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Perseus | 2002-2010 | 180 min | Not rated | Aug 17, 2010
Video
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080i
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Audio
English: Dolby Digital 2.0 (less)
Subtitles
Discs
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Price
List price: $19.95 
Not available to order
Price
List price: $14.99 Best Buy: $14.99
Playback
Region A (B, C untested)
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, September 22, 2010
Rick Steves has become something of an institution to those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest and enjoy his long running travel show which is produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting. But as has become evident in this new Blu-ray series of compilations of Steves' shows, that same long running show has made him a recognizable character virtually everywhere he goes, with people calling out to him by name. To Steves' credit, he calls right back, often asking people where they're from and engaging in friendly conversation. In fact friendliness seems to be Steves' stock in trade. He interacts with both his professional tour guides and the men (and women) in the street (and countryside) with whom he comes into contact with equal aplomb, always able to cull salient information even while introducing his viewers to points of interest often well off the beaten track. This fourth volume of Steves' new Blu-ray Collection offers a wealth of gorgeous sights in seven linked episodes he calls Eastern Europe From North to South.
There's always something worth seeing on a Rick Steves program.
Poland: Krakow, Auschwitz and Warsaw is both an invigorating and tragic episode, dealing with two population hubs in Poland while also getting into the horrors of the Holocaust and Poland's own long suffering populace. Steves calls Krakow the Boston of Poland, a cultural and intellectual center which contrasts with Warsaw's more focused business and political approach. Both cities dealt with Jews in unfortunate ways, walling them behind hideous Ghettos. The Auschwitz segment of this episode is a sobering reminder of just how evil men can become in the supposed service of an ideology.
The Czech Republic: Beyond Prague. As Steves is often wont to do, he gets us away from the more "touristy" attractions to explore locations a lot of people have probably never heard of. Steves takes us on a fun trip via express train, the building of which Steves attributes to a sort of "internal Marshall Plan" affecting much of the European Union. Traveling from Prague to Olomouc via this train, Steves shows us the charming and extremely colorful town square of the latter city. Also of interest in this episode is a visit to Konopiske, the former residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, of World War I assassination fame. The episode also journey to Bohemia, the quarter of the Czech Republic nearest to Germany, where tourists enjoy river rafting excursions.
Prague and the Czech Republic. This particular volume of Steves episodes departs from those I've previously reviewed by having its one older 1.33:1 broadcast plopped down in the middle of the compilation, rather than shuttled off to the last position. That's probably due to this episode's perfect sibling relationship with the previous episode. Here we explore the ins and outs of the largest and most bustling city of the country, which is just now coming out of its long Communist domination. This episode has a number of fun delights, including Steves sampling what he calls the best beer in Europe, as well as visiting a rather outr? Black Light Theater. He also spends time in Prague's Jewish Quarter, where many older historical structures have been converted into a massed Museum. Perhaps strangely for an Eastern European city, much of Prague is colored with an Art Nouveau ambience, from architecture to art.
Budapest: The Best of Hungary starts out with Steves playing chess in a swimming pool, then gets into the goods with several very interesting segments, including a nice tour of the Matthias Church, a huge structure with a brilliantly colored tiled roof. Steves' tour guide drops one of the most interesting factoids almost in passing, namely that the Hungarian language is linked only to Finnish and Estonian in the world family of tongues. Steves once again gives equal time to the Jewish faith by visiting the awesomely impressive Grand Synagogue, a towering structure which is the largest temple in Europe. At one time over a quarter of Budapest's population were Jews. A fascinating visit to Statue Park shows a quaint, if somehow creepy, collection of old Communist statuary.
Croatia: Adriatic Delights takes Steves on a variety of excursions to locations that I suspect most tourists wouldn't think about right off the bat. The port city of Split is a really interesting location with the ruins of an ancient Roman palace at its harbor which was built by Diocletian around the fourth century A.D. Steves then journeys inland to the really magical Plitvice Lakes National Park, a series of 16 terraced lakes linked by a series of gorgeous waterfalls. I had to laugh when Steves described the Eastrian region of Croatia as being in the northwest corner of Croatia.
Athens and Side Trips takes us back several millennia to an era when, as Steves relays, Rome was still a village and Athens was the undisputed center of the Western world. While we spend some time in expected places like the Acropolis, Steves also gets us into the up and down history of Athens, showing the viewer that a mere 200 years ago, Athens was a crumbling village itself. The National Archeological Museum presents a staggering array of pieces spanning from 7000 B.C. to 300 A.D.
Greece's Peloponnese has some unexpected facts to impart, as in Steves' trip to Nafplion in the northeast which, as strange as it may sound, was once a Venetian outpost and still sports some Venetian fortresses. Probably the most picturesque moments in this unusual episode come from visiting Monemvasia, a really interesting medieval island village that has become known as the Gibraltor of Greece. Built in the 13th century and accessible to this day only via an ancient historical causeway, it's like stepping back several centuries and experiencing a living time capsule, though of course with modern conveniences and (need it be said?) tourist shops.
As has been the case on all of the Steves Blu-rays reviewed thus far, the AVC encoded 1080i image is in mostly beautiful shape. As with the other outings in this series, one episode dates from the early 2000s and is in 1.33:1 and in much less crystalline condition than the more recent episodes, all in 1.78:1. Colors are astoundingly vivid throughout the six more contemporary outings, with gorgeous saturation. Detail is also largely exquisite in these episodes, revealing everything from minute cracks in roof tiles to small insects flittering about wildflowers. Depth of field on the many outdoor shots is also exceptional. Contrast and black levels are good, though at times the interior footage suffers from a bit of murkiness.
As with the other Steves outings released on Blu-ray, we're offered only a Dolby Digital 2.0 mix, but, as with the other outings, it really isn't that much of a detriment. Unlike a lot of his travelogue kin, Steves' shows tend not to have a wealth of ambient sound, instead dealing mostly with either his onscreen narration or voiceover. For those limited purposes, the standard DD 2.0 track does just fine, with good fidelity and acceptable dynamic range. There's certainly not a lot of sonic "oomph" here, but there really doesn't need to be.
No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray.
This is yet another very enjoyable outing from Steves, and one which features some lesser known locales. Colorful, inviting and informative, Eastern Europe From North to South shows that even regions ravaged by years of war and oppression can bloom into really exciting, innovative places to visit. Recommended.
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