Long Way Up (2020) User Reviews

Could have been so much better

[rory-75 · 7/10 · 15 November 2020]

Like many others, I was ultimately disappointed with this series. The first couple of episodes over-focus on the charging issues, while expecting a gullible public to believe that a highly funded production like this went to the tip of South America unaware that it was winter, unaware that different countries have different charging outlets, unaware that batteries don't like the cold, in general totally unaware of electric vehicles, etc.

The next four or five episodes are excellent, on a par with the best from Long Way Round and Long Way Down. Inexplicably, the last eight countries are squeezed into the final three episodes. We see disappointingly little of Nicaragua, Honduras or Guatemala and magically transport 900 miles through Mexico from Oaxaca to Juarez in about three shots. There's no explanation of how the Rivians get through Mexico, or even what happens to the bus at the US border. It feels like the last two episodes should have been at least four.

I've rated it reasonably highly because of the exquisite cinematography - Claudio von Planta wins again(!) - and the attempt to show how sustainable travel is possible and will become inevitable in the next few years. But shame on the producers and editors for such an incomplete story and a rushed and fragmented ending.

Ewan and Charley's electric adventure

[ScoobySnacks66 · 8/10 · 19 September 2020]

This is Apple TV+'s first attempt at a documentary styled adventure travel show, and they've certainly gone big with it by taking on the Long Way franchise. The show features actor Ewan McGregor and his friend, Charley Boorman, going on a three-month, 13,000-mile motorcycle trip. Filmed in the fall of 2019, they ride through South America, Central America and Mexico, before finishing up in Los Angeles. The first episode starts slowly but held my attention with Ewan's wonderful, down-to-earth personality. I became even more interested when Harley Davidson stepped up with two prototype, electric "adventure bikes" for Ewan and Charley to take with them on their journey. For the bored and stuck at home, the EV aficionado and the lover of motorbike road trips the series holds a lot of promise, as the two venture through the Andes, Central American rainforests and back to California on fully electric motorcycles, demonstrating innovative engineering ingenuity and filling our empty, wanderlusting hearts with the opportunity to accompany them from our sofas while we wait out the pandemic.

A road trip about batteries - and some nice scenery

[phil-205-629777 · 8/10 · 28 October 2022]

Ewan and Charlie make an entertaining double act and the old production gang comes back together for a new road trip. The most obvious question, though is, "why didn't anyone tell them batteries don't like the cold"?

It seems that it takes them about 2 weeks to work this out. Whoever did the logistics must have been evilly laughing as they seemed to be constantly 10 miles short of powe.

Anyway, I'm about half way in now and in it for the long haul. The scenery is great (the drone pilot was pretty busy and seems to have his/her own battery supply) and the miles soon disappear.

And at least the charging issue gives a bit of jeopardy for the show. Worth a watch.

Don't Listen to the Haters

[SithHunter · 10/10 · 21 October 2020]

Its quite obvious that the petrol heads who live and breath bikes are once again having a tanty over these two guys adventure. Ultimately that's what the show is, these two great friends adventures around parts of the world less travelled and they happen to love bikes.

On the First trip the haters went after them for the fact they had support cars following, on the second trip they got angry that bmw was supporting them with quick air shipment of spare parts, and now they are just angry at the notion of Electric.

well too bad, its pure jealously that the haters dont get to do anything remotely close to a trip like this. they dont seem to understand that the show isn't just about one thing, its not just the bikes, its not just the adventure and its not just about these two guys. Its the whole package, its the planing, the shenanigans, the route, the bikes and the whole crew.

all the people complaining about charging, what did you expect? nobody has done electric adventure like this before on bikes. that's part of why they did it.

Nobody said throw away ur petrol bikes and go full electric right now, everybody knows its going to take decades to get even a small percentage of the world into electric. Some of the destinations dont even have petrol stations so of course charging would be a problem. Both these guys still have many petrol bikes and won't be giving any of them up, yet you all seem to think thy are eco warriors with a green agenda rather than giving them credit for being pioneers in adventure travel.

