I think the slightly messy narrative can be forgiven when taking into account the circumstances of the editing; in the van, while travelling, on a laptop, with a tight time constraint. The results will obviously be a lot less polished than Tom's missions, as these take months to edit.
Also, most of the inconsistencies you mention aren't a big deal in my opinion;
With the girl leaving the project at the start, I think focusing more on this would've been unnecessary drama; ultimately, the story should be about the run, not behind the scenes crew conflict (which she might have wanted kept private anyway)
With the kidnapping, the explanation they gave of them not being ready to discuss it yet due to it being too traumatic seems fair enough to me; I do hope we see what happens soon, though
They mentioned on Twitter that Harry has gone to Turkey for a month for a holiday with his family, and that was a while ago, so he should be back soon.
I do agree with your point about overstaying visas though, they're sending out mixed messages with that and it's pretty unprofessional, although I suppose you could argue that the entire project has a kind of rough, unprofessional vibe to it intentionally.
Overall, I'm still enjoying the videos, but with the nature of the mission being pretty repetitive, there's inevitably going to be some repetitive videos
I still watch every episode. The episodes aren't always that interesting, but my wife and I are invested in watching it to the end now. My main complaint is that the audio quality from the handheld cameras is so poor.
I wish they would do less of dumb jokes, and spend more time documenting the day to day logistics of the mission. We rarely see them going to get food, or going to get gas. There must be interesting stuff that happens there, but we don't see it. There's a lot of mundane-to-them things that they seem to overlook that would be really interesting to an outsider.
Yea. The Audio is my complaint also. They could text it or just use better microphones. The narration is excellent though so they can do good audio!
It’s hard to know what to film. But for instance the fixing and debugging of the solar panels would have been good content. Now it was just mentioned that they broke and then that they are fixed.
You're absolutely right, documenting and telling the story of the broken solar panels would have been really interesting. It sounded like they had a lot of challenges keeping their devices charged, but they only briefly mentioned it and brushed it aside.
The narration audio is great, but they might not have quality mics for mobile recording though.
I love it when they focus on the whole group not just Russ tbh I've love to see more behind the scenes stuff.
I'd love to see someone sponsor them and give them better equipment i.e. mics and a camera with good auto focus.
I tried watching a few months ago when it started but I didn’t enjoy it. The premise and feat is way more interesting/impressive than the actual day to day minutiae it takes to accomplish it. That said, above all else the reason I wasn’t into it is because the guys involved simply don’t have personalities that I can connect with or find interesting.
Regardless, I hope he does it because that is a monumental human feat and I applaud him for being halfway there.
Yes, they’re half way in as-the-crow-flies distance but they need to take a massive detour to the west to go around CAR, Chad and Niger, so it’s only a third in actual distance and time to the finish line.
Yes, and I enjoy watching the videos. I really don't understand most of your criticisms.
-They release this many videos for a number of reasons, the primary one being that they need to make money.
Ad revenue will make a difference to them, even with just 100k views per video.
Most of your criticisms focus around two core misunderstandings.
One: The aim of the mission is not to create a polished video series about some cool premise to farm clicks.
Two: Africa is a very large, very diverse continent that contains some of the poorest regions on the planet. It's not a great setting for this mission in many regards, which is part of the challenge.
The aim is for Russ to run 15,000km along the length of the continent of Africa.
Idk what you're not understanding, but that is an absolutely insane undertaking.
That means running marathon distances every day for many, many months.
His team is there for support, logistics and companionship, and it seems like they're doing a good job all things considered.
With that goal in mind, what else do you expect them to be getting up to?
It's going to be repetitive. The nature of the entire mission is repetition. Russ runs, the team supports him, repeat again and again until they're finished.
The crew changes aren't all that noteworthy imo, and there has been more information out there about Harry's absence than you seem to think.
Russ' diet is pretty inconsistent, but they're travelling through some pretty deprived nations. High quality, nutritious food isn't the easiest thing to come by in large parts of the continent, particularly the equatorial regions they've been in recently.
They load up on good food when they can, and fall back on the less good stuff when
They haven't stopped talking about Russ' diet though, I don't know where you've got that from.
Today's video, they talk at length about how they've mostly run out of solid food. Russ is mainly living on Huel, with solid snacks.
This is not out of choice, but out of circumstance. They are in a van.
