Snow White - The Fairest of Them All (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have very mixed feelings about this particular Brothers Grimm adaptation. First, I must consider that in the past Fairy Tales have been far from mediocre tales about sanity. Often they are warnings about our most inner desires bringing us certain destruction. This movie deals with jealousy and innocence, kindness and evil.
Caroline Thompson has a great concept at work here, but in places the script falls prey to the cliché. The acting would have been better if the script had been more mature. They seemed to want to make this for children and I could not help hearing the Barney song in the background of my mind when I saw the rainbow and politically correct admonitions. I was disappointed in her naming the dwarfs after the days of the week. I think the names Disney gave the dwarfs were more interesting and would have given them stronger personalities. The acting would have seemed better if all the characters had been given a much stronger script. Yet, this adaptation seems to be reaching further into the past than Disney ever envisioned.
The salvation is in the creativity with which the story is told. It is visually appealing and once you watch the extras on the DVD you will realize this was a low-budget production.
The mirror is fascinating. Not only are there a variety of mirrors, the mirror is broken at one point and contains magical properties. This mirror then becomes a transporter, video camera and weapon. It is no longer just a "mirror, mirror on the wall." The scenes of "raining glass" were wonderfully creative along with the sound effects.
The artificiality of some scenes lend themselves to the "Fairy Tale" appeal. The very fact that the characters are not completely believable at times gives them a certain freedom to be completely evil or completely good.
Snow White (Kristin Kreuk) is incredibly beautiful, but almost solemn in her awakening to the world. She has an almost gothic appeal. As a baby, she is born into a world where apple blossoms fall from the trees into a pond near her home and red rose bushes almost envelope the cottage. Her father John (Tom Irwin) is desperate to save her life after his wife dies after childbirth and tries to make it to a close village. He almost fails and yet his tears awaken a creature frozen beneath the ice. This bewitched creature is able to fulfill wishes like a genie and gives him three wishes. He also unfortunately has a sister who is not quite so kind.
Even as a baby, Snow White was able to sense evil intentions and disliked her new mother-in-law Elspeth (Miranda Richardson) who is part of the wish-fulfillment plot.
In the original story in German, Snow white is born as a princess. In this adaptation, she inherits her royalty through magical means. When the huntsman is told to kill Snow White the new queen asks for her liver and lungs. In this adaptation parents might not appreciate their young children seeing the queen eating "what she thinks" is Snow White's heart.
When the queen finds out Snow White is still alive, she poses as her dead mother instead of a witch. Offering an apple to someone has been known to be a declaration of love or deceit. In this movie, it spells certain death. Snow White is buried in ice instead of a glass coffin.
The queen is not transformed back into her true self until the end of the movie when she is subject to the violence of the "garden gnomes" that come to life to seek revenge. In the real story, she dances to her death in a pair of iron slippers which would not have been enjoyable to watch onscreen. The violence of the gnomes is more "implied."
This is not a calm, happy movie but does have a happy, yet questionable ending. Would any father let such a young daughter ride away with a prince? I think not. In the real story, Snow White grows into an adult while in the coffin. Her hair is still black as ebony, her lips as red as blood and her skin as white as snow.
This movie does contain some violent content I don't think "very young" children should be exposed to although I imagine they might miss some of the implied meanings. This should have been rated PG in some instances in my own mind.
Otherwise, there are elements in this story I really enjoyed, especially the magical elements incorporated into the mirror, castle, roses, forest and the inclusion of various intriguing elements not seen in a Snow White movie to date.
~The Rebecca Review

