Survivor - The Australian Outback: Season 2

I was never a fan of reality television, and to this day only watch two reality shows, Survivor being one of them. Thus, I watched only one episode of The Australian Outback when it was on television. The first contestant voted off, Debb Eaton, lived in the next town over from where I grew up, so I tuned in to see how she did and after that, didn't tune back.And now after watching this fantastic DVD set, I am disappointed I didn't keep watching. While I have seen only the three most recent seasons (All-Stars, Vanuatu and Palau) plus the DVD of the first season, I can understand why people who are big fans of this series consistently rank Survivor Australia as one of the best seasons ever. The perfect mix of people in a great environment led to a truly captivating series.The second season provided some very memorable moments, moments that can probably be included among the very best in Survivor history. Of course there is the famous beef jerky incident where "aspiring actress" and resident evil woman Jerri Manthey accuses Army officer Kel Gleason of smuggling beef jerky. Who wasn't thrilled for farmer-schoolteacher Rodger "Kentucky Joe" Bingham when he confronted his fear of heights and his lack of swimming ability by leaping off a huge cliff into the water below? I am sure everyone was happy for gourmet (yes I think he can cook rice) chef Keith Famie when he proposed to his girlfriend in a quick internet chat from the Outback and she said yes. His emotion was genuine as he grabbed Jeff Probst and hugged him. Of course, the incredible relationship between Kentucky Joe and young footwear designer Elisabeth Filarski was a unique one, but one that kept them together until the last few days. Jerri's flirting with Colby Donaldson was amazingly pathetic, and it was actually funny to watch him as you knew he wasn't even remotely interested. And who can forget Michael Skupin's fall in the fire, the one move that essentially changed the game.Of course, when Colby, the auto customizer from Texas, chose Tennessee mom Tina Wesson to join him in the final two, he assured he would finish second, but knew that Tina would be a deserving winner. This was a great moment in Survivor history, as a player put his friendship and alliance ahead of his own personal game. Not until Ian in Pulau did we see something quite like that again. It was a good move and Colby came out, although not with a million dollars, looking like the good guy.Throw in some great characters, such as Maralyn "Mad Dog" Hershey, the retired cop from Virginia, Amber Brkich, the youngest of the group, who would go on to win the All-Stars edition, yet who in this edition was quite tentative, but hung tough, the conniving Jeff Varner who would start a battle between others and watch it brew, trainer Alicia Callaway and her finger-waving, and vegetarian Kimmi Kappenberg, the butt of much of Alicia's finger waves and you have the makings of a great season.By comparison to the seasons now, these Survivors were given a lot to help their survival and the challenges weren't quite as difficult as the ones we have seen in the past few years, but they were still quite entertaining and it was great to see the original challenges that some of the newer seasons have used, or built off of.The story of the season early on was the domination of Kucha at the challenges. They had Ogakor feeling down and depressed and it looked like, heading into the merge, that Kucha would have the numbers to just pick off Ogakor one-by-one. Then came Michael's fall in the fire. When he was airlifted out of the game, Kucha lost their advantage and the planning by Ogakor came into play and they were successful, as the final three were all members of the original Ogakor. In the end, it was Colby's domination that helped to push him to the finals, where he chose Tina to sit next to him and the rest is history.There is a reason that five of these castaways (Alicia, Colby, Tina, Amber, Jerri) were chosen to participate in the All-Star version. This group of people was one of the finest casts assembled and the dynamics that came into play really made this season a joy to watch.And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Elisabeth one more time. In the first season, the incredibly beautiful Colleen Haskell became "America's Sweetheart." In this season, the incredibly cute Elisabeth took over that role. Her relationship with Rodger gave her a very real feel, and to anyone watching, she felt like she would be someone you would be friends with in the outside world.The bonus features on this disc are very solid. There are six different commentary tracks, with two from Alicia, Kimmi and Michael (including the one where he falls in the fire), two from Keith, Rodger, Amber and Tina and two from Colby and Jeff Probst, who really began defining the role of realilty show host in this season. To this day, there is nobody who has that role down as well as he does. The two with Colby and Jeff are really, really good, while the others are very good and insightful. There are a couple of documentaries as well and the mid-season recap episode is included. Also included in the set is the previously released "Greatest and Most Outrageous Moments" which among other things features little bits on every Survivor and their time in the Outback.On a personal note, I was watching that bonus disc and during the spot on Debb, they showed her sitting on her motorcycle on my mother's front lawn, which happens to be right next to a covered bridge. It was pretty funny to see and took me by surprise.So whether you've been a fan of the show since day one, or it something you are learning to like, this set is top-notch. You will not be disappointed. Now let's hope they consider releasing more season sets.

