No Long Way Round/Down
Long Way Round and Long Way Down were interesting and fun, both the books and DVD/TV. By Any Means continues the same approach but it looses something - Charley comes across as too much of a bumbling positive joker that I start to get sick of ever new place that is visited as being beautiful and life changing. It all gets a bit much and has lost the sense of adventure of the Long Way programmes. The pretense is that this is a lower budget simpler adventure of just 3 people but this really isn't the case and that lack of honesty takes away somewhat for me. That said, this is all still enjoyable and worth it if you enjoyed the previous programmes, do not be put off. It's just not as good in my opinion.

No lessons learnt!
The real shame here is that the very things that people are not happy with - the rushed journey, the feel that they were just `ticking boxes' in terms of reaching destinations and modes of transport, are all comments that have been put to the production company, via email and also on the Long Way Down website forum. I am a very huge fan of Charley Boorman, I think he is a genuine gem, interesting to watch and incredibly likeable, but unless the comments by viewers are listened to, then I wonder how many more chances he will get with viewers? As a fan, I get a lot of feedback from other people, and most of the feedback I got was how rushed this series was, and how disjointed it felt. With Ewan not there, that chemistry is absent, but Charley is charismatic enough in himself. It's the constant dashing from place to place in an `Oh look, here's a boat that just happens to be empty and able to take us on the next leg' fake style that doesn't help. We tend to lead busy lives, and to be honest, the thought of sitting down after a week running around after my kids, working, running the house, seeing my friends only to watch someone else chase around is not what I want. I'm after escapism, new worlds, new cultures and new people with a different take on life. If I want rushed and busy, I just get up in the morning! Also, there were nowhere near enough motorbikes. Charley withough a bike - it's just wrong!

Complete Charley
Unlike most reviews for this thusfar I thought I'd wait to see the whole series. How can you really comment if you haven't?

Before I start my review of the series I'd say that watching this on DVD is the way to go. This kind of adventure should seem epic and long, put it on and watch 3 episodes back to back. Not in a weekly form. I found Long Way Down much better on DVD than on TV due to this. Oh and one more thing, it's not as good as Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman - Long Way Round [Special Edition] [2004], few shows are, so don't expect it to be.

So, it's Charley on his own, but not for the first time. Charley Boorman - Race to Dakar follows Charley as he and his team enter the infamous Dakar Rally. In this Charley has to show his abilities as a Biker and presenter, good training for By Any Means.

By Any Means is a different adventure altogether. Gone are the BMW motorbikes, replaced by over 100 different types of transport as Charley goes from Ireland to Australia 'by any means'. Really this is one big, nerdy transport documentary, showing how people move around the world, talking more about machines than cultures. This isn't a documentary about soaking up cultures as per the previous outings. Things get trickier as the series goes on, climaxing in a some dangerous events in the last episode.

Charley does well, he's obviously a good guy and is willing to show all to the camera (literally). This is more like your mate going on an adventure than a TV/Film star, which is By Any Mean's charm.

I've enjoyed it on TV and I'll do even more so again on DVD.

I Disagree
I thought it was a really good video diary of the journey. Charley is a very honest presenter and a naturally warm person. Great show and I'd like to see more. Amazing!

by all means wait till the full version comes out
hi
i've been watching this on iplayer and it's a great program the only thing i'd say is w.a.i.t until the full 'extended version' hits the shops the production company have a habit of releasing the product on dvd then re releasing it with more added bonus content just a couple of months later...that's what happened with the long way down and i bought the first version so felt somewhat annoyed at being short changed on extra's by being enthusiastic about the program...would have been nice to be given the option of a download area for those who were first to buy..still learned my lesson and will wait fo the proper dvd version this time.

other than that this is a great journey to watch charlie 'do his thing'

stee

Hide Reviews