Gut wrenching, Jaw Dropping, beautiful

[pugmahorn · 10/10 · 10 October 2020]

I am six episodes in. The scenery...it's hard to believe some of this is filmed on Planet Earth. At times I am gob smacked. The interactions with locals are beautiful. Ewan is the heart and soul of this series and I mean no disrespect to Charlie who is great. The filming is amazing. I've watched the other two series which are also fantastic. Just makes me want to get of the couch and explore. If you don't like it, that's fine, but is it really necessary for people write such hateful and nasty reviews? Why? Just switch off.

Another Gorgeous Adventure! - Bad Reviews Truly Baffling

[tabaquij · 10/10 · 11 October 2020]

I get the feeling that a lot of the 'bad' reviews have a) never seen the other installments and b) are easily bored. I am *loving* this. They're all driving completely new, prototype machines that have never been driven over such terrain or distances before, learning about them as they go. I think it's so cool that HD and Rivira were able to come up with road-worthy prototypes on such short notice.

The scenery is *fantastic*! Otherworldly. I have never seen such gorgeous views, it's great. And it's so awesome to see Ewan and Charley together again!

Complaints about it being 'scripted' are silly - it was filmed on the fly. Complaints about it being 'too green'....? Get a grip.

An excellent show so far (up to ep six), and I cannot wait to see more of the incredible Americas from the back of a bike!

I love this series. And the others too.

[bertrum96 · 10/10 · 30 September 2020]

Ewan and Charlie are so fun to watch. I used to watch it because I rode motorcycles but it's a good show on its own. If you like travel and reality series and motorcycles and funny banter you will enjoy it. The film crew does a great job of capturing the experience as well.I was going to give it nine stars but I decided to give it 10 because every time I start the series I can't stop watching it so what more can I ask for?

They're back!

[dheijmans · 10/10 · 19 September 2020]

The epic ride duo (trio if you count Claudio) is back for another journey. This time maybe the toughest of all three long way's. From Tierra del Fuego all the way to L.A. on electric bikes in the Patagonian winter. Even the crew drives electric! Will they make it with their experimental vehicles? This must be an true epic journey for Ewan and Charley

A pleasure watching these two yet again

[lawrenceo-44972 · 10/10 · 21 September 2020]

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed Long Way Round and Long Way Down, so when we heard there's another adventure happening, we couldn't wait!! Just finished watching the first 3 episodes and found ourselves smiling from ear to ear throughout. Couldn't have come at a better time. We feel like we've exhausted our tv viewing over the past 6 months with this lockdown. Ewan and Charlie have saved us haha! At least for now. Loving the show!

Great Idea ruined by the lack of knowledge and preparation and scripted crises

[seb-czarnecki · 7/10 · 25 September 2020]

The whole thing started as a wonderful idea that could show the viewer an amazing adventure through beautiful parts of the world and point our attention to transition to electric mobility and what steps need to be taken to achieve it.

After watching 3 episodes I have to admit that I am a little disappointed. The riders and the producers seem to have little idea how electric vehicles work, were only given some pointers from (I can only imagine the sponsors) Harley and Rivian and left on their own. It looks like there is no one with them who did their research on electric vehicles and who knows the local electricity grids and connectors. The focus seems to be on how the 2 riders and the crew "struggle" with finding good charging places, issues with charging, the time it takes to charge and if they can make it to the next destination - that is it, and it's really annoying. As I said that's after only 3 episodes, hopefully they will get a grasp on how this electric thing works, it's really not that difficult, no need to be a certified electrician. People on youtube have done better job doing similar trips.

Another issue that I have with this is why use prototype vehicles, both bikes and cars, when there already are established brands like the Zero, Tesla and others or use plug in hybrid cars istead of a diesel van? Anyways, I'll carry on watching and hopefully it will be less of a soap opera and more of a documentary.

Update after watching episode 4: Getting better. It is finally turning into a series that I was hoping for, however the over hyping of some of the issues still continues. Increasing my rating to from 6 to 7.

3rd instalment is another joy to watch.

[benceyssens · 10/10 · 19 September 2020]

Very cool to see the gang back together. Doing a big trip like this with electric vehicles is quite interesting.