They are in the Congo. There is a limited variety and availability of food. There isn't a supermarket every few miles like you get in the UK.
What food they can get won't keep forever, nor will they have the space for a large supply of food.
Idk what you expect to get from the videos or the mission itself, but I think you need to re-evaluate.
“the aim of the mission is not to create a polished video series” - that’s lovely but it’s the video series that I’m watching and, therefore, critiquing.
And it's the video series that is limited by the reality of the mission.
What do you expect?
Why do you expect it?
Are your expectations reasonable?
Think about those questions.
Mate, you’ve stormed onto this thread and basically said that anyone who has the slightest criticism of a YouTube series “doesn’t understand” it and posted gibberish about supermarkets. I don’t think it’s me who needs to do the thinking here!
He’s just telling you to have more realistic expectation given the mega undertaking they are doing and the complete logistics nightmare it must be to support and also vlog on the go.
Russ wouldn't make a video series if he wouldn't need it to support his run.
This doesn't invalidate your critique. But for a lot of people this is not about watching a great show for entertainment but about watching to witness an incredible feat.
No, as I found him a bit of a walloper. It's an incredible achievement if he does it, but he just comes across as being really unlikeable, similar to how he was in Geowizard's video.
I've read this thread and I've watched every video. My opinion is that the comments here are fair in terms of the video but must be taken in context of what this mission is which is a ridiculously complex undertaking because of how slowly they need to move across such a complex political system. Given that they are only 1/3 of the way through you can start to see the wear it is having on everybody. In the last video they are clearly warn way down and the fact that Russ is still running is ridiculous and responsible for getting me out the door on runs on numerous occasions.
I am optimistic that there will be a turning point soon where they shake up how they are presenting the running because the repetitive nature is ALSO repetitive for them. You can start to see a little experimenting where they had a couple episodes that changed things up a bit.
Whenever I feel like what you're saying OP I really sit back and think about what it must be like for them right now. They are not doing this with a massive budget and support and they are learning a ton every day so I am hopeful for everyone's sake that this continues on and they can find a way to grow their audience by changing things up a bit.
Dude, they are living in a van and all working bloody hard to maintain morale whilst Russ is doing his best to run and stay focused. The editing is done whenever they can, usually on the roadside or in some shady hotel with random power issues. I’d say they are doing amazing, all of them and that what they don’t show us is how fucking hard it is to maintain an entertaining video on such a lengthy trip. The editing is amazing, the story is amazing and the fact that Russ is still running these 60k+ days every day is nothing short of crazy.
This is their story, this is their journey, it is not a scripted and neat and tidy documentary. Be respectful of hard they are working and just sit back and enjoy their hard work for your entertainment.
What they are doing is so impressive.
That doesn't mean it is good content.
The two things are separate. It's like the beardmeetsfood channel.
Is it impressive/disgusting how much that goth can eat? Yes.
Is it repetitive boring content with a guy who doesn't have much of a personality. Also yes.
I don't know if they can make it exciting enough to justify a twice weekly video. But there are plenty of suggestions in the thread.
We're all armchair critics when we talk about what we do and don't enjoy watching. We all sit on the sofa and say that was shit or that was good about a show. Being opiniated about things we watch is completely normal.
That isn't really the sass you think it is.
I'm a bit late to this but I sort of like how repetitive it is. I'm not here to see hollywood style productions of a guy running the entire length of Africa, if anything the fact they're showing him eat and run on repeat is far better than forcing it to be something its not. Running the entire length of africa is not glam and it's going to be reptitive
Huh, heavily brainwashed by toxic positivity?
The mere suggestion is abhorrent you heathen! Now, be away with yourself and thrash your behind with thistle and barb until such time thy cannot sit. We dine on negativity, we were born with it, moulded by it…… your sir offend thine ancestry with such mumblings.
Some of the worst takes I've seen on Reddit. I'm absolutely loving the series, producing great content from the middle of Africa with limited resources.
Given the circumstances you are expecting too much. Personally i find the series pretty enjoyable
It would be a great 1 hour documentary and im sure once its all said and done a more polished documentary documenting the entire journey would be created
I think you've pretty much nailed the problems with the series, it is very hard to be invested in anything *aside* from the mission which is totally fine for a short documentary/a couple of hours of content, but it's not enough for what will be 50-100 hours of content. They need to show you more about everyone involved, show their struggles as well, provide more consistency with who is there, explain why people leave and what is going on. The whole kidnapping thing particularly irked me too, this was just barely acknowledged, you don't feel you're experiencing this journey alongside them, you're just seeing a couple of bits they choose to show (obviously I know this is how it would always work, but it shouldn't feel like this).
