare this video to the first expo video is apples and oranges, but it is visually incredible.

Audio wise, I was let down. It's lacking a lot of bass, so much so that's it's almost nonexistent. To most viewers, this will not be a big deal. I'm an audio nut, so I picked up on this right away. My expectations for this video was high, as I knew a professional production company was filming and editing the video. I also think they should have had mics in the crowd. It's a live video, let us hear the crowd! Again, I'm not sure how much of a big deal this will be for most of you.

So to finish this review off, it's my opinion that these videos are definitely worth it your hard-earned money. It could be better, but this is a newer company still learning as they go along. Planet Rapture Productions is pretty much the only company out there putting out anything NEW in the Stryper world. For that alone we should all buy their videos as a big thank you! If you attended this expo, it's a great memento to remember this once in a lifetime experience. If you didn't attend, more reason to get it!