Not as interesting as the other two long way

[oscar-montanez · 7/10 · 30 September 2020]

The idea of using electric bikes seemed nice in the beginning but it turn out to be a problem and a boring one as they always were trying to fin a charging point. Seems electric bikes are still a long way to go before they become mainstream in motorcycling. Claudio didn't even use one!, he was on a HD sporter I think. The constant searching for a way to charge became really annoying for viewers in my opinion and prevented them from seeing parts of chile and argentina that were "too far" from a charging point. Also the issue with the range was annoying, 140 miles a day is not really much for such a long trip, I imagine how bored they were most of the day waiting for the bikes to charge. The speed was kind of ludicrous too, riding most of the time at 40 miles per hour to preserve charge in the batteries.

There's something missing

[chelin-2 · 5/10 · 13 November 2020]

I must state that my favorites documentaries in order is LWR and LWD. It's a series that actually impacted my life it ended up with north of 800k miles on generations of R1100 and 1200GSes. Simply put my life would have been different. The same impact as Ted Simon had on Charley and Ewan.

I really wanted to love this season, I've been waiting for it, I needed it!

But once I've watched 9/10 of the episodes it never hooked me it's like food without salt. You watch it but you don't crave it. What's missing is the humans the remoteness the struggle and not the least the roughness in the way it's visualized. I cannot connect to this season. I guess it's become.very "Hollywood" and orchestrated. There's to much technology that's get in way of the journey. And this is not the way Ted Simons intended it with ".. the interruptions makes the journey". It feels here that technology gets in the way of the journey, cultures and people. To many cities and hotels. Finally the inner stress in both Charley and Ewan. They do not feel so excited anymore.

I'm sorry I never write these reviews. But this series is too close to my heart.

A great prequel!

[georgestephenwalker · 10/10 · 22 September 2020]

Long Way Around was a true cult classic, Long Way Down was okay and Long Way Up is them back on form (not that they ever truly lost it). I don't have any issue with the new series it's funny, informative and everything I have come to love from these travel documentaries. The issues most reviewers have is the fact they are doing the tour on electric motorbikes who actually cares? It doesn't effect the show (apart from lack of charge) but that is the part of the journey. At the end of the day it's a truly amazing show and hope there are more to come!

Adventurous, electric bike is a stupid idea

[kyeh-51057 · 8/10 · 3 October 2020]

I am on episode 3. i enjoy the scenery of the route they go through, and the sense of adventure. But the electric bike at this stage is really a bad idea, start, stop, worried about charging. The technology may improve in the future, but having to charge everyday and looking for places to charge is really inefficient and unreliable.

Just put the bikes in the sprinter van

[stanthejeep · 9/10 · 21 September 2020]

Anyone who thinks emobility is about to take over all transport should watch this. Plus it has great scenery and charming people.

Excellent!

[crimarti-80841 · 10/10 · 29 September 2020]

Awesome show, the first 3 episodes are great but the 4th one is a masterpiece! Some people complain about the seek for places to recharge the bikes, that's the whole point of the series! to know something that's new and challenging, let go the comfort of fossil fuels and take a step ahead for the benefit of all future generations. The landscapes are amazing, also the people, the work of the electric vehicles is very interesting, so is the discovery of places in the middle of nowhere that uses solar and wind energy to exist. Someone here in the comments said the where using gas motorbikes, wrong, only the cameraman is riding a gas fueled harley davidson, Ewan and Charley are riding only electric bikes. If you like traveller videos you will love this, and if you like solar, wind and another less contaminant energies you will be in heaven watching the series. I find it simply amazing.

Great to relive

[alanpuzey · 10/10 · 25 September 2021]

10 out of 10 definitely for the first 9 episodes. I did a very similar journey, only in the reverse direction nearly 20 years ago, and this brought back so many memories.

The final 2 episodes seem almost 'tacked on,' and do no justice to the countries covered. Virtually all of central America in one episode is ridiculous, and the time taken on converting an old bus to carry the bikes across part of Mexico (for just one night was it !?) added little to the series. I think travelling across Mexico might have been considered more dangerous when I did it, but we did, on public transport.

