These are being sold together (though not as a package), so I will review them together:

The Good: Ana Caban is a very good instructor, and both tapes have modifications for the less flexible (more modifications on the beginner tape). Ana's imagery is very good. What sets Pilates apart from say, the old TV exercise shows (imho) is that you are concentrating while doing the exercise, not knocking out mindless reps. You are doing maybe 5 reps (each side) at the most The better the imagery the better the mind-body connection. I was very pleased with the intermediate tape, which is a complete workout, without stopping for a whole lot of explanation, except for the added exercises, and those explanations do not slow the flow of the workout.

The Bad:

The camera work (all the black and white stuff looks like they were filming action shots for the movie "Earthquake" it is so shaky), the beginner video is especially bad in this regard. The beginning video, like The Method Precision Toning, demos, then exercises, then the next demo, and so forth. The workout then becomes longer than it should be, which detracts from it being able to be used as a quickie workout. Why can't they put the demos in the back of the video, so you can start with the workout? There is also lot of silly posturing and posing going on, which distracts from her professionalism.

Bottom Line:

If you are at all familiar with Pilates through books or videos like Precision Toning, pass on the beginning video--you won't be missing much. It is one of those "watch it once or twice for info" types. The workout was too broken up by the demos to be really useful. The intermediate video is very good for a complete workout and I would recommend it over Precision Toning, as it adds some Pilates-style pushups which give the upper body something to do. I bought them at Costco for $8.99 each.

Amy