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Downfall (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)One of 2004's best films, DOWNFALL (DER UNTERGANG), recreates the last days of Adolph Hitler and his sycophants in the Fuhrer's bunker below the Reich Chancellery as the noose drawn by vengeful Soviet armies gets ever tighter.
The film actually opens in 1942 at Hitler's East Prussia command post as Adolph (Bruno Ganz) meets several young woman brought from Berlin to be interviewed for a job as his personal secretary. Young Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara) lands the plum assignment, and it's mostly from her perspective that the remainder of the story is told as the scene shifts to Berlin in April 1945.
DOWNFALL is based on Joachim Fest's book, Inside Hitler's Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich, and the volume BIS ZUR LETZTEN STUNDE by Traudl Junge and Melissa Muller. Indeed, the real Junge, by then an old woman, provides voiceovers both at the beginning and end of the film, and appears in person before the final credits. (The 2002 documentary, Blind Spot - Hitler's Secretary, is an extended interview with Traudl, in which she expresses "plausible deniability" for the atrocities perpetuated by her employer.)
All of the major and minor players familiar to students of the period are represented: Joseph and Magda Goebbels and their offspring, Eva Braun, Speer, Fegelein, Weidling, Mohnke, Himmler, Krebs, Burgdorf, Keitel, Jodl, Gunsche, Bormann, Göring, Hewel, Ritter von Greim, Reitsch, Stumpfegger, Kempa, Manziarly, Christian, Haase, Schenck, Linge, and Blondi (Hitler's German shepherd). DOWNFALL seems a faithful representation of all I've ever read about those last days in Hitler's hidey-hole.
DOWNFALL has been coined a "German film for Germans", perhaps thinking that the despicability of the Nazi hierarchy will somehow be toned down for a home audience. True, the film's creators show heroism and selflessness where they can find it: the dogged and brave defense of Berlin's city center by Generals Mohnke (André Hennicke) and Weidling (Michael Mendl), the concern for the civilian population and wounded by Doctors Schenck (Christian Berkel) and Haase (Mathias Habich), and even the bravery of Speer (Heino Ferch) in disobeying Hitler's orders to reduce Germany's infrastructure to scorched earth. But DOWNFALL also depicts Der Fuhrer's antipathy for the Jews and his volcanic, recriminatory outbursts against his generals and the German people for their ostensible treachery and cowardice, the self-serving conniving of Himmler (Ulrich Noethen), the actions of the assassination squads above ground seeking out perceived malingerers and deserters, the to-the-death fanaticism of defenders no more than children, and the blind and irrational loyalty of Joseph (Ulrich Matthes) and Magda (Corinna Harfouch) Goebbels to Hitler. Indeed, perhaps the hardest sequence to watch is that of Magda killing her own children - Helga, Hilde, Helmut, Hedda, Holde - with cyanide capsules after first drugging them with a sleeping potion. She'd decided that they didn't deserve to live in a world devoid of National Socialism. At one point, the oldest girl, Helga, sensing something is amiss with her mother's intentions, resists taking the soporific, but is forced to submit by Magda and Dr. Stumpfegger (Thorsten Krohn). The Goebbels children, along with Hitler's dog Blondi, who was poisoned by his master to test the effects of the cyanide capsules provided by Himmler, are the only innocents here, and the viewer's heart may well bleed for them.
The performance by Bruno Ganz was of Oscar caliber. He was certainly more deserving of a nomination than a couple of the actors so honored at the recent Academy Awards ceremony. However, can you imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth by the Politically Correct had Bruno's ADOLPH HITLER been acclaimed for the brilliant rendition it is?
For those who'd criticize DOWNFALL as humanizing Hitler and his cronies, I have a breaking news flash. Hello!?! These men and women were defective, but still Homo sapiens all. Those who'd put these deviants beyond the pale of the species are just as deluded as those who'd deny that the Holocaust ever took place, and they may just as well put their heads back under the sand. It's a tired adage, but, forget history and you'll repeat it.
My only complaint was that many of the characters, unless introduced to the audience by having their names verbalized in the dialogue, are left too long unidentified. There should have been visual captions at the first appearance of each. Himmler, Goebbels, and perhaps Speer, are immediately recognizable, but it took too long into the run time to identify such as Bormann, Gunsche, Weidling, Krebs, Burgdorf, Keitel, and Jodl.
DOWNFALL is a must-see film for anybody interested in the death throes of Hitler's Reich. It was nominated for an Academy Award as the Best Foreign Language Film of 2004. It lost out to THE SEA INSIDE, a lesser movie. The fact that the latter was itself exceptional should be an indication of how superb a production DOWNFALL is.

