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Editorial Review:
A major BBC documentary, Russia sees Jonathan Dimbleby attempt to put across the largest nation on Earth over the course of a 10,000 mile journey. The end result fills up five 60 minute episodes, each of which you’ll find in this DVD set.
And on the whole, it’s a very strong release. Billed as the first television look of its type at the nation, Dimbleby takes us via road, rail and foot as he undertakes his adventure, and his look at Russia certainly tucks away many of the stereotypes you may be used to seeing.
At its best, Russia is a fascinating, brilliant piece of documentary television, genuinely unearthing new and interesting things, as well as a plethora of individual stories. Dimbleby is perhaps not the most obvious host, sometimes putting a little bit too much of himself into the mix rather than focusing on the nation he’s there to show us, but on the whole he does a commendable job.
Yet inevitably, it’s the nation of Russia itself that’s the main attraction here. And while you can’t help but feel that this documentary only scratches the surface of the nation, it’s still a welcome and thorough introduction to a once-mysterious country. More like this please, BBC. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
The 'contractual obligation' TV series... I tried to stick with the TV series and, for the sake of learning something about this vast and epic country, i persevered but the vision of BBC boardrooms and rubber stamps for meeting their educational/quality quota for the whole 'Dimbleby does Russia' premise kept appearing before me. It smacks of televisual filler that the BBC is forced to put out inbetween the cookery, quizzes & dancing programmes. Trains, stilted conversations, poor structure and Dimbelby is so out of his depth in some... more info
I wanted to enjoy this but didn't I enjoy travelogues and travel documentaries, my favourite being Michael Palin's series which ended with `New Europe'. However,`Russia' was a missed opportunity. I was frustrated as it was spoiled for me by the presenter. J Dimbleby comes across as an Englishman who takes himself too seriously and tended to be rather patronising to his Russian interviewees. Russia doesn't want to model itself on the West. Russia is Russia. If he fancies some tuition on how to present an interesting travelogue then I suggest... more info
Thoroughly enjoyable For those of us who won't be able to go to all the places that Jonathan Dimbleby (JD) travels in the vast Russian country, this series provides some very interesting insights, facts, views of landscapes, people, cities and the enormous range of cultures and lifestyles and much more. I really enjoyed this and will look forward to watching it again and again. JD has a real grasp of people and humanity and communicates with people in such apparent ease that you wish you were travelling with him on this epic... more info
Enjoyable but Superficial I must say that although I enjoyed this DVD set, I was ultimately dissapointed. It is much too short to give more than a brief glimpse of life in such a huge and varied country.
That aspect of Russia does come across. It is MASSIVE. However the structure, basically a meandering "journey" turns what could have been a highly informative and important series into little more than a travelogue. It ends up as a sort of Michael Palin Does Russia, endless shots of views from train windows and meetings with... more info