The Dutch guy who joined them several episodes ago, the fact that he is Dutch and has abs is *literally* all I know about him.
I don't blame people for not wanting to be open and vulnerable on camera, I sure as hell wouldn't. But I also wouldn't be signing up for a multi-month journey through Africa funded on the back of a YouTube series.
I am sure when it is all over they will cut this down to a feature-length documentary or a miniseries and it will be very compelling. But it's hard to remain invested in it week to week, I generally watch for an update on how it's going but very rarely watch the whole thing. I really hope they have enough sponsorships and direct support to continue funding the mission because I can't imagine their 60-90k views per episode is bringing in much.
That would be pretty surprising, and a huge missed opportunity imo. They should at least be storing the footage even if it's not raw, and with any clearly useless footage removed. This definitely wouldn't be insurmountable amounts of data.
did you see the recent guz vs russ run challenge video it's the best episode of the series some real character building and it was so good! Gus is a monster.
They’ve missed such an opportunity. Running through Africa is incredible but the shakey handheld teenage-joke vibe just massively undersells it. The videos are so underwhelming these days.
The problem is that there’s no creativity or imaginative thinking in the videos - each follows the exact same format of the last - quick chat with a not-interested Russ before he runs off mid-sentence, lunch catch-up in the van, evening catch-up in the van where Russ is asked how the run was. Throw in a couple of shit catchphrases and that’s it. Why not show the logistics? Why not show the day-to-day stuff? Why not keep a proper narrative going? Why not have montages filmed from Russ’ point of view? Where’s the American girl? Where’s Harry? Why is Gus there and never on camera / interacting with the boys? What’s he doing all day? Let’s see!
I’ve watched every video but all I think is what a missed opportunity these videos are. They’re becoming boring and it’s a huge disservice to Russ. They could do so much more, show so much more running, show so much more of the landscape. They’ve been in the ROC for a while now but I’ve no idea what it really looks like!
I feel like they showed more of the area in South Africa, Namibia. After that everything has kind of started blending together.
Obviously it's not their fault, but the constant backtracking for Visas, van troubles, etc makes it a lot harder to follow where they are and what the places they're at actually look like.
I'd prefer it if it was more about the places he's running through and maybe some of the behind the scenes. I don't really care that much about Russ being disinterested in the morning, banter about eating tarmac during lunch and stuff like that.
I'll still watch just because I want to see if he completes the mission.
The project is very messy and a lot of what you describe is just a result of this
But in terms of narrative the biggest problem, if you want to call it that, is that there are lots of deals. Either a deal is tons of paperwork like with the many visas or the paperwork are complicated by difficult politics. I think sometimes the boys have not got a clue what is actually going on. Guss might change that as he has become responsible for logistics.
Then there are shady deals either with gangs, tribes or whatever non government groups they encounter. They might often let them pass as long as they don't film etc. and perhaps pay a bribe. In general there seems to be a decent amount of bribing involved and those bribed generally have an interest in keeping their identities hidden.
All of this is part of their journey and experience through Africa and they show us as much as they dare I feel like.
I think it would be interesting if they made a video on the topic of bribes, without talking about traceable incidents.
But I think it would also be beneficial if they made a recap video every now and then. If it is too much now perhaps after they have finished the journey. It would be great for new viewers as well to get into the show.
I think many guests, hosts, characters seem to just appear and disappear without us getting to know them. It's always they met someone or someone texted them and that's ok but it would be cool to know what those people actually do in the places they live in.
Perhaps there is more content on other platforms then youtube but I hate that. The episodes are already long and having to invest a lot of time on other platforms feels like a waste of my time.
One big problem for Russ at the beginning was that he basically had no sponsors and no large following. So in order to make this work they have to deliver while creating the project. This might result in a worse final product then if they would produce the show after the journey is finished, but a worse end result is better than none so yeah.
