Customer Rating: 
Summary: Excellent even for a beginner
Comment: This is my first Tae Bo DVD. I've done a couple of other kickboxing type of work outs but would not consider myself very experienced at it. THere is an intro to the basic moves in the bonus section. So I didn't have to invest in a introductory or foundation DVD as some reviews suggested. There are enough pauses between each exercise set that I could catch breath. I was able to get through the whole 1.5 hours on my first try. Each set begins with a slow version of the exercise and then it get's faster. Even though I was kind of fumbling around during the faster pace, I think I'll get the hang of it after a few tries...I'm not the most coordinated person in the world.
Overall, it gives a great work out for your core. Your arms also get quite a bit of a work out even though no props or weights are used. The leg work is quite good as well.
I highly recommend it.
Customer Rating: Summary: Definitely a Keeper!
Comment: I bought Ultimate Bootcamp on Amazon a few years back, it was too hard because of the repetition of push-ups on toes! Ultimate Tae Bo is no doubt the BEST among the couple of other Tae Bo series.
The workout itself contains lots of powerful, Strength Driven and highly cardio moves. There are not much warm-up and only a few minutes of cooldown. The stucture of the workout allows you to stop anytime and cool down at your own pace.
Great alternatives for other hard cardio workouts such as spinning or hiking.
The more Tae Bo and Boot Camp classes I had with Billy, the more I become his fan!! :-)
Customer Rating: 
Summary: 'Ultimate' is an Relative Term
Comment: Nobody beats Billy Blanks when it comes to providing a good motivating workout that anyone can do at home. Keeping in mind that nothing really replaces an in-the-gym session where you are keeping pace with your fellow exercises and under the watchful eye of your instructor, "Billy Blanks Ultimate Tae Bo" delivers what would be expected for a mainstream at-home workout session.
For anyone who has done Tae Bo before, this video ranks in the middle level with regard to intensity. Blanks does not start this session off with his usual stretches (surprise). Instead he goes into his signature butterfly/punching warm-up immediately and follows up with moves that are familiar to any Tae Bo devotee and therefore seem 'no brainer' rather than 'strainer'.
As a long time runner who is experiencing some hip discomfit, I decided it was time to return to Billy to tighten up some core muscles. Approaching this exercise with Billy's voice shouting out "tighten up" and "suck in those abs" has enabled me to use a Pilates technique to almost everything physical that I do. Tightening up the core and allowing your arms and legs to move from that powerhouse I believe is the longterm key to longevity. As we age, we want to continue to have freedom of movement without pain. Blanks promotes this simple yet life-giving idea throughout his entire series. He appeals to both men and women who like the idea of kickboxing moves with a Pilates foundation without the ballet association or zen of yoga. After just a week of doing 45 to 1 hour of Tae Bo per day, I can already feel the difference in my hip. Blanks' exercises are tucking me in and reminding me how to move efficiently again.
This workout is long--90 minutes with a break after the first hour which allows those who do not wish to continue to pick up the next day for a shorter session with the remaining half hour. About 45 minutes into the workout, Billy abandons the punches and kicks and breaks it up with some dance moves which detract from the overall pace and because they are unexpected will most likely lower the heart rate at a crucial fat burning period.
Some of the combination exercises seemed clunky to me--in his most recent video sets Billy Blanks' Tae Bo 2004: Capture the PowerBilly seems to be relying on punch combinations that are offbeat and move you around the floor rather than actually work on core. Instead of pumping the action up, this reliance on combinations slows things down because it necessitates repeated instruction. When Billy sticks to the format that he made famous -- standing stomach crunches, kicks above the waist and down on the floor butt burning, his sessions give me the workout I truly desire. Note: Sadly, as there is no 'on the floor' portion of the workout in Ultimate Tae Bo, I decreased my overall rating of this product down one star.
Blanks includes an interesting "Meet Billy" segment to the DVD and thankfully the 'Learn the Moves' instructional portion is relegated to the Bonus Material section so that we pros can skip the intro and get to the meat of the workout.
Bottom line? I like Blanks--he makes mistakes which are not edited out of the overall presentation, but I think this just makes him human. You cannot beat his motivation, his amped up enthusiasm or the fact that his body looks just as good as it did over ten years ago when he started this series. That said, he must be onto something. Recommended with the caveat that exercise is relative to your own fitness level and what you have become accustomed to doing. This is 90 minutes of standard Tae Bo signature moves. Nothing new--just extended.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"
Customer Rating: Summary: not what they promised
Comment: I really do not understand everything that is written on this site about this DVD. I kept reading how intense this workout is and I must disagree strongly. I have been using the TaeBo II Get Ripped DVD for almost 2 years now and I have grown tired of it. So I went looking for something new from the Billy Blanks series. I wanted to be sure it was going to be a nonstop intense workout, which is what the Get Ripped workout is. NO GO! This Ultimate DVD does not live up to its name. The biggest problem is that there are too many slow periods. With each new move, Billy does at least three slow sets before moving to the double time. Then he only does two maybe three double time sets. That is not what I call intense. If you want intense, get Get Ripped. I guess I am back to my same old workout until I can find something that lives up to its advertisement.
Customer Rating: Summary: WOW!
Comment: I am an intermediate/advanced workout level ( I workout 7 days a week for at least an hour ) and this video put me to shame the first time I did it! It is def. for the advanced exerciser, however, I must say that this is one of the most effective video's I have. It makes all of my other workout videos look like nothing. I do have to add that I did not like the short dance intervals in the middle of the workout, but I think he put those in there to lighten the mood. This is money well spent, I would recommend it to anyone looking to get in serious shape without having to leave their house! A++ exercise video!