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Charting the final days of World War II in Nazi Germany, DOWNFALL shows what went on in the bunker where Hitler (Bruno Ganz), his secretary (Alexandra Maria Lara), and a few close colleagues waited for their inevitable demise.

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The Fifa 2006 World Cup Film - The Grand Finale (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Even though the quality of footage is good, this DVD misses so many exciting points of the last world cup. The group stage is dealt with in basically 5 minutes, with a few highlights of selected games.
Argentina - Serbia, for example, only 1 goal shown. France - Brazil game omitted, France - Spain game also ommited. Nothing said about controversial Italy - USA, or Italy - Australia game. About half of the teams competing were not shown, let alone mentioned!
Highlights of England - Portugal (1/4 final), France - Portugal (semifinal) and Italy - Germany (semifinal) each goes on for 10 minutes, way to much for these games that produced 3 goals in total!!! waste of time, they should have used that time for more group games.
Overall, very dissapointed, although the highlights of the final game and the interviews were good. Not what I expected. The 1982 and 1986 world cup highlight videos were the best, in my opinion. If I knew it would be like that, I would not have gotten this DVD.

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Relive the hard-hitting action of Germany's FIFA 2006 World Cup. Narrated by Pierce Brosnan this is the official World Cup documentary. Provides an overview of all of the action and drama including never-before-seen footage shot on 35mm cameras during the quarter finals all the way to the final game. Includes behind-the-scenes, off-the-field footage of the teams and fans and player interviews.

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Visions of Germany (2004) Review

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(More customer reviews)Much like most of you out there I first became acquainted with the `Vision Series' of aerial travelogue features on PBS television. Whenever I came upon one while channel surfing I'd immediately put the remote down and sit back and relax. It wasn't long before I decided these programs were something I'd never tire of watching and needed to be added to my private DVD collection.
Containing two program on two DVD discs, `Visions of Germany' is the fifth high altitude tour in the series following `Visions of ... Greece / Italy / England and France'. As with the previous four this '07 release whisks the audience away far above the maddening crowd to view Germany in all its incredible architectural and agricultural glory. Add to the visuals an robust German soundtrack and informative narration and your ready for departure!

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Two of Germany’s most scenic and historic regions unfold from a bird’s eye view Experience the fairy tale beauty, natural wonders, and rich history of southern Germany. Shot in high definition from a helicopter-mounted camera, each tour is accompanied by a poetic narrative and evocative soundtrack of regional music, including works by native sons Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Johann Strauss. Visions of Germany: Bavaria-Take a journey filled with royal intrigue, Alpine majesty, and charming villages where the past merges with the present. See the Mediterranean flair of the Bodensee, the "German Riviera"; the old walled city of Rothenburg; King Ludwig’s fanciful castles; snow-covered mountain resort towns; and more. Visions of Germany: Along the Rhine-One of the world’s great rivers, the Rhine provides the perfect route to explore southwestern Germany, from Lake Constance to Cologne, with side trips to the Black Forest of legend and lore, the rich wine region, historic Bonn, the romantic string of castles like beads on a necklace at Koblenz, Heidelberg, and more. Includes bonus footage not seen on public television.

