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UK Holidays - Michael Palin - New Europe
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List Price: $49.98
Our Price: $34.99
Your Save: $ 14.99 ( 30% )
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 days
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Starring: Michael Palin
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 0883929006250
Format: Box set
Label: BBC Warner
Manufacturer: BBC Warner
Number Of Items: 3
Publisher: BBC Warner
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2008-03-11
Running Time: 413
Studio: BBC Warner
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Editorial Reviews:
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Michael Palin?s latest voyage of discovery sees him venture into territory once forbidden ? the new Europe previously shrouded behind the Iron Curtain. Now that the Iron Curtain has lifted and the Cold War is over Michael can enjoy a new freedom to roam unhindered across an unexplored swathe of his own continent. From Estonia in the north to Turkey in the south where Europe reaches out to Asia across the Bosphorus Michael?s journey takes him through twenty countries. Some Central European some Eastern European some straddling continents and all utterly compelling.Running Time: 413 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre:Â TELEVISION/BBC UPC:Â 883929006250 Manufacturer No:Â 1000036456
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: MICHAEL PALIN'S BEST
Comment: Michael Palin's New Europe is just brilliant. You will find yourself
into a brand new World even if you know some of the countries already.
My only comment is that I would have liked to see more of the cities i.e.
the interresting places like the Fisher Castle in Budapest.
Otherwise the DVD's are really good, and I liked the trainrides as well.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Michael Palin - New Europe
Comment: Funny, informative, entertaining. Whenever Michael Palin takes us along to explore the world it's always an excellent adventure. Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: This Series is a Remarkable Document
Comment: I found this new series by Michael Palin to be remarkable.
As has been mentioned, he investigates and travels through parts of Europe not necessarily familiar to all people as they have not always been accesible for one reason or another (generally speaking, communism).
The fact of the matter is that many of these countries paid a remarkably high price to be the "free" Europe they are today.
Many of these countries are very small and offered both Nazi Germany and then Stalinist Russia a great deal of resistance and suffered accordingly. Michael Palin does not shy away from these facts and this approach makes this quite different from his other travelogues.
This particular series is imbued with a definite sense of melancholy and bittersweet feelings.
Rather than the lack of energy some reviewers seem to sense, I feel that Michael Palin has shown a remarkable degree of maturity and intelligence in his approach to this series.
This is a very good series and, I feel, a really good documentation of where these countries are today. The whole thing is approached with wit, wisdom, grace and respect.
I've been to Estonia, Finland and Hungary and you cannot leave these countries without an enormous amount of respect for these people for what they have accomplished in so little time as well as the resistance they offered their oppressors.
I am pretty certain I will be watching this series more than once and I do highly recommend it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Michael Palin's New Europe
Comment: The BBC and Michael Palin's travel programs never disappoint me. I teach HS Geography and use many of the videos in class. Money well spent.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: No Adventure for Old Man
Comment: After having seen Around the World in 80 Days, The Himalayas, Sahara, I was really looking forward to another exciting adventure with Mr. Palin. The nations covered in this series are in the forefront of international news hence, such coverage were, indeed, timely. Who could have imagined countries such as Croatia, Slovakia, Latvia would emerge from the rubble of the Great East Shake up in the late 80s early 90's which continued into the present with the eventual break-up of Yugoslavia. This moved further with Kosovo finally achieving independence in early 2008.
Mr. Palin tried his best to be in top form clowning here and there, joining artists and theatre groups sometimes doing impromptu roles but one obviously sees that age has caught with him. His efforts to make some scenes funny can be ridiculous at times (A very good example would be that laughing group in East Berlin. There you see him laughing but quite bored and looking at his watch - that should have been edited). THe quest for youth or more accurately health promotion is covered extensively specially those scenes taken in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Latvia or was it Estonia(?).
In previous series, you saw him running around town and that looks fine but this time, you see a haggard-looking host with the usual unappetizing bland Britishness from dressing to even hosting.
Since much of this new Europe thing is about the political change going on in the continent, the concentration should have been on that arena. However, there were great moments in the program specially as he asked his guests about their perception of their country, where it is going - form those articulately worded opinions of those 2 Serbian ladies to the philosophically absurd views of a Romanian train passenger.
The deleted scene of a once popular Macedonian singer basically defines a sectoral view of the break-up of Tito's empire and it came out strongly. You can basically feel the passion and longing of the singer and her "Don't Cry" says it all. Its deletion is worth explaining. Actually, a number of those deleted scenes has greater relevance on the balkanization process which has reemerged and has continued to plague the region just recently. Mr. Palin would have concentrated along this line - more of a serious documentary rather than a travelogue primarily because the concept of a new Europe is more of an economic and a political reality rather than being caught up as tourist trap. Besides, one can not forever clown his way; even Chaplin has to take serious roles when he reached a certain age. Europe is a serious idea, very much Teutonic in character and not a glossy American attraction.
The Romanian journey is one of the highlights of this series - it was an eye-opener for travel hungry eyes longing to see the Old Europe (I mean the Europe of yore) still visible in this part of the world. Snippets of Transdniestra, Western Ukraine and even Kaliningrad were unexpected but worth including simply for their being part of the continent as well as the delicacy of savoring something from the Unknown.
I was just a little shock to have Turkey included and with the implied assertion of even neighboring countries like Syria, Iraq, Iran being gobbled up by this peninsula of Asia (which actually is). Let's wait for the Old Europe to decide on that whether this time the Ottoman descendant will finally realize its dream of conquering the continent. The Cappadocian episode taken in its winter dressing is just a marvelous sight!
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