Brazil with Michael Palin (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	217:51 (Case: 220)
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered Dual Disc Set	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Roger Mills
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Michael Palin
Case	Amaray-Opaque
RPI	$39.95	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.78:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In) English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Michael Palin, a founding member of the Monty Python comedy group, has now made 8 of these travel based documentary series for the BBC. All of them have been well worth watching and most of them have been exceptional television.It is his natural gift for comedy which has really lifted these series above the ordinary and his uncanny ability to get along with the various people he meets.This one was released in 2012 and focuses on one of the few places in the world where Palin had not been before, Brazil. The other 7 are:

• Around The World In 80 Days (1989) - An attempt to recreate the famous novel and movie in reality.
• Pole to Pole (1992) - Trip from North Pole to South Pole by shortest practicable route.
• Full Circle (1997) - A journey around the edge of the Pacific Ocean.
• Hemingway Adventure (1999) - Following in the footsteps of the famous author on his travels. Probably the weakest of all the series. Palin has actually written a novel based around Hemingway called Hemingway's Chair, which is well worth reading. Not yet available on DVD in Region 4.
• Sahara (2002) - A Trip across and around the most famous desert in the world.
• Himalaya (2004) - A Trip around and up into the Himalaya mountains.
• New Europe (2007) - Visiting 20 countries in Eastern Europe.

     Brazil is a roughly north to south journey from the Paraguay border in the north through to the Iguazu Falls in the south. Brazil is an amazingly variable country with mountains, rainforests, wetlands, beaches, industry, native peoples, little parts of Europe and much more besides. Palin is in fine form, throughly enjoying his travels and making friends as he goes. He covers many parts of Brazil, which is now a country of over 200 million people and touches on important issues like racial and sexual identity tolerance, the importance of the ecology of the Amazon to the world, the divide between rich & poor, the economic importance of Brazil to the world and how it is changing. He also manages to cover lots of fun things like music, coffee, soap operas, riding horses and the scenic beauty of the country. This is an interesting and enjoyable journey through an interesting country which provides enough detail without outstaying its welcome.

     The show includes four episodes of approximately 55 minutes each spread over two DVDs.

    Recommended.

Video

     The video quality is very good.

     The feature is presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio 16x9 enhanced which is the original aspect ratio.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout and there was no evidence of low level noise. The shadow detail was quite good.

     The colour was very good with no issues to report.

     Artefacts included some minor aliasing, some motion blur and some mild macro-blocking during motion.

     There are subtitles in English. They were clear and easy to read. There were also some burnt in subtitles for specific lines of foreign language or hard to understand English.

     The layer changes must be between episodes as I did not notice them.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     This DVD contains an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack.

     Dialogue was clear and easy to understand and there was no problem with audio sync. Considering the dialogue driven nature of a documentary this is the most critical audio ingredient. The music was suitably Brazilian and worked well with the light and entertaining nature of the program.

     The surround speakers and subwoofer were not used.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

    No extras.

Menu

    The menus included music and scenes from the show along with the ability to select individual episodes and subtitles.

    This set has been released in both Region 2 and Region 4 in exactly the same format. It does not seem to be available in Region 1.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is good.

    The extras were eaten by piranhas.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall