Expedition: Africa (Blu-ray) (Blu-ray)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

If the style of the series reminds you of "Survivor" it´s no coincidence since Mark Burnett is executive producer. The show mixes on-the-(tsetse)-fly footage of the cast plowing through the swamps and jungles and other lovely local geographical features with interviews with each of the four which mostly consist of them complaining about Pasquale or telling us how the possibility of death lurks around every corner. The show tries to give all four characters their fair amount of time, but Kevin inevitably winds up getting short shrift since he doesn´t share the survival skills or the aggressive personalities of the others (though he was a war-zone journalist.)

The final episode winds up being rather anticlimactic even though it contains some of the most beautiful footage in the film as they paddle up the Malagarasi River to Ujiji. However, it´s the journey, not the arrival, that matters most, and even though it doesn´t exactly achieve the goal of recreating Stanley´s far more perilous mission, it´s still fairly entertaining.

VIDEO

The episodes are presented in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. History has also released "Expedition: Africa" on SD. As with any Blu-Ray release, the image resolution is substantially sharper, but the SD transfer is already strong by History standards and I´m not sure the upgrade to Blu-Ray is all that crucial. However, at the time of publication (10/15/09) Amazon is actually selling the Blu-Ray for less than the SD and there´s no argument that the Blu-Ray is better.

AUDIO

The episodes are presented in Dolby Digital 2.0. There are no optional subtitles provided, but subtitles are provided for any of the non-English dialogue or for some of the more garbled English dialogue.

EXTRAS

The extras consist of several short featurettes:

"Expedition Africa: The Making of History" (20 min.)

"Stanley and Livingstone" (4 min.)

"The Maasai" (2 min.)

"Wild Beasts, Disease and the Elements" (2 min.)

"Survival Strategies" (10 min.)

"Dangers of the Wild" (20 min.)

SERIES VALUE

There´s no way to recreate Henry Morgan Stanley´s original voyage when you already know where you´re going and you have the safety net of a fully insured television production supporting you. But what "Expedition: Africa" lacks in adventurous thrills it compensates for with strong characters and enough in-group fighting to make the series a mostly compelling watch.

History has also released "Expedition: Africa" on SD. As noted above, the Blu-Ray is sharper but not by enough to be worth much extra. However, Amazon is currently (10/15/09) selling the BR for less than the SD. If that deal is still in place when you read this, the decision is pretty simple: Go Blu. Otherwise, stick with SD.