Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3310 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-06
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 315 minutes

Synopsis
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman begin a twenty thousand mile trip by motorcycle around the world, travelling through Europe, Mongolia and Canada. Seven one hour episodes.

From the Studio
Long Way Round documents the adventures of film stars Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge, Star Wars) and Charley Boorman on their 20,000 mile motor bike trip around the world. Departing from London on 14th April 2004 the pair travelled through Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada arriving in the USA just over 3 months later. Along the way the intrepid pair encountered Kalashnikov-toting gangsters and extreme cuisine, survived numerous motorised scrapes often whilst traversing non existent roads days from the nearest hospital and found themselves alarmingly close to a hungry grizzly bear. They arrived at their final destination, New York, on 29th July and this DVD release with companion soundtrack tells the story from the eyes of the two film stars.

Customer Reviews

Why did they bother?
Having seen both Long Way Round and Long Way Down in various incarnations I have to wonder why they bothered. If the idea of an adventure around the world on a motorbike is unthinkable without a support crew and a cameraman to record it, then I must be missing something.

In Long Way Round they meet up with Ted Simon - who McGregor claims was the inspiration for the trip. There they were, loaded up with free bikes, more kit than they could carry, support staff and minders at every corner, and still finding it hard going... all the while gushing at the resilience and fortitude of Simon - the quintessential traveller who always got by with a rickety bike and meagre provisions. The crushing irony seemed lost on them.

Having read both Ted Simon's biking books I can quite confidently say there is more magic, more adventure, more romance, more balls even, in his description of the simple act of making a cup of tea under a starry African sky. He was all alone, had no idea what tomorrow would bring or how long his bike would last. No ego, no tv camera, just self-reliance and guts. Now THAT is adventure. These two jokers make movies, and this series is nothing more than that: two jokers making a movie.

It's a very long road!
It was really interesting to see how the pair prepared for their trip, and how even with the level of preparation they did there were still pitfalls and problems along the way. I was really pleased that they left those in and didn't end up with some romaticised selection of clips. It was an honest and very amusing and at times touching account of not only their journey but also the people they met along the way.

Pampered and patronising
Ive never seen anything more laughable. This series is a joke. One episode begin by saying, "apart from two trucks and a camera crew we're on our own". What follows is the most luxurious bikered ever undertaken, let alone filmed.
The dialogue is so sparse, you are lucky if you get one sentance per country riden though. The stars so uncommunicative that my pet cat speaks to me more.
The trip so unadventurous, that Ive been more excited going to the suypermarket.
Far from being an adventure of a lifetime, this is a trip to forget. As soon as possible.