However, I love the exuberance of Ewan and Charlie and will still rate the series 10/10.

I gave it a 10

[robertjruttenberg · 10/10 · 14 November 2020]

I have been an avid motorcyclist for 50 years and I plan to go another 10 years-because this series reminded me why I love it so much. These 2 were great

Fun until the last episode

[gilbertianb · 7/10 · 14 November 2020]

The last episode is too focused on them restoring a bus, they basically cross Mexico inside a bus! Also, the arrival in Los Angeles is way too staged.

Amazing scenery and heartfelt connections

[laughingsaint · 10/10 · 13 August 2021]

U really see what an amazing loving bunch of blokes this team is and how all the travels have changed them in 12 years!! Loved it so much !!

Not as good as the other trips

[pountneyc · 6/10 · 3 December 2020]

Not as good as the first two trips. That's quite understandable, how do you follow going around the world? Some of the magic is inevitably gone, and the advanced filming techniques and unnecessary attempt to build up tension at the end of each episode (often without even following up on that in the next episode at all) was just stupid. But what really irritated me, as someone who has travelled independently in these parts of the world, were two seemingly completely unnecessary things.

1) In Colombia they claimed they needed to take a boat to get around the Darien Gap, then took a flight from the south of Colombia to the west coast (actually accesible by road), took a boat a little bit up the west coast of Colombia, then flew a private plane to Medellin, which is a city in the middle of Colombia that they could easily have got to on their bikes, before flying over the Darien Gap. The first two flights and the boat trip were completely unnecessary. Why didn't they just ride their bikes to Medellin? Why didn't they, in fact, ride their bikes to the north of Colombia and take an actual boat around the Darien Gap? That would have been a lot more eco-friendly than taking three private flights, would it not? This whole thing was bizarre and not something I could imagine 'real' travellers doing.

2) The bus in Mexico. What was that all about? They did it so that they didn't have to ride through Mexico at night? How about just riding during the day like everybody else? How was driving in a bus at night safer than riding bikes during the day? It was just a bit weird and ruined Mexico, where they were actually in the midst of discovering what a great country it is when the bus thing took over. It was a weird and sad way to end these series, a complete contrast from the way the guys took on the challenges of Mongolia, Siberia etc on their first trip.

Overall it is a watchable series, but not one I'm likely to be rewatching like the first two. The two things I've mentioned here were just too farcically unlike what 'normal' people would do when travelling in Latin America.

Not as good as the other two

[mikewilliamson47 · 5/10 · 28 December 2020]

The first few episodes are pretty uninspiring with Ewan and Charley hunting around trying to find charging points for the bikes. We then get a few really good episodes where you become immersed in their South America adventure before Ewan appears to lose interest and is focused on skipping part of the trip to meet his adopted daughter in Panama. Then it turns into a bizarre pimp my bus programme so they can skip through northern Mexico with their bikes in the back of the pimped up bus.

The crew seem to be far more involved than I remember from the previous two trips and it just feels overall like a cash in on the back of 'Round and 'Down. Not a massive disappointment but I wouldn't watch it a second time.

Quite Liberating for a Caregiver

[lammi · 10/10 · 21 September 2022]

I have been caregiving for my beloved wife who is very ill. While I am happy to serve her, it becomes a bit taxing at times. So, during my breaks, I'm able to whisk away to South and Central America with Charley, Ewan, and their amazingly dedicated crew. I have a vivid imagination and this helps relieve the stress of caregiving.

What I truly appreciate is this trip is fun and challenging, it is made great by glorious purpose. How can you not be touched by the goodness and warmth of the beautiful people and country? Even more beautiful are the children who want to learn, love and grow. Great job everyone. Thank you for the joy you bring.

A fantastic journey shared on TV

[waynehansford · 10/10 · 14 November 2020]

An awesome view of South America, which put the place in a different perspective for me. beautiful scenery, extremely helpful people and presented so brilliantly by Ewan and Charley that you felt you were on the journey with them. The series made Friday's worth waiting for, although disappointed when each episode ended... this series was made even better due to the new challenges of using electric vehicles.... what's next?