"Long Way Round" & "Long Way Down"

Hi everyone. I haven't seen a thread on this, and wanted to start one. So, if you haven't already seen it, I wanted to highly recommend the 7-part documentary/road-trip/travelogue "Long Way Round", with actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman. In 2004, they drove on motorcycles from Europe, through Russia, Alaska, Canada, and finally the U.S., ending up in New York.

The best way to see this is on the two-part DVD set, which I just finished watching.

Some thoughts on the documentary (SPOILERS below):

* It's incredible that anyone would even try anything like this by choice, since the journey was very difficult and potentially dangerous.

* I was impressed that most of the people Ewan and Charley (and the others) came into contact with were friendly and hospitable.

* The level of poverty and the relatively primitive way of life that they came across was a real eye-opener. In many cases no running water, no electricity, etc. - these are all things many people in the western world take for granted (including myself), but even in the 21st century, many people still live without what we would consider the basic essentials.

* Portions of the doc. were like a short history lesson. I was not aware of "The Road of Bones" before seeing this.

* It's amazing that the trip went without any very serious injuries. It was harrowing to watch:

- the car crash that the camera crew was involved in - it's good that noone was seriously hurt.

- the scene when one truck was pulling the other one in the relatively deep river water - it was a miracle that both cars got through this without being swept away.

- it was ironic that Ewan was almost very seriously injured when that car hit him in Canada, considering he had gotten through the previous parts of the trip without any serious accidents involving his motorcycle.

* Being a fan of Ewan's more obscure films, it was interesting to hear the references he made to "Young Adam" and "Brassed off". It was also funny that the policeman stopped him in Europe to tell him that he liked "Trainspotting" (considering the subject matter of that film).

If anyone has any thoughts on the doc., post them here.

 

I have seen clips from this only...

 

I heard about this and picked up the book instead of the DVD. It's a fantastic read, really cool.

 

That interesting, I'll make a note to get the book.

 

Very good read. Haven't gotten round to watching the series yet, even though I own it on DVD.

 

Buy it here

There's also an illustrated version, that I paged through - quite good.

 

That must be a Yank price. It'll be twice as much in Canada.

 

Got the book out of the library, and am part way through it at present. It is indeed very entertaining.

 

I didn't get the station it was on in Canada (OLN?) so I only saw parts of the final episode when visiting a relative. Looked really good.

 

I was organizing some of the books on my bookshelf and came across this again. I need to read it again, and actually find the miniseries.

 

Still haven't located the miniseries...

 

What'd you think about the book?

 

It's a very enjoyable book.

 

They're doing another trip, this time, going from Scotland to Cape Town, called The Long Way Down. Hopefully, they'll write another book.

 

Wonderful to see a thread of this!

I own both the book and the 10 episode version of the DVD.

For anyone with an adventurous spirit and for the motorcycle lovers out there, this is the series u must watch.

It's available in amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Long-Way-Round-Ewan-Mcgregor/dp/B000BOH99A/ref=imdbpov_dvd_0/103-4305061-2666208?ie=UTF8&qid=1175033197&sr=8-2 although this is the originally aired version of 7 episodes. The 10 episode version u can find at amazon canada: http://www.amazon.ca/Long-Way-Round-Entire-Episodes/dp/B000CFWFYW/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/701-0838088-4625163?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1175033428&sr=8-1

You will see how the idea of the trip comes about, the trip itself, and interviews after they finished.

I loved this one not only because of the adventure of the trip itself, but Charley and Ewan (and the entire crew really), seem to be really nice ppl, and some of the situations they find themselves in are simply too funny

Indeed, JediTrilobite, they will be going on another trip later this year, and there's the rumor of yet another trip after that one called Long Way Up, but that would take place from south America going up.

I personally cant wait to see LWD and see what kind of trouble they get themselves into this time around

 

From what I read from the media McGregor had a few close calls. But regardless it is a great show, the first time I watched it, I saw it from beginning to end in one sitting - and it even felt fulfilling as an audience member.

I'm surprised solojones hasn't come in here yet. =P

 

Oh i get the feeling this thread will come alive, once others realize it's here

I lended this to my cousin after i got it and he loved it, and so has everyone that i recommended this series to.

Another thing i really liked about this was the fact that they paired up with UNICEF to visit different facilities of theirs along the way, to show a different side of these places that we wouldnt really get to see if we went on vacation to these countries. I found those stories to be very touching and inspiring.

 

From South America up to where?

 

Alaska, USA

Long Way Round was an excellent doc IMO. Well worth the watch and Ewan is at his cheeky best throughout.

 

Well according to their site: http://www.longwayround.com/html/longwayround.html LWD will start in september 2007

 

It's September now?

This doc should be a riot. Makes sense as it gets cold in Scotland starting in Nov through about March. As you head south, it would get warmer, of course. And it would be summer in South Africa when they get there in December or so.

 

Hmm well it could be that it will air in September, but they do it this summer

 

Give me a break! I have a bad back and I've been really busy in school. I've actually been wanting to watch LWR again, but haven't had time for that either.

Where to begin. I read the book I think before the documentary aired. Great book. Informative of cultures, informative of human interaction, and informative of McGregor and Boorman as people. They were both very candid, and it was interesting to see how their thoughts on things differed. So many things I could talk about with reference to the book...

I also have the full 10 episode DVDs. I saw it when it aired, but I watched it again last year with my friends. They were suspicious at first, but definitely got hooked. It's so compelling, thoughtful, and funny.

I can't wait for Long Way Down. You can see some production info on it at its IMDB page.

Of course, I was the one who added the LWD page and info to IMDB. And the LWR page as well

Can't wait for LWD to air, but I have to admit, waiting out the actual travel parts was scary last time. There were just random reports of the times Ewan got hurt (why always Ewan?!). And that wasn't encouraging. My thoughts and prayers will be with them again this time.

-sj loves kevin spacey

 

great job!

I didnt know about LWR until it was done, so i missed the nervewrecking parts.. i hope that this time around no one gets into any accidents *knock on wood*

I do get the feeling that given the success of LWR that we might get a bit more publicity this time around, and hopefully they will keep us somewhat updated on the official site

 

They said they were going to be posting some video diaries on the site this time as they went along, if I remember correctly.

And, yes, I am quite proud of that IMDB thing, sadly


-sj loves kevin spacey