Need video-course recommendations on the French defense

I would like to hear your recommendations on French defense video courses and your thoughts about their instructional as well as theoretical value?

Here are a few I could find:

https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/kasimdzhanov_classical_french_main_line

https://shop.chessbase.com/en/products/kasimdzhanov_the_new_mccutcheon

I can recommend them, Kasimdzahnov is one of the top theoreticans out there. He covers only 3. Nc3 but really in depth and especially in the Classical 4. e5 he offers many alternatives for Black not only one line.

Thank you very much punter99. I agree that Kasimzahnov is a great theoreticians that is still able to explain the concepts to average players.

Given the DVD is from 2015, have you experienced that any of his recommendations have become outdated or even refuted at top level? In my experience, the lines of good theoreticians tend to be played and tested more often at top level. I bought a DVD recently by a 2700 player and the lines he recommended became very popular and some were in fact refuted only months after the release.

Hmm good question, I have to admit that I don't follow it that closely, so I can't answer you that question. Probably there are some novelties, but I would be surprised if there are complete refutations

The Classical Main line DVD is only about this position and here he analyzes

1) cxd4 followed by Qb6

2) cxd4 followed by Bc5 and also

3) a6+b5.

So even if there are new problems in one line, you still have other alternatives.

On the chessbase site there is a good overview of all the lines, so if you have access to a new database, you can make a quick check if there are many novelties since 2015

After the diagram's position, is 7.Qb6 still a theoritecal move? I mean that my old chess book says that Black here has the choice between two main lines, "the simple cxd4 and the complex Qb6". But you didn't mention that line. 

I didn't mention it because it isn't covered on this DVD.

There is also theory around Qb6 (and it can transpose to the other lines) but according to the database the move is less popular than cxd4, a6 and Be7. 

This is played sometimes, but it's highly speculative. And, in any case, the old piece sac line 7...Qb6 8.Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10.b4 Nxb4 has been practically refuted. Black should play 9...b6 or 9...c4 instead, but why mess with that thing? Black has better ways to deal with the Steinitz.

Are you looking for something from blacks perspective? Whites? or just an overview of both. For blacks perspective Perts is pretty good since he covers a lot of systems advanced, winawer, tarasch, exchange, and various offbeat lines including Qe2 and KIA. It also comes with a pretty large database which is a nice plus. I also have the older Kasimzahnov series on Nc3. All of those are of those are good but if it is classical you are interested in he has a newer DVD devoted exclusively on that...which I dont have. but imagine that it is pretty good too...knowing the authors reputation. Also that older series is geared more for playing the white pieces but its still useful for playing black.

Oh I probably should also note that for the advanced variation GM Pert only covers the Bd7 line as opposed to the more popular Qb6.

Thanks, @punter99 and @pfren. 

i tried several french videos :

i tried several videos: the lemos deep dive on the french and the bulletproof french by libiszewski were my favorites.

Why would you pay for a video series on an opening, serious question

Really strong players won’t give their best stuff, and video form forces presenters to be less thorough. I don’t even like repertoire books per se but I’ve never really been a fan of video repertoires at all

Normally I would never consider buying anything from the company giving out the Deep Dive series but I have actually heard some nice recommendations regarding Lemos Deep dive on the French, mostly because he seems to have played it himself. 

I have bought three DVD's from Nicholas Pert. His comments were interesting and I am sure I learnt something but in terms of his recommendations I soon found there were some issues where he did not go deep enough. His recommendations also tend to be somewhat impractical in my experience focusing on very extremely sharp play that is difficult to memorize, which is not really my style.

When learning a new opening its good to have some initial instruction, then one can check databases and other sources later on.

Not knowing much abot the French yet, what is the current status of Bd7 and Qb6? Are both playable? Depending on the answer it could be interesting to check what the different DVD's recommend.

Btw, I forgot to say that I did watch parts of a chessbase DVD on the French by Ari Ziegler where he recommended Bd7. That DVD is old now.

Thank you @punter99. It sounds like an excellent DVD to get a good overview of the possibilities, I might just buy it and combine it with some independent research.

Back in the 90s, both were considered playable.  Now, 4...Bd7 and 5...Bd7 are significantly weaker than the ...Qb6/...Nc6 lines.

After 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3, if Black is going to play the ...Qb6 lines, I recommend 4...Qb6 and 5...Nc6, not the other way around.  Reason being is that 4...Qb6 avoids the annoying 5.Be3 sideline (b2 hangs and this time it can be taken).

Now, the problem with 5...Bd7.  I shall compare 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Nc6 to 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7.  The first diagram below is Qb6!, the second is Bd7?!

After 5...Bd7 6. Be2 the only move anyone in their right mind plays is Nge7, and while I would not call black's position equal it's certainly the main line after move 5, rather than this Qb6 f6 silliness...

The above post does show that 5...Bd7 does not mesh with Qb6 systems, but to make a broader conclusion about 5...Bd7 you need to do much much more than that