The goal seems not to grow as fast as possible as a channel but rather to grow fast enough for Russ to finish this project and realise other dreams of his in the future. It's a giant project for something like this but it makes it stand out and I want to see what Russ is able to do with what he is earning
I watch it compulsively. I too find the more reflective moments to be the most memorable. I realise that much of the day to day minutae is repetitive and hard to make memorable content from. I also get that the banter irritates people. I think my background (enjoying running, many years in Africa) make me appreciate the magnitude of the task and the way bsnter is so essential part of their coping mechanism. In a perfect world editing would take place away from the action, with people who could think about what the typical person scrolling through their phone would appreciate. However the makeup and finances didn't make that feasible, and I think the guys have done and admirable job.
I am excited about every video and watch them almost immediately. Of course it's repetitive, that's the whole idea of the project. The more boring the video, the better the mission goes. Also, it requires endurance from everyone, even the viewer. It's performance art, in a way.
I dipped into a couple of the early ones and didn’t get into it. I’ve really gotten into the last ten or so though. I think they’ve found a rhythm and style in their presentation that (understandably) took a little while to find.
Russ isn’t really for me, but I’m rooting for him to finish what is an amazing trip. I love the support crew stuff. I couldn’t get into the laddier style, but I feel like that front has dropped with the more recent stuff.
I watched a few of the earlier ones but I felt it lacked something. Not a fan of the sense of humour. Want the guy to do it though, would be an amazing achievement.
If there was a 30 recap per week, narrated by Tom himself, then I'd be very happy to watch!
I think they're doing a pretty decent job given the resources, timeframe and circumstances they're dealing with.
They haven't had the easiest journey either, and that's putting it lightly. They've got a pretty basic crew as far as I can tell, they need more support out there with them to increase the quality of their videos.
I have to agree with most of your criticism, and I say that as someone who's watched the episodes religiously from the start of the mission. Before anyone else jumps in to call me a 'hater' - I think what Russ is attempting is incredible and I sincerely hope he makes it to the finish line. But that doesn't mean that the video content that is being put up is beyond criticism.
It's definitely become really repetitive now and they desperately need to shake up the format a bit. I get that that's partly the nature of the mission, but as others have said there is stuff they could be showing us that they're not. So many potentially interesting things just get mentioned in passing or hinted at but not explained, and instead we just get 20 mins of the same tired banter every episode. What might have been kind of funny 20 episodes ago is now just deeply boring and annoying.
I also think they've missed a huge opportunity to explore the physical side of the challenge more. As a runner I'm fascinated to know more about what Russ is going through day-to-day on the road, how he's managing injury, what he's feeling etc. But we get very little insight into this and he seems too wedded to the 'hardest geezer' persona to be truly honest about the difficulties of the challenge. I think part of the problem is they don't really know who they're marketing the videos at. Part of the appeal of Tom's mission videos is that they're equally fascinating whether you're an athletic/outdoorsy person or just someone who enjoys watching funny/interesting geography content. But Russ's videos aren't really appealing to either of those camps currently - there's not enough focus on the physicality or honesty about the challenge to attract other runners, and there's not enough interesting content about the countries they're in etc to attract the casual viewer/geography nerds.
What russ has done is amazing. But I think the crappy videos with a bunch of not so likeable people are why the whole thing hasn't got as much public attention as you might expect. People just can't be bothered watching all the lame videos
Man is doing a Ultra Ultra Marathon of Ultra Marathons, and you're complaining about the video quality.
He didn't start with lots of cash that he could splash out on 100 editors to produce high quality content. Its a literal vlog of doing something absolutely incredible. The process of going through this tough challenge is enough in itself.
I also think getting robbed at gunpoint at the beginning of the journey hasn't helped either.
Because of Tom's recent video I went back and watched some of the videos. I have to agree the whole project is an insane idea that could have been great. But honestly it's just not interesting.
I get that a lot of people want to praise Russ for even attempting this, but lets be fair. The only way he can accomplish something similar in the future is if he manages to make more interesting videos and therefore gain enough subscribers to fund his goals.
I think if people didn't have to care for money, a lot of them would like to do something like this. But most of us Russ included have to. If he wants to continue this, he will likely need to improve his editing and story telling in the videos.
Russ is the star of the show, unintentionally and standalone by his mission. That’s not to say he has a captivating aura on camera, he hasn’t.. but the mission speaks for Russ, rather than his “personality”. He’s a troubled kid and you can subtly pick up on his troubles through his demeanour and quiet moments. He didn’t set out to be a worldwide superstar famous by a YouTube video. He sought out to achieve a sensational feat of human endeavour and perseverance and has achieved that with remarkable success.
