Actors: Michael Palin
Studio: BBC Home Entertainment
Release Date: June 10, 2014
Run Time: 220 minutes
Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
When I see the title “Brazil With Michael Palin”, I can’t help but think about fellow Monty Python alum Terry Gilliam’s 1985 film “Brazil”, which also co-starred Michael Palin. This is a 2012 documentary miniseries hosted by the the Monty Python member is making its debut on Blu-ray for the first time in the U.S. In fact, after Python, Palin began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. Besides Brazil, he has traveled across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara Desert, the Himalayas and Eastern Europe. He has written books and filmed documentaries on his travels. If you are curious to see a different side to funnyman Palin, this is a great miniseries.
Official Premise: Brazil in the 21st century has become a global player. With a booming economy and massive social changes, there is a swagger to this once-sleeping giant, but what do we know of it apart from football and carnival? Michael Palin has travelled across most of the globe over the years, but never to Brazil. In this four-part series he crosses the country as big as a continent to find out what makes it tick. Meet remote tribes who pit their survival skills against gold diggers and loggers. Dance with witches. Watch the new World Cup stadium rise in Brasilia. In the entertaining company of your good-humored host, you’ll delight in the spectacular landscape, food, music, beach life and unique cultural heritage of this rising global power.
The episodes included on this Blu-ray are “Out of Africa, “Into Amazonia”, “The Road to Rio” and “The Deep South” Going from the lost world of Amazonia to the big city of of Rio de Janeiro, Palin allows us to join him as he meets the people and visits these amazing places that helped shape our nation. The 1080p transfers on these episodes are simply stunning. These located are extremely beautifully filmed whether it is of the remote tribes on the Venezuelan border to the modernist buildings of Brasilia or my favorite the spectacular Iguaçu Falls, this Blu-ray is sure to get you considering a trip to these wonderful locations.