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Uprising (2001) (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Uprising" is a story of the Holocaust that really could not be told until NBC showed this two-part made-for-television movie in 2001. The story of the Warsaw ghetto uprising has been told before. In the 1978 mini-series "Holocaust," a major subplot had to do with Moses Weiss (Sam Wanamker), who becomes active in the uprising before being caught and shot by the Nazis at the end. Other movies dealing with the Holocaust have touched on this heroic but futile act of resistance against Hitler's army. This time, however, the point is to cast the uprising in terms that count for more than a moral victory.
When Poland fell to Nazi Germany the city's Jewish population was put into a walled in section of the city, thereby creating the ghetto. In the summer of 1942, after 300,000 Jews were deported from Warsaw to Treblinka the first reports of mass murder were heard in the Warsaw ghetto. Mordecai Anielewicz, then 23-years-old, and other young Jews formed the Zydowska Organizacja Bojowa (Jewish Fighting Organization), issuing proclamations calling for the Jewish people to resist being sent away in railroad cars to the death caps, and firing upon German troops trying to round by Jews for deportation.
The "Uprising" began on April 19, 1943, when German troops and police entered the ghetto and were repulsed by the fighters. It is believed that less than a thousand such fighters held off the heavily armed and better trained Germans for almost a month, using mostly pistols and Molotov cocktails, but on May 16 the revolt was finally crushed. Seven thousand of the 56,000 Jews captured were shot, and the rest were deported to either killing centers or concentration camps to be exterminated by the Nazis. At one point the Warsaw ghetto consisted of 450,000 human beings.
The point of "Uprising" is not only that for the first time somebody stood up against German occupation, but that some of the fighters did indeed survive. Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria), Yitzhak Zuckerman (David Schwimmer), Tosia Altman (Leelee Sobieski), and many others depicted in "Uprising" are historic figures. Azaria and Schwimmer obviously stand out, not because of the roles they play in the narrative but also because the actors are going to great pains to remind fans they are not just comic actors. Also standing out are Sadie Frost as Zuckerman's wife, Zivia, and Stephen Moyer as freedom fighter Kazik Rodem, who wrestle with the hard questions of not only knowing what to do, but how to do it. Director and executive producer Jon Avnet has recreated the ghetto in great detail and makes full use of cinematographer Denis Lenoir and composer Maurice Jarre to make sure this television movie looks and sounds like a theatrical film.
"Uprising" repeatedly asks the question of how a moral person can sustain a moral code in an immoral world, and the uprising serves as the obvious answer. Where "Uprising" is different from its predecessors is how Avnet recasts history to emphasize a sense of how the Jews "win" here. Even though the Nazis will kill 99% of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto, they did not get them all and they did not get them fast enough to please Himmler and Hitler. Nazi General Jurgen Stroop has to endure being out thought and out fought by a bunch of rabble, all the way having his failure filmed by documentarian Fritz Hippler, who is working on "The Eternal Jew" because for some reason the Nazis do not find the German people to be anti-Semitic enough. The Nazis continue to commit atrocities throughout this movie, but the emphasis is clearly on what the other side is doing.
"The Grey Zone," which also came out in 2001, is of a similar mind in terms of presenting Jews fighting back, and depicts the October 7, 1944 uprising when members of the 12th sonder-kommando succeeded in blowing up two of the four crematoria at Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The sonder-kommandos were the ones who escorted their fellow Jews to die in the gas chambers, then took the bodies to the crematoriums, and disposed of the ashes. For four months the sonder-kommandos carried out their duties, and enjoyed certain privileges (compared to the other inmates), and then were executed. This group of Jews also decided to fight back and like those who resisted the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto, deserve to be remembered. But only once we have accepted the total horror and scope of the Holocaust can we tell stories such as these, ever mindful that they represent a minority report. How many of you were stunned with a train full of Jews left Auschwitz in "Schindler's List"? The incident was true, but it becomes difficult for us to accept that other side of the story given the overwhelming death count of the Final Solution.
The two commentary tracks are a mixed bag. Avnet spends too much time commenting on the historical accuracy of the action and not enough talking about his decisions as a director, particularly with regards to what changes he had to make when his planned theatrical film was downgraded to a television movie. Azaria, Schwimmer, and Voight recorded their commentary two weeks about September 11th, and engage each other to talk about the production and their performances. Sobieski's comments were recorded separately and edited in, and like Avent, she has a hard time going it alone. There are two documentaries accompanying "Uprising." "Resistance" is a too brief look at the history of the resistance movement in the Warsaw ghetto, although it does provide background on the characters and interviews with some of the surviving fighters. "Breaking Down the Walls: The Road to Recreating the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising," is a behind the scenes featurette with clips and interviews. However, anyone inspired to find out more about the history of the events dramatized here will find plenty of resources easily accessible on the Internet.

