Stephen Fry - In America Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

superb............................................

This dvd series is superb. Stephen Fry turns his attention, wit and insight in to unearthing the real America as he travels across the continent in his black taxicab.

Stephen's account of his adventures is filled with his unique humour, insight and warmth in this fabulous tv series.

Stephen Fry has always loved America, in fact he came very close to being born there. Here, his fascination for the country and its people sees him embarking on an epic journey across America, visiting each of its 50 states to discover how such a huge diversity of people, cultures, languages, beliefs and landscapes combine to create such a remarkable nation.

Starting on the eastern seaboard, Stephen zig-zags across the country in his London taxicab, talking to its hospitable citizens, listening to its music, visiting its landmarks, viewing small-town life and America's breath-taking landscapes - following wherever his curiosity leads him.

Stephen meets a collection of remarkable individuals - American icons and unsung local heroes alike.

He starts his epic journey on the east coast stopping in every state from Maine to Hawaii. En route he discovers the South Side of Chicago with blues legend Buddy Guy, catches up with Morgan Freeman in Mississippi, strides around with Ted Turner on his Montana ranch, marches with Zulus in New Orleans' Mardi Gras, and drums with the Sioux Nation in South Dakota.

Stephen also joins a Georgia family for thanksgiving, 'picks' with Bluegrass hillbillies, and finds himself in a Tennessee garden full of dead bodies.

Whether in a club for failed gangsters (the bullet holes are real) or celebrating Halloween in Salem (is there anywhere better?), Stephen is welcomed by the people of America - mayors, sheriffs, newspaper editors, park rangers, teachers and hobos, bringing to life the oddities and splendours of each locale.

A celebration of the magnificent and the eccentric, the beautiful and the strange, Stephen Fry in America is our travel guide to this extraordinary country.

Well worth watching.

Excellent, but marred

I'm working my way through the Blu-ray version of this excellent series. First of all, it's shot in excellent hi-def (for the most part), and to be able to see it in such quality makes me pleased to have missed out on the original standard def when it was shown on TV. Fry visits some wonderful places, both on and off the beaten track. The visit to the Body Farm is particularly poignant. There are some good belly laughs along the way too.

But, but ..... it's marred. Most noticeable, throughout, is just awful sound. Fry's voiceover is very horribly distorted, as though the needles were peaking way into the red. Not just the voiceover, but most of the live sound is also jarringly distorted. Added to this is the vision distortion, in which, in all indoor scenes, it looks like the camera is struggling to cope with insufficient light, and adding much graininess to the picture - more light, less gain please.

In addition to the audio and visual difficulties I was also often frustrated by the brief and rushed attention some of the subject matter received. The USA is just too big to 'do' in just a handful of episodes, moreso if you're attempting to cram in every single state.

All in all, yes, you can't go wrong with Fry; his humour, sensitivity and eloquence are perfect for this vehicle, but the good in the series is offset by the poor technical production. The latter loses it half of its marks, and another half goes due to the frenetic pace. So two stars from me.