Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #480 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

Fantastic DVD
This dvd is the best dvd from charley boorman and ewan mcgregor
its worth the money

A Trip of Two Men
From knowing the guys and the crew of the trip personally I can say that the swearing and the lack of talking in certain scenes are entirely justified. People who buy this expecting some kind of highly informative documentary will not find it here and shouldnt expect that for the basic truth is that this was to be viewed only as a record of their trip and one worth watching. The DVD itself shows all the series from start to finish with a number of extras that were not on the original showing versions of the series. The extras include a number of scenes that were not included in the original BBC screening of the series which was a shame since they contain some highly humours antics from the two.
Finally I believe that for this amount of footage to appear at a rather reasonable price is excellent and is ideal for any bike fan.

What's an adventure if it's not on TV?
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.