If video is taking a long time to begin playback, it is probably because your browser is downloading the complete file before playing instead of streaming.
If this is the case, you can use another browser such as Google Chrome and playback should begin immediately.
Alternately, you can open the link in Quicktime and playback should begin immediately. To do this, right-click on the link and choose "Copy shortcut". Then open Quicktime and click "File", then "Open URL". When the "Open URL" window opens, right-click on the address field and choose "Paste", then click "Ok".