Standing with Stones (DVD)

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That said, "Standing with Stones" is still a wonderful tour, and in fairness this isn't being presented as an educational documentary. It's being marketed as a "unique travalogue," and that it is. Anyone thinking of visiting Great Britain, Ireland, or Scotland would find it both useful and inspiring to watch this video before going. It gives you plenty of ideas of where to visit--some of the locations off the beaten path, while others (like Stonehenge and Poulnabrone in County Galway, Ireland) are much-frequented.

With thousands of megalithic sites from which to choose, I can't comment on the sites that Soskin and Bott included here, except to say that there's a variety of cairns, burial sites, barrows, henges, stone circles, stone rows, and standing stones named for legends involving people turned to stone. William Blake makes an appearance here in the narrative, as do Druids and ancient Romans, and through it all Soskin remains someone you enjoy spending time with. Each section shows on a map the route Soskin takes and names the locations, and that helps put everything into perspective. "Standing with Stones" is playable in sections, or "play all." Either way, it's a fascinating journey.

Video:
The production values on this DVD are wonderful. Presented in 1.85:1 widescreen, "Standing with Stones" features fully saturated colors and a nice level of detail for standard definition. That makes for a beautiful travelogue, with so many shots worthy of being framed as artwork.

Audio:
The audio is a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo that has a nice treble/bass balance and a fairly rich timbre for a two-channel soundtrack. Most of it is narration, but Soskin's voice is loud and clear. Though the areas were windy, Bott figured out how to mike Soskin so there's little to no distortion or interference. It's a nice solid soundtrack.

Extras:
I love the design of this little DVD. It's so user-friendly. Not only were the chapters conveniently arranged, with maps and titles designed to help you navigate easily, but the menu of special features is also detailed, listing approximate runtimes and an annotated description.

A heavily edited "Interview" with Rupert Soskin and Michael Bott on the making of the film runs 48 minutes, with the pair appearing in front of a photographer's backdrop and asked questions by an off-camera female. There are seven chapters, but the two never budge from their perches. I might have been more interesting had the filmmakers intercut slides with the discussion. But there's some interesting stuff here. Initially the concept was to have small little trips that would run as television specials. But the problems were money and weather conditions, which forced them to do a film rather than a TV series. The interview doesn't give much insight into the filming or locations, covering mostly general ground, but would-be filmmakers may find it useful.

The pair teams up as well for a full-length commentary. In a documentary like this with running narration it essentially serves as an informal, unscripted narration. There are plenty of dead spots in the commentary track, some nervous laughter, and some inside jokes between this duo. And there's really more exposure time than these two are able to fill. At one telling point, they talk about how excited Soskin became when he realized that what he thought was a stone column inside a burial chamber was actually a petrified tree stump. And they joke about how he's still blathering on and on about it, which is when you realize that there are a number of moments when Soskin went off-script and went on perhaps just a bit too long.

A seemingly odd inclusion is a 14-minute blooper reel, which begins with darkness and the sound of a match NOT being lit, followed by laughter . . . in complete darkness. Finally the match is lit. Other shots show Sorkin mucking up his lines and then laughing. But it does make you realize that even documentaries have their share of takes and double-takes. Also included are 14 minutes of B-roll and incidental off-camera moments, a three-minute trailer, a 10-minute TV pilot film that would-be filmmakers will find especially useful, and a slide show. Because the latter includes 72 photos with diary comment on the making of "Standing with Stones" it's much better than the usual slideshow. Then again, Bott's photography is much better than the usual travelogue stuff we see on educational television.

Bottom Line:
"Standing with Stones" isn't a standard learn-about-this documentary. It's as described: a "unique travelogue in which presenter Rupert Soskin and director Michael Bott discover the wealth that is Megalithic Britain." This was two years in the making, and Soskin and Bott have created a film that they can be proud of.

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