Product Details

• Actors: Robert Brakey
• Directors: Sheryl Brakey
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: SJB Productions
• DVD Release Date: July 1, 2003
• Run Time: 42 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 1.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000DZC1V
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #103,464 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I really wanted to like this, but . . ., April 9, 2004

By 

Marc David Miller "www.DiscoveringRussia.com-... (New York, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Exploring Russia by River (DVD)

When I saw that there was a DVD on Russian river cruises I immediately bought it, as we will begin to offer the river cruises to our clients this summer and wanted a "teaser" to excite people before they embark on their journey of Discovering Russia. The Russian river cruises between Moscow and St. Petersburg are quite popular as they give Americans an overview of Russia's two main cities, as well as a glimpse of the historic villages, all in a degree of comfort and security. Cruising on the rivers is slow and easy, and very relaxing. Because the ship is always close to shore, people are able to see much of the beautiful countryside and have ample opportunities to photograph many exquisite and colorful onion-domed churches. In addition, you don't have to pack and unpack each night, and the food and other facilities are far superior on board the ship than what these small towns have to offer.

Unfortunately there is little to recommend in this DVD. Major issues:
-poor video quality (seemingly from a hand-held unit)
-almost half of video was of a tired folklore show (with poor sound quality), and a vodka tasting (without any explanation of what different vodkas are being offered it becomes a vodka drinking, rather than tasting).
-no travel tips beyond the most basic (nothing, for instance, on weather, which can change immediately in the summer from sun to heavy rain, and then back to sun, or on the ever-popular questions regarding money-are there ATMs, should I use dollars or rubles or blue jeans)
-no tour of the ship
-inaccuracies in history (for instance, there was no Prince "Yaroslavl", there was a prince "Yaroslav")

Given the superficial nature of the work, the comment that life hasn't change in the last few centuries in the riverside towns was not surprising, but it is still completely inaccurate. Yes, when tourists get off their ships and see people wearing traditional dress, selling wood carvings and pickles, it appears that nothing has changed since the time of Ivan the Terrible, but this is about as accurate an indication of Russian life as Disneyworld is of American life.

I only recommend this if you are looking to get a very quick glimpse as to what some of the towns look like on a Russian river cruise; fortunately it is very reasonably priced so you can watch it just once. A trip to Russia will remain with you for a lifetime, and is well worth the expense and (at times) frustration, and the river cruises are an ideal way to see an overview of Russia. I hope that someday there will be a specific guide for Russian river cruises (as there are for the Trans-Siberian, something that far few Americans take than the river cruise).

Until that day, we are sending to our clients who take these cruises the book "Lonely Planet's Guide to Russia and Belarus" as it covers most of the towns that a traveller will see on the cruises in an efficient and enjoyable (although not totally accurate and up-to-date) manner. For Moscow and St. Petersburg, the DK series is quite good-many color pictures, good background on the major sights. If you want a coffee-table type book and you want to explore Russian towns more thoroughly, the best book is William Brumfield's "History of Russian Architecture". Prof. Brumfield has over the last thirty years created a remarkable record of Russian architecture, both old and new (for which he has been awarded by the Russian government and by our Library of Congress).

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Worth the Money, Even at a Low Price, August 3, 2005

By 

Thomas S. McCaleb - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exploring Russia by River (DVD)

I ordered this without benefit of having seen the previous reviews. Having taken the Russian river cruise, I was looking for something visually impressive by which to remember the sights and the journey. Unfortunately, this was not it. I concur in everything in the previous reviews. The content is superficial at best and does no justice to the country or to the cruise. The folklore show to which so much of the DVD is devoted is actually only an optional tour on most of the cruises, one which we elected to pass up with no regrets, while many of the more important sights were completely omitted. Finally, the photographic quality is just dreadful, not much better if any than an old home movie. This is not worth the money at any price.

1.0 out of 5 stars Be sure to read the reviews first!, April 7, 2007

By 

Traveling Spirit - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exploring Russia by River (DVD)

As people who are going to take the river cruise from St. Petersburg to Moscow this summer, we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of this DVD, quickly inserting it into the player minutes after the mail came. The fact that we actually sat thru the whole thing makes me wonder about ourselves. We are either saints or gluttons for punishment.

We would like to concur with the opinions already given. We too wish we would have read the reviews before purchasing the DVD (a lesson we have learned for future things we buy), as it was a total waste of money.

Amazon.com has always provided such quality items in the past for us, so we were quite taken by surprise on this one. The camera work was poor (shaky, not steady), the "actor" was not professional, exhibiting no life or excitement into what was being said; mostly monotone in nature. Towards the end the music was too loud to hear what he was saying, and the editing was substandard. In some parts the actor's mouth movements were not in sync with the sound being heard.

The photography was definitely not professional (obviously a home-made production) and many scenes that could have been well done were not so because of lighting or the angle of the sun. A professional waits until the proper lighting is available or adjusts with the camera's various settings to compensate.

We agree with another reviewer that way too much time was spent on the folklore show, which seemed to go on and on. We finally ended up fast-forwarding thru it! Just a minute or two of that would have given any viewer a taste of the Russian dances. And we too didn't see the point of the Vodka tasting: too long and disjointed, very amateurish.

In an effort to find something good out of this, my husband hit it on the nail: we learned what NOT to do when making our own travel documentaries. We also learned that we will stick with National Geographic and other known groups for our travel documentaries; or if we don't know the group, we will read every single review that previous buyers have submitted. Your reviews are very important, so be sure to give one!