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After Germany invades Poland in 1939, the Nazis decree that 350,000 Warsaw Jews be forcibly moved into a cordoned area known as the Warsaw Ghetto. Idealistic teacher Mordechai Anielewicz (Hank Azaria) decides the Jews must rise up against the Nazis and creates the Jewish Fighting Organization (JFO).He tries to secure the support of Adam Czerniakow (Donald Sutherland), the morally conflicted head of the Warsaw Ghetto's Jewish Council, but Adam declines because he knows that any act of resistance will provoke the Germans to retaliate by killing innocent Jews.Determined to mobilize a resistance alone if he has to, Mordechai recruits his friends and covert couriers whose ability to pass as Aryan helps them smuggle in arms and explosives from the Aryan side of the city, building up an arsenal to fight the Nazis. When the Germans begin deporting 300,000 Jews to the Treblinka death camp, the JFO begins acts of resistance that culminate with ghetto fighters firing their first gunshots against the Nazis.When it becomes clear that the JFO is a force to be reckoned with, the German High Command sends in General Stroop (Jon Voight), who is determined to end the uprising in two or three days. Capturing the horror that unfolds is Fritz Hippler (Cary Elwes), a filmmaker assigned by Hitler's chief propagandist to promote anti-Semitism with a film about Jewish life in the ghetto. When the Nazis continue to suffer more casualties in their battle with the ghetto fighters, General Stroop decides to raze the ghetto.But even that can't stop the JFO.Forced to go underground into bunkers but energized by their success, the resisters fight on, ultimately holding off the Nazi army longer than the entire country of Poland.They're determined to live with honor--and if need be, die with honor--while lighting the torch for resistance in the occupied territories.

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Hitler - The Rise of Evil (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)I gave "The Rise of Evil" 5 stars because that's what it deserves. The show is extremely well-constructed, cast, and directed, even if the screenplay takes some liberties with history along the way. Yes, the story could have gotten along without the dog beating scene, the one where Hitler's father abuses him violently, and probably a few others. But the dramatic effect would have been impaired.
I watched the "making of" documentary that came with my DVD before I sat down to view the 3-hour movie. Then, I watched the documentary again after seeing the show. I'd recommend this approach to others to understand why the producer and director were subject to such criticism before and after the film was finished.
When this miniseries first came out we going out of town and totally missed it. My wife and I watch very little network TV because it doesn't seem like it's designed for thinking adults. This program is very much the exception and should be a must for anyone interested in world events and the dangers of facism.
Any review of this program must include comments on the performance of Robert Carlyle who plays the adult Hitler. Although the very Scottish Mr. Carlyle may be small in stature and far-removed from Hitler's teutonic roots he is mesmerizing as der Fuehrer. Carlyle captures the part so well you worry about what he could possibly do in the future to escape type-casting. It's all there: the iron will, the vicious temper, the evil political genius. Scary, truly scary.
The other actors in the show do very well, too, and there are a lot of well-defined characters. Peter O'Toole's role in the movie is limited but he does a fine job as President Hindenburg. The decent people who are steam-rolled by the 3rd Reich were sorry victims, indeed, but that's the way it must have been.
There were some characters who were notable by their absence, like Heinrich Himmler, Reinhold Heydrich, and Martin Bormann. Also missing was much on Nazi mysticism and the occult. Maybe these missing pieces are being held for a sequel. I'd certainly be interested if there were one.

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Featuring a star-studded cast, this epic mini-series traces the mind of a burgeoning madman as he begins his ruthless climb to power. From his emergence out of the ashes of World War I through the birth of the Nazi Party, acclaimed actor Robert Carlyle portrays Adolph Hitler in a performance that "conveys the depths of the tyrant’s evil" (San Francisco Chronicle). Includes the Bonus Documentaries: "Hitler and I: Reflections of Evil" (directed by David Cherniack) "Hitler: A Career" (written and directed by Joachim C. Fest)

