Long Way Round

I bought this DVD just before christmas'04, after reading an interview with Mcgregor on the internet. This is kind of a 'Michael Palin' documentary, but with two good friends and very funny camera man. The DVD gives a personal account of the journey that when you watch it you feel like you have become a member of the team and after a short while you begin to connect emotional with both of the guys. It is often very funny and the humour generated is simply two men having the time of their lives while seeing and experiencing some of the world's most beautiful places and unusual cultures and traditions. Ewan Mcgregor in particular is amusing and you learn is very good at impressions and coming up with comedic anecdote's about his life. The book that accompanies the series (also the same name) goes hand in hand with the footage you see on the DVD, and becomes essential reading when it comes to filling in the blanks left out of the footage. The book reads like a diary and is littered with banter between the guys and honest accounts of their feelings about their lives and how it reflects on the trip. I recommend this DVD to anyone who is a fan of the 'Kilted One' but to anyone who enjoys an adventure.

I have never seen Ewan McGregor as a real "movie star" and Charley Boorman is a journeyman actor.

The camera-work is okay, sometimes excellent and often good.

I don't like motorbikes and abhor contrived "reality TV".

Why have I watched this series twice already then?

This is a story about 2 friends who go off around the world and see *real* wilderness -not David Attenburgh like Serengeti - the real wilderness that is on the doorstep of Europe. As much a political and social wilderness as a geographic one.

Ewan and Charley are genuinely interesting and real people. They get fed up, hungry, tired. They sometimes argue and often get scared. This all goes to make a fascinating insight into both a "land that TV documentaries forgot" and a relationship that is as real as the cultures they ride through.

Being on motorbikes, they are forced to experience the journey first hand and the films are all the better for this - in fact it would have been a waste of time without them.

Ewan said "it's all about the motorbikes". Well, it isn't. It's all about Charley and Ewan and - more importantly - their friendship. It's all about the people they meet and the fascinating and often moving experiences along the way. As it happens, they had 2 wheels and a reliable BMW engine to help them along - but don't dismiss the biggest land mass on Earth and 2 good friends.

This is what television should be about. Good on the guys for having the vision, determination and stupidity to do this. Thanks!

The only downside is it will make you want to get on a motorcycle and see the world.

:)

Except maybe not so much of it in one trip.

And maybe stay ... Ah, well, watch the series, you'll understand...

Ewan impressed us as being a pretty down-to-earth superstar - even from the get go. And if you have family, the ending will make you cry with tears of joy.

We couldn't stop watching, we had to watch all 7 episodes almost straight through. Even my 4 year old daughter found most of it interesting...

This is a show about two guys fulfilling a long held dream of adventure. During a four month journey they travel on their motorbikes from London to New York the long way round through Western Europe, little visited parts of Eastern Europe (including Kasakhstan, Mongolia and Siberia), Alaska and Canada. We see the preparation and the actual journey.

I can't stand reality shows, don't care about actors private lives, don't like motorcycles and only bought the DVD because my husband had seen some bits on TV and nagged me into it. I also didn't want to shell out for the DVD as I was very sceptical that we'd want to see this more than once.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. We ended up watching it in one go until 2am on a workday. Definitely want to watch it again. What a thrill ride.

I enjoyed the show because it engaged me as a viewer on many different levels: it was fun to watch two guys (three including the cameraman) having an excellent adventure. Interesting to see countries and cultures we know very little about (Kasakhstan, where the hell is that?). Touching and humbling to see the Unicef work they visited on the way.

There are funny bits and really scary bits, amazing and interesting people they meet on the way, moments of hardship and friendship, individual endurance and teamwork.

Travelling is a state of mind as much as being in different locations and we get treated to all the highs and lows you can expect on such a difficult journey. Ewan and Charlie are very honest and open about their feelings and thoughts. The show is as much about what they are experiencing as people as about the actual journey itself.

Ewan McGregor is of course a natural showman, I was quite amused to watch his transformation from bespectacled actor to somewhat scary easy rider. This was a nice visual reminder of the influence a long journey has on you as a person.

I found the show inspiring. Ultimately it reminds us that we are all just people, regardless of our race, location or occupation.

The boring bits: The camera-work is good to excellent (I would have liked to see and know more about the cameraman, after all he was part of the team). The soundtrack is good. Solid production values. A few nice extras on the DVD. In short, you get value for money.

Whenever I buy DVDs I always pop them in the player to make sure they work and then shelve them. I popped L.W.R. into the player and I ended up watching three hours of the series before I realised the time.

This is truly compulsive viewing as, no doubt has been said earlier, it is not the standard celebs on a cushy ride under the guise of reality TV. There are times when there is genuine fear for their safety - and lives, and shows a real insight into the genuine personalities of Charlie and Ewan. Their is also a great sense of personal effort and struggle despite the well organised support crew who are, in the main, nowhere to be seen.

The one thing I felt could have improved this was more screen time, and so a better understanding of the role and personality of Claudio, their cameraman.

This is one of the few DVDs I own which gets a regular playing and it loses none of its appeal/humour/drama whatsoever.

Fascinating and Addictive.

10/10