I'd read for quite some time that Survivor: The Australian Outback was THE best season of survivor yet. Though it was extremely enjoyable, and I loved every moment of it, it wasn't, in my opinion, the best season thusfar (This title firmly rests on the shoulders of Survivor: Pearl Islands - and, NO, not just because of Rupert!).That said, "Australia" posesses many of the qualities which makes for a truly spectacular Survivor season:Firstly, the casting directors for Survivor excelled themselves in choosing such a diverse group of individuals to play the game(more-so than Borneo)and presenting us with sixteen 'characters' to love and loathe. I found that, while watching, I grew very fond of certain people (no prizes for guessing who), and, of course, not so fond of others (again, no prizes for guessing). This is probably ONE of the best casts to have ever played the game.Secondly, the challenges have improved vastly since Borneo, with more creative minds working behind the cameras (Compared to "Australia", some of the challenges on Borneo look foolish and simple). There is also a greater sense of drama and excitement surrounding both the reward and immunity challenges (This is most certainly true of the former, considering the conditions the survivors had to endure).Thirdly, I feel that many elements regarding the actual production of Survivor have changed since Borneo: The editing has become sharper and more exciting; Russ Landau's musical score is even better; and Jeff Probst seems a lot more confident and sure of himself, and the game, than he did in Borneo (Obviously).The presentation of the product is, once again, excellent, with superb audio and visual quality. Also, the decision of the manufacturers to limit the amount of information that each episode summary gives us on the disk cases is good.Once again, the bonus disk "Survivor: The Australian Outback, The greatest and most outrageous moments" proves to be an excellent touch, giving us a glimpse at some of the survivors' (weird) audition tapes, as well as interviews and never-before-seen footage.The cast commentaries on six of the episodes are insightful (to say the least), while the documentary "Home from the Outback" provides us with a view of just how strange some of the survivors really are in 'real life'.On the other hand, the main titles (usually one of the highlights of each seasons' pilot episodes), prove to be rather disappointing, and one of the weakest I've seen yet (I mean, compared to the titles of "Vanuatu" or "Palau", it really lacks lustre).Overall, "Australia" is a very impressive season, with many highs and lows (On that note, just whose idea was it to locate the Barramundi camp in the bed of a dry creek? Mark Burnett? If so, it just proves that, once again, he is always one step of the survivors in every way. It may or may not have been planned, but, either way, it proved to be some gripping stuff.An excellent season!Oh, and by the way! For the record, Elisabeth Hasselback is now my new Colleen Haskell.

I am one of those people who can fully explain the show Survivor to you, and I can, without thinking too, too hard, list all the winners in order.Season two, Australia, is the best season of this show, and I believe it will be hard to top.Season two, filmed while Season one was being aired, was filmed before all Survivor wannabes had agents and head shots. These are still real people and the show was still really interested in attempting to kill them. This was before every challenge ended with a puzzle or before every reward involved masses of food. There's one food challenge that rewards the contestants with a handful of Doritos. This was when the producers weren't terribly worried about things like death and lawsuits and people actually dying out there. It was less outwit, and more outlast and it made for AWESOME television.Face it, we all find it more fun to watch regular people fight to the death for a swallow of Mountain Dew and a single Pringle, than we do when they win a feast, which they gobble and then barf in the shrubs. Get down to your old school Survivor roots and watch this season!

This show is hugely popular in America, but hardly known in the UK for some reason which I just can't understand. But if you ever want to watch reality tv at its finest, you can't do better than invest in this DVD.This is actually the second series of the show Survivor, and considered by fans to be the all-time best. It features 16 individuals, divided into two teams in the Australian outback, who have to learn to work together as a team to survive and progress so that they have a chance of winning a cool $1,000,000.It's not just about physical excellence. It's a political game where you have to be able to forge alliances, sometimes with people you can't stand, so you can get ahead in the game. And the more ruthless characters will ruin someone's chances by subtly turning other members of their own team against them. As the motto of this show says, "Trust no one!"It's a brilliant show - and I just can't understand why it's not shown on British terrestial tv. So pick up a copy and marvel at what some people will do or put themselves through in order to win a millionn dollars!

The DVDs arrived complete and before the estimated time. The dvds are region 1 which means they will not play outside of America unless you have a multi region dvd player. We tried several laptops, dvd players and a PS2. So now If we want to watch it we have to buy a multi region dvd player. Since the seller is offering international postage, it would be great if they could add this information in the item description. It might just be me but I had no idea movies had regions.

Survivor is my favourite reality TV programme. I completely agree with the other review, I have no idea why this hasn't taken off in the UK because it is amazing! It's such an interesting game, which no contest has a sure fire strategy for, which is what makes it such great viewing!Mark Burnett is the creator of the show and he got the idea for it after reading Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It is basically about two competing tribes whom have to battle it out in challenges and also survive the other people around them to win a prize. This is a fantasic strategy game which makes for excellent viewing.I would recommend not just this season but every single one, I've seen almost 10 seasons all up, and they have each been unique, with different characterful contestants all with varying strategies, which is why this is a must see!

I suppose that if I had not seen the old English series this would have seemed better to me but I think it would be great if we could obtain a copy of the series run on our t.v.

Glad to find this on DVD.Would recommend.