Product Details

• Actors: Michael Palin
• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Polish, Russian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: BBC Worldwide
• DVD Release Date: March 11, 2008
• Run Time: 413 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000YXMM9U
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #87,214 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Michael Palin - New Europe" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With so much media and popular attention focused on the nations and cultures of Western Europe, it's easy to forget that much of Europe is relatively new to the western world: new to democracy, new nations with new governments, finding ways to create their new cultures and a sense of national identity in the aftermath of post-Soviet life. World traveler Michael Palin, having ventured all over the world, smartly chooses Eastern Europe as the destination for this BBC special, to see, now that the iron curtain has been pulled aside, what life there is really like. Like his previous adventures, such as Pole to Pole and Around the Rim, Palin's endless fascination and infectious sense of curiosity in the places he visits and people he meets, is what really makes the show tick. Whether he's exploring the remarkable Turkish community of Göreme, where rocks have been carved to form homes, or boating down a river in Romania to visit the ancestral home of Vlad the Impaler (the home of Bram Stoker's Count Dracula), Palin finds a way to keep the discoveries coming. Traveling through 20 countries as diverse as Turkey and Russia can be taxing, even on a well-traveled celebrity, but with his natural-born wit he keeps the program light enough to be entertaining (a few laughs help to leaven the sometimes dreary reality of certain locales), and succeeds in shining a new light into parts of the world long obscured by a shroud of darkness. --Daniel Vancini

Product Description

Michael Palin’s latest voyage of discovery sees him venture into territory once forbidden – the new Europe previously shrouded behind the Iron Curtain. Now that the Iron Curtain has lifted and the Cold War is over, Michael can enjoy a new freedom to roam unhindered across an unexplored swathe of his own continent. From Estonia in the north to Turkey in the south, where Europe reaches out to Asia across the Bosphorus, Michael’s journey takes him through twenty countries. Some Central European, some Eastern European, some straddling continents and all utterly compelling.

DVD Features:
Deleted Scenes
Interviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On the road again, April 9, 2008

By 

Bo Østergaard Jepsen - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michael Palin - New Europe (DVD)

Once again ex-Python turned globetrotter and British national icon Michael Palin goes out into the world to "discover" new and wonderful places. This time around Palin gives up the far away exotic places of travels before and stays a bit closer to home, namely Eastern Europe.

Eastern Europe was, as Palin points out, off limits in all senses of the word for the better part of half a century, which has greatly influenced the way in which Western Europe sees these "new" neighbours. We do indeed know very little about them. Michael Palin frequently asks the people he meets to compare their countries and societies during and post communistic rule, which actually makes for some quite interesting answers.

Palin also meets up with some of the people he has encountered on his previous travels around the world, for example the Yugoslav captain of a ship he travelled with in "Around the World in 80 Days", which adds a nice sense of familiarity (and quriousity for the viewers with prior knowledge of Palins earlier travels).

Palin is, of course, in usual good form and delivers a witty yet informative narrative and proves yet again why he is one of the best television presenters. His high spirits and pleasant smile really inspires the viewer, and makes you understand why there is such a thing as 'the palin effect', where people go to places en masse because they saw it in one of his series.

The programmes are visually stunning and very well produced. The extra material in this version is plentiful with loads of scenes that didn't make the final cut. It is probably not the best series that Palin has made to date, but it still stands head and shoulders above the competition. Worth every penny and more still.

Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MICHAEL PALIN'S BEST, June 13, 2008

By 

Jens-peter Moreitz (HAZELBROOK, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Michael Palin - New Europe (DVD)

Michael Palin's New Europe is just brilliant. You will find yourself
into a brand new World even if you know some of the countries already.
My only comment is that I would have liked to see more of the cities i.e.
the interresting places like the Fisher Castle in Budapest.
Otherwise the DVD's are really good, and I liked the trainrides as well.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Entertaining, Insightful, January 23, 2010

By 

Diane (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Michael Palin - New Europe (DVD)

I was pleased to be informed of the cultures, histories and lifestyles of the previous communist countries, which were for so long locked in a cloak of secrecy.
Michael Palin's warmth in his interaction with those he encountered and his acceptance of the various cultures was especially appealing.
I consider this set of DVDs to be a real treasure.