Tae Bo Flex - DVD

It is not for the beginner as there is virtually no instruction, yet the pace is slower than instructional at times. And it is certainly not for the advanced as you will ultimately fast forward this DVD as I had to. I even popped in the VHS tape of the 1997 workout afterword just to get a good ab workout.

The entire Flex DVD is very repetitive and in the five years since his original VHS Tae-Bo beginner tape, the only thing that has changed is that his side kick Sherry has blond ringlets and a fake tan. Stick with the original Tae-Bo series if you are looking for a good workout.


Poor Production Quality   January 15, 2004
Craig Jones (Orange, CA, USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

The Tae-Bo concept is wonderful, but "Billy Blanks' Tae-Bo Flex" is the worst sequel to come along since The Scorpion King. It's a major step down from the classic Tae-Bo VHS tapes I bought 4 years ago. First of all, I have to question if the "flex" aspect of the workout really does any good. I'm no expert, but just standing on one foot and holding a pose doesn't seem to be useful either from an aerobic or anaerobic perspective. But, whether or not the content is worthy, the presentation of it certainly leaves a lot to be desired. Billy Blanks' performance was pathetic. He kept screwing up his lines and had to be corrected by his assistant. This is clearly something that they whipped out in one take with few rehearsals, if any.

And then there's the brain dead formatting. This production of Goodtimes Entertainment (www.goodtimes.com) doesn't even take advantage of the fundamental features of a DVD! There is only one item on the menu: "Play." What's the point of that? It may as well just start playing. Better yet, how about a few more menu choices, like scene selection. Hello?! The 45 minute program isn't broken down into chapters at all, so the Skip Ahead button doesn't work. (You can't even use the Skip Back button to restart at the beginning.) This is supposed to be a DVD that we'll wear out watching over and over, yet they expect us to sit through the introduction every time. If it were up to me, I would have put in at least 4 chapter breaks: intro, warm-up, workout, cool-down, and credits. ( I don't need to be reminded how to warm up, and would rather do that while watching CNN, then skip straight to the workout.)

I bought "Flex" in a 3-pack with "Flex Express" and "Cardio." Cardio isn't as bad content-wise, but it's not compelling either, and it still suffers the same poor production quality.