Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		4.0

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie Review

The new Adventures with Purpose Blu-ray series is off to a strong start with Egypt: Quest for the Lord of the Nile.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 14, 2009

Egypt is a land of such allure and mystery that it has long been the Holy Grail for all sorts of explorers. As cable channels have sprung up over the past few decades, Egypt has similarly been a favorite subject for all sorts of documentaries, and so when you see this new Topics Entertainment release, your first thought may be along the lines of, “If I see Zahi Hawass one more time I’m likely to mummify him” (that’s a little inside joke for you Egypt documentary aficionados). Well, Dr. Hawass does indeed show up in Egypt: Quest for the Lord of the Nile, one of several new Adventures with Purpose titles that Topics will be releasing, but don’t let that scare you away from a brief but captivating look at (mostly) modern Egypt, as host Richard Bangs sets out on a trek to all sort of fascinating locations all having something to do with crocodiles, the aforementioned Nile Lord.

Bangs may not be a household name to a lot of viewers, but he’s amassed an enviable travel resumé, as well as being a founder of such travel related sites as Expedia.com. Though he is one of the most patently goofy looking gents imaginable (sorry, Richard), he possesses an affable presence and a lowkey manner which keeps the focus squarely on the subject matter rather than the host, which is as it should be. His Adventures with Purpose series attempts to not merely be a travelogue per se but to impart meaningful information, usually environmentally related, that helps bring the history element into stark contrast with what’s happening in today’s world.

Modern day Alexandria.

Bangs starts his journey in the modern port of Alexandria, a gleaming metropolis that may have little to do anymore with its founder, Alexander the Great, but which carries on Alexander’s literary tradition with one of the most amazing modern libraries you’ve ever witnessed, a stunningly crafted structure that Bangs takes us through while discussing Sobek, the ancient Egyptian crocodile-headed God. As Bangs then travels the Nile, he stops at locations both well known and obscure as he discusses not only the ancient crocodile worship that was a major part of Egyptian religious practice in days of yore, but also the environmental impact on modern day crocodiles by such structures as the Aswan Dam.

Though this program lasts only about an hour, Bangs is able to cover not only vast geographical territories, but several interesting sidebars. Though the focus is always at least tangentially on crocodiles, Bangs manages to work in everything from a visit to the Pyramids of Giza, where he discusses their history, to modern day bazaars which still unfortunately feature stuffed crocodiles as a major part of their wares. It’s actually a little sickening to see things like backscratchers made out of baby crocodile claws, and Bangs obviously shares in that distaste.

Bangs also interviews a number of scholars (including, of course, the ubiquitous Dr. Hawass, who shows us the mummified remains of an ancient crocodile), all of whom offer some interesting commentary on crocodile worship of old and the state of the creatures in the modern day world. The crocodiles are actually making something of a comeback in the Lake Nasser region and are known to actually attack the tiny skiffs the natives use, overturning them, and then feeding on the hapless humans. This has led to a perhaps ruthless reaction by some in the region, who either kill or capture the beasts to prevent them from striking first. Bangs actually ends his journey by visiting a “crocodile collector” and convincing the man to let Bangs set one of the young crocodiles free back in the Nile, most assuredly a symbolic gesture, but one which sums up Bangs’ environmental consciousness.

This is a small scale documentary with some glorious imagery of modern day Egypt, a country dripping with history but emerging as one of the most modern countries in the middle east, at least in its metropolitan areas. Bangs is able to weave together the broad outlines of millennia of times gone by while maintaining a resolutely modern focus on what is happening in this fabled land today, specifically as it relates to one species on the edge of endangerment. Adventures with Purpose is off to a strong start with this Topics release and the entire series looks like it’s going to be an unusually interesting and informative journey through ancient lands and modern day problems.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

When dealing with a niche label like Topics Entertainment, you might initially think you won't be getting stellar image quality. That thought may indeed advance when you see that this release is encoded via the relatively old MPEG-2 codec. And yet, I was consistently surprised at the sharpness of the image in Egypt: Quest for the Lord of the Nile. This is a remarkable looking Blu-ray, full of crisp detail and some especially brilliantly saturated color. The gradations of hues in the different water scenes, for example, are amazing, giving the viewer everything from deep cobalt blues to some luscious aquamarines and teals. Detail on closeups of the crocodiles (especially those weird eyes of theirs) is similarly remarkable, with the scaly hides of the creatures virtually palpable through the screen. Don't let the label or the codec fool you, this is a very crisp and clean looking Blu-ray.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audiophiles will probably groan to see the only option is an LPCM 2.0 track, but the fact is almost all of this documentary consists of Bangs either talking on screen or providing voiceover. There's very little ambient sounds, other than water sounds in the boats he travels on and the splish splash of little (or sometimes not so little) crocodile feet. There is one brief moment early in this piece, when Bangs is on a little rowboat, where you will hear a marked decrease in fidelity which I assume is due to remote recording capabilities. The rest of the time, this is a sharp sounding soundtrack with Bangs' narration front and center and the appealing underscore mixed very well into the proceedings.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This release is evidently the original broadcast version, complete with the little PBS "brought to you by" interstitial. There is an Extras menu option, but it only provides trailers to other releases in this series. The odd thing is that the closing promo for the show urges viewers to buy the companion book and the SD-DVD, and that promo hawks the "many extras" that the DVD provides, including interviews and bonus footage. Unless these items are tucked away in some secret Easter Egg Egyptian tomb I didn't find, they're nowhere to be found on this Blu-ray incarnation.

Richard Bangs' Adventures with Purpose: Egypt, Quest for the Lord of the Nile Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

About the only complaint I have with this release is that it's too short! Stunning imagery, cogent commentary and an unsual main focus make Egypt: Quest for the Lord of the Nile one of the more captivating Egypt-centric documentaries to come down the Nile in quite a while.