Product Details

• Actors: Michael Palin, Michael Palin
• Writers: Michael Palin
• Producers: Clem Vallance
• Format: NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Pbs Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 10, 1998
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000FBM5
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #376,421 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Need a good travel companion? Here's one!, October 19, 1999

By 

Jonas M. Berwick (Suwanee, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Full Circle with Michael Palin-5 vhs set (VHS Tape)

This series will make you feel as though you have actually travelled the world. There is no hokiness, or fake glossied up pseudo-artistic photography. At the end of it all, you actually feel as though you have been on a trip with Michael Palin, who is one of the most down-to-earth, and "real" blokes one could hope to ever meet (not to mention sporadically hilarious, and unpretentiously so). I have travelled extensively, BK (before kids) and anytime I get itchy feet, I either buy a ticket and go.....or I settle in the armchair and stick a Michael Palin film in. Absolutley marvelous stuff. Spend the money...it's well worth it, several times over.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hang on to your VHS version, November 7, 2008

By 

Anaguma (Platteville, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Michael Palin: Full Circle (DVD)

This is Palin's best geo-travel documentary, starting in Alaska and traveling counterclockwise around the Pacific to the starting point, taking in Russia, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Philippines, Borneo, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and north. It's better than the newer ones in that it's less scripted and has more spontaneous "finds" and situations. In it, the road is just as important as the destinations, although the transport is occasionally skipped on big airplane jumps.

The DVD contains deleted scenes and a recent interview of Palin as he reminisces on the trip (on the 3rd DVD). Some of the deleted scenes are a plus such as when he first confronts a high tech toilet in the ryokan on Sadogashima.

However, some of the deleted scenes remind you that the scenes they were deleted from were also deleted (Pythonesque?) in this DVD version. One such is the matsuri in Nagasaki, which starts with a close up of dragon heads and ends where men are pulling the mikoshi around the shrine grounds. This is totally left out of the DVD version and the only traces are in the deleted scenes. However, the deleted scenes don't contain the original. If you want to see this missing section, don't sell or toss out your old VHS copies. They are on that release. I don't know what else is missing, but the VHS tapes supposedly add up to 600 minutes and the 3 DVDs add up to 488. There must be further editing that cut out sections of the original program. It's too long to specifically look for more just for this review, but if you're familiar with both, you many find yourself asking "What happened to that part?"

If you're not familiar with the original program this is still the best of Palin's many travels (Ireland, 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Sahara, Himalaya, New Europe & Hemingway). Although there have been many changes since along his route, it is still surprisingly pertinent. How could bunjee jumping in New Zealand go out of date?

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael Palin's longest journey, April 21, 2006

By 

Rennie Petersen (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This trip is just so long and unusual that you can't help being intrigued and fascinated by it all. Ten months and 50,000 miles traveling through 17 countries all the way around the Pacific Ocean!

Specifically, these countries were visited: USA (Alaska), Russia (Siberia), Japan, S. Korea (entry to N. Korea was denied), China, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, USA (California and Washington), Canada (British Columbia) and back to Alaska again.

What makes Michael Palin's trips so special is the enthusiasm, wit and charm he brings to the endeavor. Plus the ability of the crew to find extremely interesting people for Michael to talk to and very interesting activities for him to sample. And the whole thing is beautifully photographed, making you want to visit the various places yourself.

Among some of the most interesting points on the trip are a wedding ceremony in South Korea, the Russian Gulag in Siberia, the CaoDai religion in Vietnam, Philippine women learning how to be foreign workers, lassoing camels in Australia, a French shaman in the Amazon valley, narcotics problems in Bogotá, and illegal immigrants from Mexico to the USA.

My only criticism is that the west coast of the USA and Canada got glossed over. I'm guessing that Michael Palin, after nine months of traveling, just wanted to get home.

The DVD version of this TV program consists of three discs. These discs contain the ten 50-minute episodes (8 1/2 hours) plus some extra material:

- a very interesting interview with Michael Palin (28 minutes)
- some scenes that didn't make it into the TV program (almost 50 minutes)
- a funny meeting with Eric Idle, with lots of inside jokes for Monty Python fans (8 minutes)

Even without the extra material I'd give these DVDs a "highly recommended" rating. The extra material, especially the interview with Michael Palin, makes it even more wonderful.

Note that there are also two books available about this trip, one by Michael Palin and one by Basil Pao (photographs only). Both highly recommended.

Rennie Petersen