Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1207 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-07
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, Director's Cut, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 600 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Long Way Round is a documentary detailing the 20,000-mile motorcycle trip Ewan McGregor took around the world with best friend Charley Boorman over 115 days. Their trip took them from London through locales such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, and Canada, to name a few, before ending in New York.

Armed with a cameraman, McGregor and Boorman encounter separation anxiety from their families; a shifty stranger (later revealed to be Mafia) who leads them through winding dark corridors to a posh hotel room; delays at international borders; hosts who offer them animal parts for dinner; injuries, equipment breakdowns, and more.

The pair also film their own video diaries, in which they voice concerns and frustrations. The result is an emotional, rich breadth of experiences, from the hardship of logistical setbacks paired with the joy of visiting the children of Chernobyl and encountering hospitable locals who insist on escorting them wherever they go. McGregor and Boorman also make witty emcees, cheerfully upbeat even when they wonder aloud if one of their gun-happy hosts is a psycho murderer. The seven-episode series concludes with their emotional ride into the Big Apple and some surprises for the pair courtesy of the show's producers.

Long Way Round may have been an arduous once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you can't help but hope McGregor and Boorman suit up for another road trip someday. -- Ellen A. Kim

Synopsis
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman begin a twenty thousand mile trip by motorcycle around the world, travelling through Europe, Mongolia and Canada. Features all ten extended episodes.

Customer Reviews

Special edition - extras worth it?
This is the extended version with 10 episodes rather than seven. In fact, the old first episode is now lengthened into 2, so the boys don't depart until episode 3. It is interesting to hear more detail about the problems they faced getting it all together, plus more footage of their Scotland trip and pre-project trip to Australia.
All other original episodes are present, except the last, which has been extended to 2 epsiodes to cover the North American traverse in more detail. Again, this is welcome, although the challenges to the bikes here seem to be more of the human variety, rather than the natural variety as in Mongolia. Added footage includes more of Alaska (bears, including a debate between the boys about the morality of shooting bears), a visit to the Harley factory and more words from the boy's better halves.
The final episode is more of a one year on retrospective and is a fitting conslusion, providing an insight into how the series was received and how it changed the crew's lives.
The other extras, on top of those on the original DVD are interesting, mostly of interview footage, but include comments from the cameramen, director and producer. They make interesting viewing for fans of the series. After viewing this, you understand more of what they whole team went through and a little more detail about some of the events.
Overall, this Special Edition is exactly what it says, and is worth buying if you already have the original and became hooked. It is clear that the producers wanted to utilise a little extra budget to produce a better product (which they couldn't do first time around as they didn't realise how popular it would be). The inclusion this time of subtitles in several languages is also welcome - even if some of the more expletive comments don't translate too well. I shall always enjoy lip-reading Charley when he says how he intends to show KTM what a mistake they made.
The other members of the crew, and Ewan and Charley's wives and relatives all get a little more coverage - which is interesting, as well as providing clarification of some issues that cropped up. It also emphasises the human side of the whole endeavour - and how much of an undertaking it really was, as well as featuring some of the other sponsors who helped the project.
I would also recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed the series - it provides details that aren't incuded in the DVD.

Genuine and Surprisingly Refreshing
For those who love Ewan the moviestar, you will be pleasantly shocked to see him as a real, down-to-earth father and husband - not to mention a fantastic friend to Charley Boorman. The two of them have great chemistry, and it's not surprising they made it all the way around the world.

I have recommended this dvd to everyone I know, and not a single person has been unsatisfied. I wish more celebrities would use their influence in such a humble and beneficient way. I'm so grateful that they went to the lenths and efforts they did to share this with everyone. They could have just gone on their own, but they didn't - they wanted viewers worldwide to see the children who live in pipes to keep warm, the church made of skulls, the rivers that claim lives every year, the killer whales, the festivals, the crazy food and the delightful communities.

There are parts of the world on this show that most people didn't even know existed. And, most importantly, viewers not only root for the team the whole way through but share their anxieties, humor, turmoils and victories.

Those who already have the travel bug, beware - this show will make you want to drive around the world yourself!

Do yourself a big favor and watch this dvd!! You won't regret it.

A Truly Fabulous Travelogue
Be careful, because once you start watching this you will find it quite difficult to stop looking at the next episode to see what happens next. You don't have to like motorcycling to enjoy it, in fact my wife started watching it only because she was in the room at the time. From then on she insisted that she had to watch each episode with me !
It's a trip of epic proportions with the highlight being the "Road of Bones" to Magadan in western Russia. Look at the other reviews, everyone else (nearly!) thinks its amazing, and it actually is. I'm sure nobody would regret buying this. It does have strong language however, so its not for the very young.