River Somewhere, A-Series Two (1997)

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General		Extras
Category	Documentary	Main Menu Audio
Rating
Year Of Production	1997
Running Time	195:38
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	1,2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Tom Gleisner Rob Sitch
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Tom Gleisner Rob Sitch
Case	Amaray-Transparent-Secure Clip
RPI	Box	Music	Liam Bradley

    After the success of the first series of A River Somewhere, a second series screened on the ABC in 1998. A River Somewhere - Series Two once again sees Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch heading off around the world in pursuit of the elusive trout. The style of series two is identical to series one, with the show filmed like a travelogue and the angling exploits often taking a backseat to the scenery and locales the two come across. After the success of the first series it would appear the budget was increased for this effort, allowing the lads to travel to a few more exotic locations like Bhutan and Belize. As before it is obvious the boys love their sport and are keen to share this passion with the viewers. The one liners do keep coming and once again seem to be aging with just a little too much cheese at times. But if you enjoyed series one of this acclaimed series there is absolutely no reason why you will not love series two.

    There are seven episodes in series two:

    Episode 1: Bhutan (30:54)

    Bhutan is a country few people have heard about, let alone seen in detail. It is a tiny country nestled high in the Himalayas north east of India, and after a searching 12 hour journey through the sub-continent on a rickety train, Tom and Rob are permitted to enter Bhutan in search of some brown trout rumoured to be in the rivers.

    Episode 2: The Cobungra River, Victoria (29:17)

    Way up in Victoria's high country, the Cobungra River is a pristine stream with big mountain trout. There are no roads so the lads saddle up the horses and trek in over an old cattle route.

    Episode 3: Wyoming, United States Of America (27:18)

    The boys start off in San Francisco and head east, headed for Wyoming and the classic fly fishing rivers that are found high up in the magnificent Rocky Mountains.

    Episode 4: The Yarraki, Queensland, Australia (26:57)

    The first of a two part episode, Tom and Rob first learn to sail a yacht and then with the benefit of their new found skills head to Port Douglas in Queensland. Here they hire their yacht and start the 1000km journey north, bound for the magnificent Yarraki River. Along the way they dine on tropical fruit and plenty of seafood including crayfish, oysters and various coral fish.

    Episode 5: The Yarraki Continued (25:14)

    Part two of the long sailing journey north, the boys finally reach the Yarraki River, a waterway so remote the only way to get there is by boat.

    Episode 6: Tongariro River, New Zealand (28:37)

    One of the most famous fly fishing rivers in the world, the Tongariro in the North Island of New Zealand attracts anglers from around the globe hunting for one of the thousands of huge rainbow trout that spawn in the river each season. Tom and Rob pray for some rain to kick things off before they land several rather massive trout.

    Episode 7: Turneffe Islands, Belize (27:21)

    Belize in Central America is the destination for the last episode of Series Two. Tom and Rob head to the tiny country in search of more bonefish, tarpon and the odd barracuda.

Video

    After the major disappointment of the video transfer for Series One, which was marred by huge numbers of noise reduction artefacts, it is pleasing to report that Series Two is in much better condition. Having said this, that dreaded noise reduction problem is still evident, though it is certainly not as bad this time round.

    The video is presented in the original television aspect ratio of 1.29:1 and is not 16x9 enhanced.

    The level of clarity and sharpness is again average, though probably a touch sharper than series one. Shadow detail is fine and while grain is present it doesn't overburden the picture. There is also some low level noise throughout.

    Colours on the whole are much better in this series with an even saturation and some nice vivid hues on offer.

    There are no compression artefacts, thought it's doubtful you would see them in amongst the fuzz and the excessive noise reduction artefacts. Like Series One, this disc does exhibit some of the dreaded noise reduction artefact, though it is not nearly as severe as that earlier example.

    Sadly there are no subtitles.

    This is a dual layered disc with the layer change occurring between episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

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

Audio

    As expected the audio soundtrack is virtually identical to series one. Once again it is a basic selection, with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo soundtrack as the only option.

    Dialogue is consistent across all the episodes, with much of the commentary obviously recorded in the studio after the lads made it back to Australia. Sound recorded on location exhibits a little more noise than usual, which is as expected given the remote locations they were in. There are also no audio sync issues.

    Liam Bradley's score is again featured and again it is quite unique to this series. It plays across the opening titles and regularly throughout each episode, while the individual episodes also feature their own unique score. These tracks are also featured on the bonus CD that is contained in the two disc box set.

    There is no surround or subwoofer use at all.

Audio Ratings Summary

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

Main Menu Audio

    Aside from a little menu audio there are no extras on this disc.

    This disc is not available in Region 1.

    A River Somewhere Series Two continues the entertaining, but still a little cheesy, travel series featuring Tom Gleisner and Rob Sitch trekking to several exotic fly fishing locations in the search for that elusive trout or other prized species.

    The quality of the video for series two is an improvement on Series One though there is still evidence of noise reduction artefacts throughout.

    The audio is nothing spectacular but handles the job required with ease.

    There are effectively no extras.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall