PAL/Region 0. Three DVD set. Following on from the sensational LONG WAY ROUND, travelling compadres Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman set off an all new adventure, journeying 15,000 miles from Scotland's most northern point in John O'Groats to Cape Town, the most southern tip of the African continent.Following the phenomenal success of Long Way Round, Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back with a brand new adventure - this time riding the Long Way Down. From the northern most point of Scotland at John O'Groats to the Southern Most tip of Africa at Cape Agulhas the intrepid pain undergo exhausting conditions, treacherous terrain and many emotional, moving and awe-inspiring moments on this incredible 15,000 mile journey. Taking in Western Europe and riding down through Africa Ewan & Charley will mix their love of motorbikes with a passion for meeting people and visiting places of natural beauty and cultural importance. Special Features, Unseen and Extended Footage, Trailers, Route Maps and Photo Gallery. EMI. 2008.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Buy the U.S. NTSC version here... Comment: WARNING: this is the PAL European version and will not work on most American DVD players. The U.S. NTSC version is listed on Amazon here:
Don't know why it's listed as a soundtrack but the description and cover is certainly the DVD series.
To be released October 14, 2008, $27.99 !!!
The series is not as good as "Long Way Round" but still worth watching. The adventure was very poorly scheduled. Most of the time they are running late and have to speed through countries to make deadlines instead of exploring where they are. Ewan and Charlie's frustration with this time pressure is much evident through the series and takes away from the enjoyment. Customer Rating: Summary: Format Issue Comment: I'm about half way through watching the series. The series is great! I read the reviews carefully before I ordered this DVD and took note that some reviewers complained of receiving a PAL format DVD even though advertised as the NTSC format. Well, I figured Amazon probably straightened it out by the time I ordered. I was wrong. I received a PAL version. Assuming there are not any NTSC versions available, I couldn't wait and opened the pack. It wouldn't play in any of the three DVD players I have for TV's. It did, however, play on my MacBook Pro. So, my wife and I have been huddled around the computer. Customer Rating: Summary: Not as good as Long Way Round Comment: I love Ewan McGregor. My husband loves motorbikes. It's a match made in heaven, right? Well, this series is great, but we like the first trek better. LWR is our choice if we had to pick, but we like them both. Customer Rating: Summary: Great DVD, Total Amazon Goof-Up!! Comment: After reading about "Long Way Down" in a magazine I decided to order the entire series. I found it being offered on Amazon.com, but the description stated it was not yet available. After doing more research on the internet, I discovered it would not be available in NTSC format until early October 2008. But I ordered it any way, almost immediately receiving an email from Amazon stating I would receive an email when it became available. I figured this to be in early October 2008. About 3 days after I ordered the DVD set, I get an email from Amazon on a Friday stating it had shipped and would arrive on the following Tuesday, as I am a member of Prime.
Sure enough my DVD's arrive on the following Tuesday and I could not wait to start watching the series. So I opened up the package, put in the first DVD and sat down to start enjoying the show, only to have my DVD player provide a message "Not in proper format to play on this machine, Format not recognized". I looked at the case it came in and sure enough it was in PAL format which is made for DVD players in Europe, not the United States. So I looked over the package and my receipt and noticed it said DVD's are not returnable unless unopened.
OK, so now I'm caught in a "catch-22". My first mistake was putting trust in Amazon that they knew what they were doing. I immediately went back online and noticed Amazon had corrected their original listing and changed the wording from NTSC to PAL. However they had forgotten to remove the previous customer comment of how Amazon had done exactly the same thing to him.
So here I sit with a DVD set that is totally worthless to me and no way to return it because I had opened it. Getting back online, I found a new Philips DVD player offered by Wal-Mart for $57 that would play both NTSC and PAL and play them in HD. So instead of fighting it out with Amazon, I simply went to my local Wal-Mart store, bought this DVD player which works perfectly and now I can watch the "Long Way Down" series.
My problem is this; Amazon knows what they are doing sending out DVD's that are not formatted for North American DVD players, because the original add description was changed to hide their error. Amazon did offer the same Philips DVD player (model 5990), but at a substantially higher price.
Summary: I will probably continue to buy from Amazon, but I have lost a lot of faith in them, especially knowing they had altered their advertisement without acknowledging their mistake. The DVD "Long Way Down" is absolutely fantastic, I am loving every minute of it. And I love my new DVD player by Philips. But I feel ripped off by Amazon because I had to spend upwards of an additional hundred dollars for the DVD player and a good set of wires to use it in HD.
Let my review serve to warn you to check anything you order BEFORE opening it, just in case you get caught in the same "Catch-22" I have experienced.
Customer Rating: Summary: This is the PAL Version... Comment: Just a heads up, but after ordering this I was send the PAL version rather than the NTSC version as listed in the description. Its not a big deal to me as it plays in my MacBook Pro and in the home DVD player anyway. Much more footage than the original 6 part series on TV. This is a 10 part special edition and like Long Way Round it is life changing.
