Central America Movie Reviews

Related Subjects: Recreation panama
Family movie reviews for "Central America" sorted by average review score:
Travel the World By Train: Central America
Released in DVD by Pioneer Video (30 March, 1999)
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Starring: Travel the World By Train
Superb cinematography showcases stunning vistas in otherwise inaccessible areas of Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Jamaica in the Central America/Caribbean volume of the Travel the World by Train series. The video also opens a window onto the diverse peoples and cultures one meets along the routes.

The footage in Mexico is most impressive. Embarking from the beach colony of Los Mochis on the Gulf of California, the Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad climbs the arid Western Sierra Madre Mountains. Viewers accompany thrill-seeking tourists on a wild and wooly ride, ascending 10,000-foot peaks and traversing truly treacherous-looking bridges. Vultures soar in the wind, as though waiting for a snack of fallen passengers. The train stops in a village where smiling mountain tribespeople sell handmade baskets. Next, it passes through breathtaking Copper Canyon--four times bigger than the Grand Canyon. The Mexico City-Yucatan Peninsula route stops at the towering ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza. This journey is indeed atmospheric: the sticky air clings to the skin; monkeys jump from tree to tree in the jungle outside.

The trip from Guatemala City on the Pacific Ocean to Puerto Barrios on the Atlantic is a market route: antiquated trains on rickety tracks transport adventurous tourists amid Guatemalan families toting livestock. Little separates passengers from the elements: rain sprinkles into the train through glassless windows; the only source of illumination is the conductor's flashlight. Further intoxicating "South of the Border" adventures await viewers of the excursions through Costa Rica, Jamaica, and Cuba. --Laura Mirsky

Average review score:

Very Disappointing
As someone from the Pacific who has had a lifetime dream to travel Copper Canyon, and who has already visited Yucatan, this DVD is not only repetative, it is downright boring. It does not shows nothing of value of the thirteen hour trip through the canyon, nor of the trip from Mexico City to Yucatan. Frankly a waste of money --- If Amazon was closer, I'd return this for a refund and buy a good Mexican travel guide instead! I certainly won't be buying the other 9 in this series to qualify for a carry on travel bag!

You'll have a great time learning to NEVER take these trains
The simple soundtrack gets a bit repetitive at times but the scenery is fun. Trains have no assigned seats and no interior lights which must make some of the 5am boardings quite the adventure.

If you love trains and love travel in Central America, as I do, you'll learn not to combine them after watching these highlights of train travel thru Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Jamaica.

Rough Riding
These are not elegant trains you'll be riding here, and you may feel a bit of sympathy for the camera crew who had to ride these trains to bring you these pictures. Forget about sleeping cars, dining cars, or bar cars, and just count yourself lucky it doesn't rain on you through the permanently opened windows. Your fellow passengers will include dogs and live chickens in this one. It's unfortunate the camera crew did not hire a helicopter --perhaps they couldn't find one,-- to give us shots of the rickety bridges the trains had to cross. But then again, they might have decided not to scare us too much. This DVD's train rides are best taken from your living room easy chair.

Central America
Released in DVD by 555 Productions (11 November, 2003)
MPAA Rating:
Average review score:
No reviews found.

Related Subjects: Recreation panama