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UK Holidays - Michael Palin's Around the World in 80 Days
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List Price: $49.98
Our Price: $26.49
Your Save: $ 23.49 ( 47% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Starring: Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Alan Whicker, Basil Pao, Terry Jones
Directed By: Clem Vallance, Roger Mills
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0794051289322
Format: Closed-captioned
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2007-05-01
Running Time: 343
Studio: BBC Warner
Theatrical Release Date: 1990
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Editorial Reviews:
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Monty Python comedian/writer Michael Palin takes up the famous challenge: to travel around the world in only 80 days. Air travel is forbidden, and wherever possible he uses the same routes and transport as Jules Verne's fictional hero, Phileas Fogg, meeting many interesting characters en route. As he races across continents and against the clock, Michael's charm and ingenuity delights the armchair traveler.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Pass this on to your Children
Comment: I watched these videos while stationed in Europe in the late 80's and have always wanted to buy them, but for many years could not find them. This DVD set is timeless and we have introduced our children to Michael Palin...they love him! We will be buying all Palin's travel DVD. Although the videos are not "educational", our children could not help but learn and be inspired by Palin's witty, humorous style. These DVD's are first rate. They are a great way to introduce children to the many wonderful places in the world. Oh yea, adults will love them, too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Around the World in 80 Days DVD
Comment: The DVD was excellent. Previously I purchased a VHS tape version which unfortunately contained only HALF the series episodes. The DVD, however, was complete.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: pass on this one
Comment: This such a disappointment compared to Palen's other series. Here he spends a long, long, long time at sea, and the days pass in tedium. For this series, air travel was forbidden, so it followed that the journey had to be via boat. And therein lies the problem. There's only so much one can do on a low budget ocean voyage. Somewhere in mid-ocean everything begins to lose its savor, if ever it had any, and then the story gets even worse. Once back on land, the journey disintegrates into a long, long, long train ride across the U.S. This is where Michael spends a lot of time chatting with people who maybe just want to be on camera. One storyteller, a conductor, gets into the act by recounting a not very funny (and quite apocryphal) tale about a fat lady who got stuck in the toilet. And was it my imagination, or does he have more than a little contempt for most Americans... he could hardly have portrayed them in a less favorable light. Sahara, New Europe, and Pole to Pole are terrific travelogues, but this one is a dead end trip.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent if a bit dated
Comment: Around the World marks the beginning of Palin's prolific new career as travel host. He is less confident than in some of the later series, but he has an infectious energy that really comes through. Some of the passages overland and on the sea are fascinating looks at anachronistic modes of travel. Palin is maybe the best travel host ever to appear on the tele. He is funny, yet always respectful and always smiling (so important when traveling). His voice over narration is just perfect. Only criticism is that this series is a bit dated - the video quality ain't so great and the places he visits have changed enough since then that it feels slightly irrelevant - but that's only a relative criticism.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great watch even today
Comment: I watched this mini-series almost 2 decades ago when it was aired on
BBC. Today I own the DVD. The world has changed a lot since Palin's
journey, especially China and India. Some of Palin's comments do not
reflect modern times. But his adventures will always be relevant
regardless of time.
I more than agree to all the appreciation this series has received from
the reviewers here. My only criticism is Palin gives undue importance to
the traces of british legacy that he observes in the great cultures of
Egypt, India and Hong Kong. But his down-to-earth attitude and sense of
humor more than make up for his nostalgia about british empire. And after all he is British.
The challenges faced by Michael Palin are different from those faced by
Phileas Fogg, but it makes a gripping journey. Overall great concept,
great presentation and excellent background score.
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