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Nowhere in Africa (German with English Subtitles) (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a wonderful German film, which deservedly won an Academy Award in 2002 for being the Best Foreign Language Film. Based upon an autobiographical book by Stefanie Zweig, the film is beautifully acted by a stellar cast and deftly directed by Caroline Link. It is a film that will stay in one's consciousness long after the credits have rolled by. It is also a film that touches upon a number of universal themes.
The film focuses on an upper class, privileged family of secular German Jews. The husband, Walter Redlich (Merab Ninidze), seeing the way things are going in Germany in the 1930s with the advent of Hitler, leaves his law practice and emigrates to Africa, where he finds himself managing a ranch for an Englishman in an arid location in rural Kenya, while setting the stage for his family's emigration from Germany. In 1938, he then sends for his beautiful, haughty wife, Jettel (Juliane Kohler), and young daughter, Regina (Lea Gurka as a young child and Karoline Eckertz as an adolescent), to join him.
When they arrive, the wife goes into culture shock and is in total denial as to their new circumstances. Her reaction to their precarious situation is different from that of her husband, as well as from that of her child. Her husband, a realist about the situation in Germany and a survivor at heart, knows that they cannot return while Hitler is in power and is willing to make the best of the hand that they have been dealt. Jettel, however, still fails to understand just how precarious their situation in Germany was.
Once removed from a familiar environment, Walter and Jettel seem to have very little in common. Now that her husband is no longer a practicing lawyer, Jettel acts as if he has been diminished in her eyes. She also initially disdains her new, hardscrabble life and hates all things African, even the natives, treating them like dirt, until her husband insinuates that she is starting to remind him of the Nazis.
Their household is made complete by a very pleasant and affable Kenyan named Owour (Sidele Onyulo), who had saved Walter's life during a bout with malaria and who acts as the family cook. He helps them in enumerable ways, teaching them the language and customs of his people. Regina immediately bonds with Owour and adapts quickly to her new life and customs. She befriends the native children, learns their language, and prefers Kenya over Germany as her country of choice, notwithstanding its hardships and privations. In her nine years in Kenya, Regina, despite attending a British school, becomes as African in her ways as a native.
The conflicts of war soon make themselves manifest in Kenya, which is under English rule. The threads of Walter's and Jettel's marriage start to fray and unravel, as their hopes and dreams come into conflict. They are, however, always unified in terms of their love of Regina, an extraordinarily perceptive and intelligent child. Still, Walter and Jettel must endure and weather some pretty serious marital storms, as the self-absorbed Jettel slowly undergoes a metamorphosis, which throws her strained marriage into a tailspin for a time.
As Jettel learns to adapt to her changing circumstances and accept some of the changes in her life, the marriage begins to stabilize despite its continual strains and cracks. Upon discovering the fate of their respective families, who had refused to emigrate despite Walter's early entreaties, Jettel now realizes what her fate might have been had her husband not had the foresight to seek an alternative solution. It is then that reality finally sets in. Consequently, when the war is over, she initially refuses to have anything to do with a post-war Germany, while her husband hankers to return so as to be a part of its re-building. What ultimately happens, however, will be the true test of their love.
This is a fully character driven film, played against the largely unseen backdrop of the holocaust. Merab Ninidze is brilliant as the beleaguered Walter. Handsome, sensitive, and intelligent, he is an absolute dream in the role, bringing an astuteness and underlying strength to the role that makes him stand out from the crowd. He walks a fine line but manages to avoid being pitied for the way his wife treats him. The beautiful Juliane Kohler is excellent as the selfish Jettel, managing to interject, at the last, a certain vulnerability into what is essentially a nearly unlikable character. Sidele Onyulo is wonderful as the warm and always helpful Owour, infusing the role with an infectious charm. Lea Gurka and Karoline Eckertz are both ingratiating as the younger and older manifestations of Regina, the child through whose eyes most of the events in the film are seen.
Beautifully rendered, from its casting, to the acting, to its sensitive direction, and last, but certainly not least, its exquisite cinematography, it is a must see, engrossing film that will keep the viewer riveted to the screen. Bravo!

