A documentary of a real travel adventure

frebo3

As a follow-up to "Long Way Round", the video account of their earlier, disaster-prone 200X reality TV experience circumnavigating the globe Eastward from London to NY on BMW motorbikes, Ewan McGregor and his friend Charley Boorman undertook another "reality" ride in 2007 - a 16,000 mile trip from the northern tip of Scotland to Capetown, South Africa. Dubbed the "Long Way Down", the series showcases the riders as they make their way across Britain, France and Italy, and then, after a ferry ride across the Mediterranean, southward in Africa with stops in multiple countries, including off road campsites, villages, and UNICEF facilities in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, and finally South Africa, visiting 18 countries in all.

They made the trip across Europe and Africa in 2007, and the 8 reality episodes began on American FOX Reality TV at the beginning of August, 2008. The DVD set is now available as well.

Let me get one thing clear up front - I HATE almost all "reality" TV! Watching, phony, role-playing people in phony role-playing situations under artificially induced stress and conflict is an idiot's art form.

Who will be the last fat person off the island, or who will the Playboy bunny date, or who will the bachelor millionaire hook up with are questions in which I have ZERO interest.

But as an ardent motorcyclist, watching two by now very experienced long distance riders plan for and execute a long and adventuresome trip through the unknown is BRILLIANT! I initially saw a 2-hour High Definition "Director's Cut" of LWD covering the entire trip that was a one-time event in selected movie theaters on July 31st. It was awesome! The first theater I got to (20 minutes early) had a few dozen motorcycles parked in front – but the theater was sold out. Fortunately I was able to get to another theater where a few front row seats were left and sat down for one of the most smile-inducing films I've ever seen.

Several hundred bikers from all walks of life – from hairy "outlaws" in leather to button-downed BMW riders in Topsiders oohed and aahed, and laughed and shouted in unison as Ewan and Charlie confronted the challenges of long distance riding in conditions that ranged from ideal (mild weather, good roads) to extremely bad (skin soaking downpours, hellish heat, knee deep mud, rutted trailways or powdery sandstorms).

Helmet-cams were used to great effect to impart the visual sensations of riding – and helmet microphones captured the kind of spontaneous comments that all riders make to themselves or their riding companions when confronted with the beautiful, the bizarre, or the bad that one frequently encounters on two wheels.

Riding from North to South, the riders also had many opportunities to interact with people from all walks of African life - from the highly westernized to totally non-Western tribal people. The DVD set also captures the vast diversity of the African landscape like no other travelogue that I've ever seen. Although Ewan and Charlie had a team of "fixers" in Land Rovers and security escorts on call for much of the trip, it was still a unique travel adventure for all concerned.

All in all, the 2 hour film and the DVD set are both wonderful condensations of an 85-day trip, full of real adventure - probably better classified as a documentary of a real travel adventure – like climbing Everest, or riding the Tour de France – than as a mere "reality" series.

score 10/10

frebo3 6 March 2009

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2033034/