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Rating: 
Summary: Any Other Month of the Year = Five Stars
Review: If you were going to pick the time of the year to shoot a video from the cab of a train running from KC through Missouri, Iowa and Illinois...you may have chosen May or June, wildflowers in full bloom, greenery abounding. Then again, you may have felt more inspired by the beautiful changing of the leaves in autumn. Perhaps you would have shot the video after a freshly-fallen snow and captured a truly breathtaking moment in time for the viewer to cherish. If you were looking for the absolute-worst time of the year, you could have chosen a bitterly cold, bland February day to showcase this tedious trek through bleak drabness. The producers of this high-dollar DVD set opted for the February setting...Much to my dismay. Aside from this most-obvious example of poor planning, the DVD set is not bad. Yes, there's history and some fascinating landmarks along the way. I should have done my homework, however, because I was disappointed to learn this particular Amtrak line does not run through Jefferson City, Hermann or other picturesque Missouri River towns, and if you're hoping to ride shotgun in the cab through St. Louis, you'll be disappointed here, too. The line runs northeast out of Kansas City and through some pretty mundane territory. The narration is mildly amusing at times, although the hayseed ramblings and occasional rants by the crew do provide some periodic moments to remember. The bottom line is:
If you can enjoy the simple pleasure of watching basically the same scenery for ten hours while listening to your good-ole uncle Raymond sit on the porch and tell you "everything he ever knowed" about nothing important, this DVD set is for you. If not, you probably want to look elsewhere. Once again, it is excrutiatingly painful to think of how incredible and exciting this trip would have been (and much easier it would have been to stomach the $85 investment) if they had shot it at any, ANY, other time of the year...
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