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NOWHERE IN AFRICA - SPECIAL EDITION - DVD Movie

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1,000 Places To See Before You Die: Collection 1 (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)Hi Folks,
The book is well worth the read and the series would have been worth your time as well... but... the problem is that they chose the worst possible people to view these places through the eyes of and it ruins the experience. These are perhaps the worst hosts ever for a travel series. They aren't appreciative of the journey and don't ask interesting questions or add anything of value to the show on any level. In fact, I'd buy this if they had a version that simply eliminated their words and ever showing their face and just included the raw footage of the places. It's really that bad. With a world of enthusiastic (and educated) tourists or guides to choose from who would have viewed this as the opportunity of a life time and demonstrated some respect for the places they were going by perhaps learning anything about them in advance to prepare themselves to show the world, why they chose these two mopes is beyond me. I found myself (and my wife as well) getting angry at the show each time we watched because these people were ruining it all. Save yourself the annoyance and buy other travel DVD's from the same places and you'll be much happier. Rick Steves has a wonderful box set of Europe where he educates and moves you over each place he sees. He has respect for both the places and the viewer. Samantha Brown, who is very different, also has some nice episodes. Rudy Maxa, who does his show on PBS is another wonderful option. Frankly, ANYTHING is better than this. (Heck, stare at some postcards and you'll get more out of it without the frustration). I also suggest going to Google Earth and looking at all the amazing photos that users have posted all around the world. There's so many better ways to experience the world, even if you can't travel there yourself. Don't waste the excitement of these fantastic's places on these unappreciative, misinformed and ignorant self absorbed people. Yuck.
Brian

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Journey to the world's most unforgettable places in this dazzling series based on the bestselling book. As you venture through the vast beauty and diverse cultures of well-known tourist locales and destinations more off the beaten path, you will be forever transformed! Newlyweds Albin and Melanie Ulle soak up all the world has to offer on a dream honeymoon, experiencing everything from Brazil's pulsating nightlife to Australia's colorful Great Barrier Reef to the sensual feast that is Italy and much, much more. Includes: Alaska, Brazil, France, Italy, Australia, Hawaii

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Samantha Brown's Passport to Great Weekends: Collection 1 (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)She's back! The lovable, witty, and energetic Samantha Brown returns in a fun, adventurous trek around the world in "Season one: Passport to Great Weekends."
Brown's personality is nothing if not lovely and zany and out of control. Her zest for life and that smile! are what drive this collection of trips around the globe to the tip of the peak. In season one, the world's most favorite travel guide host invites us to beautiful locales that one cannot pass up--and you do not even have to leave your sofa. But these videos would not be as fun as they are without experiencing at least one of the cities recommended here.
Brown takes us to such places like Orlando, Florida, where the heat is not the only thing that sizzles in the air. Did you see that wine taster?
In San Francisco, Brown helps the viewer find inexpensive ways to enjoy the City by the Bay, and one of the most beautiful cities in the country.
In New Hampshire, Samantha returns home to dine, laugh, and have fun with family. She even goes to Maine! All in one trip!
Las Vegas, watch out! We see a different side of Ms. Brown here than we have in the past. Let's just say she will have you regaling with laughter when she serves drinks to the locals--the Samantha Brown way!
Whatever your penchant for travel, even in today's economic upheaval, Samantha Brown shows us ways in which we can get away, if only for the weekend, inexpensively, and live on the edge with a big, open smile.
Now let's hope season two of this fantastic series finds its way to DVD soon. And where in the world are the "Passport to Latin America" and "Great Hotels" DVD series? More adventures are on the way!


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Samantha Brown is here to prove that all you need for a fantastic adventure is 48 hours and a taste for fun. With her eagerness to try anything, her sense of humor, and an insider's knowledge, Samantha is the perfect travel companion as she shares her favorite spots all around the world in these 18 great episodes. Orlando New Orleans Paris Tuscany London Miami Las Vegas Cabo New HampshireAustin Washington, D.C. Dude Ranch in Wyoming Myrtle Beach Santa Fe Brooklyn San Francisco Los Angeles Cape Cod

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