snedeker-cathy I loved the trip to Africa but really feel Eve McGregor joining the trip brought tension to Charlie's and Ewan's relationship and their rapport seemed forced through much of the trip. I said to my screen, "Gee McGregor grow a pair and tell her no", but he didn't listen and even defends the decision by suggesting her addition brought kittens, rainbows and unicorns to the trip meaning she was just so down to earth and helpful to all the people they encountered that her presence was a gift. With the addition of Mr. McGregor's father, brother and mother,this series seemed to be all about pleasing Mr. McGregor; not about filming a buddy travel film and that is a shame.

fwomp Traveling vicariously with Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in LONG WAY ROUND, I was pleased to see them continue their adventures in LONG WAY DOWN, a trip from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Africa.I thoroughly enjoyed Long Way Round. Their travels were tremendously entertaining, with absent roadways, accidents, and playful banter that made it a fun travelogue. It was also strange to see such out-of-the-way places where roads vanished, streams swelled requiring special crossings, and the people that turned out and took them in. It was a microcosm event where we got inside the heads of both the travelers and those they visited.But things changed for the worse with Long Way Down.First is the overuse of the helmet cameras and microphones. The sound was often exceptionally muffled, forcing one to rewind the DVD and turn up the volume in hopes of hearing what was said. The helmet cams, too, gave poor quality video and were often grimy or rain-splattered, not letting the viewer enjoy the sites around Africa and beyond.And where Long Way Round started off with a bang, giving us some great entertainment right from episode one, Long Way Down didn't really pick-up for me until episode four when we are fully entrenched in Africa's amazing countries.It was also a bit perturbing to see so much time given over to their time with UNICEF. Although I think this is a very worthy cause, it isn't why I like watching travel diaries like this. I want to experience the road and the people and the countryside. Having it on the DVD's extra features was fine, which is where most of the UNICEF information should've remained (I still would've watched the extras, too).For those familiar with Long Way Round, they'll be happy to learn that Claudio is back in the saddle with our two boys, filming every move and crashing and burning yet again! The guy needs to pay closer attention to the road.There's been some negative comments made about Ewan's wife's choice to join them on one leg of the journey. I thought this was excellent. She turned out to be a good diversion for Ewan and Charley, as well as quickly becoming an adequate motorcyclist.I will also say that it was wonderful to see so many different cultures as the two crossed the African plains. I was particularly impressed with Ethiopa, which I'd always pictured as arid and depressing. But here we get to see the lushness of its green, verdant lands ...and it's incredibly gentle people.Indeed, all of the people Charley and Ewan meet are amazingly gracious and hospitable. Perhaps even more than the tough roads they traveled. Many miles and many friends were passed during this trip. And I'm glad I watched it. Just not as glad as when I'd finished Long Way Round.

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.

Steve West The first adventure seemed to be an actor's version of travelling around the world. But the cameras and support team did allow us to be in on their great adventure to pretty much unseen (to non-locals) parts of the world.Long Way Down re-unites the old team, now all good friends for a trip to another adventurous part of the world, Africa. Race to Dakar could be viewed almost as a scouting trip for this journey.To begin with Charley and Ewan say that they don't want to do a three and a half-month journey again but curiously their second journey seems to be 3 months long. Their schedule is more compressed and less free-ranging, and they have been allotted less episodes to tell their story in (one less episode makes a noticeable difference). And affecting it even further is the unusual addition of a fourth rider, Ewan's wife, for 10 days of the journey, who up until a few months before the starting date had never ridden a motorbike.The presentation is identical to Long Way Round due to being made by the same people, and the journey starts off fairly similar in the European leg (a more adventurous route along the Balkan peninsula was abandoned in the planning stages). Also they have again chosen to use large, heavy BMW motorbikes, but presumably due to the X5's fragility in Race to Dakar, the support vehicles are two Nissan Patrols.The series starts to get interesting when they reach Libya where US citizens are not allowed. Minus two of the crew, Charlie and Ewan are shown around some Roman ruins that rival those in Rome. Until more equatorial latitudes are reached, Charlie and Ewan essentially complain about the tight schedule and not being able to enjoy the experience. They relax as the scenery turns green and they reach areas with more infrastructure, and essentially have a blast the rest of the way except for the frequent border crossings. By the time the scenery turns brown (but not desert) again they are trying to savour the last of their experience. However most of what we see only seems like scratching the surface, if the story was a little more in-depth it may have captured the feeling of adventure than the first journey had. As it is it only seems like an extended highlights reel and unfortunately in a few places has a home movie feel to it as it is essentially a gathering of friends and family.Overall I think it's a good look at another less well-known part of the world, Africa, but it seems a little flat and forgettable in comparison. It is still (mostly) compelling viewing and makes me want to explore Africa myself.