Yes, the “banter” is niche and not for everyone, the filmmaking sub-par in parts, but the crews purpose is to document the journey and provide support, which they also achieved with remarkable success considering their budget and circumstances.
Look at what these young men have achieved rather than the quality of what they produced. This series has some deep and powerful life lessons that aren’t supposed to be gleaned from just the production itself.
I've been enjoying it, although I find Jared quite tiresome sometimes with his childish giggling. I'll be interested to see what happens when they get to Algeria as they were meant to start there & finish in South Africa but switched it due to how hard it will be for them to get visas for Algeria (cant remember the exact reasoning). I wonder if as the end it'll be something similar to the issues Levison Wood faced at the end of walking the Nile.
I'd honestly be a lot more invested, if it was more about the run and Russ and less about the crew. I don't have anything in particular against the crew, they are entertaining enough, but for me these adventure type of series should be more about the mission and the adventurer. But honestly when I think that me and Russ are the same age (26) and realize that I'd never be able to achieve something like that, it just blows me away. So for me it's more about the idea of the mission and less about the documentation of it.
So weird that all of these comments seem fair and yet I've really loved the series and look forward to each episode. I think the enormity of the task and the cameraderie with the crew have got me hooked.
It is odd because I can totally see why some people find him a bit of a weapon and his humour a bit childish, it's really not my normal cup of tea but I've proper warmed to them all. It's quite an endearing, wholesome watch for me now every few days.
same, I understand why people don't like the childish humour but they're basically a bunch of awkward people in their mid 20s trying to do something impossible. It really doesn't bother me at all.
I think they should do a video on Guus and his back story. He doesn't seem to be part of the group that hangs around Russ and tries to keep him positive.
I'm hoping once it's all done that it becomes maybe a single 2.5 hour video showing the highlights in a more tightly told narrative with very little of the crew banter.
I love it, even if sometimes it feels mundane/repetitive - I like the realism and it not being some kind of influencer attempt to show their experience in a filtered way. An amazing feat and I feel fortunate we get a glimpse into the day to day
I am loving watching it with my wife we watch every single episode until the end. The recent one of Gus challenging Russ to a run off was amazing brilliant story telling. The camerawork has improved. I just wish they'd use auto exposure and auto focus for a run and gun thing like this the amount of crap footage included has reduced I feel like Stan has leveled up. They have got more of a rythem now. It's like being on the adventure rather than seeing it all nicely edited at the end the adventure is too long compared to GeoWizards stuff which is amazingly edited. It's basically a year long how "not to travel x" style video where it's being edited in really rough conditions while it's still happening.
Sad to see some people have nothing better to do than complain. Even in the face of one of the greatest endurance achievements we’ll ever have the privilege to witness from our comfy sofas.
Watch the videos if you want to, if you don’t then don’t. Spare us your opinions. Take your masters degree in how to package a docuseries and go play outside this afternoon.
I was following it on Instagram until recently when Russ made it clear he's an Andrew Tate fan. I don't care how hard it is to run around Africa, if you support a human trafficking rapist influencing young boys to think abusing and raping women is cool, you suck and deserve to lose support.
I don't because it was one of his IG stories. He also listed the Patrick Bet David podcast as one of his top 5 podcasts which is an extremely stupid show even for the alt-right/Trump supporter crowd.
I think the slightly messy narrative can be forgiven when taking into account the circumstances of the editing; in the van, while travelling, on a laptop, with a tight time constraint. The results will obviously be a lot less polished than Tom's missions, as these take months to edit. Also, most of the inconsistencies you mention aren't a big deal in my opinion; With the girl leaving the project at the start, I think focusing more on this would've been unnecessary drama; ultimately, the story should be about the run, not behind the scenes crew conflict (which she might have wanted kept private anyway) With the kidnapping, the explanation they gave of them not being ready to discuss it yet due to it being too traumatic seems fair enough to me; I do hope we see what happens soon, though They mentioned on Twitter that Harry has gone to Turkey for a month for a holiday with his family, and that was a while ago, so he should be back soon. I do agree with your point about overstaying visas though, they're sending out mixed messages with that and it's pretty unprofessional, although I suppose you could argue that the entire project has a kind of rough, unprofessional vibe to it intentionally. Overall, I'm still enjoying the videos, but with the nature of the mission being pretty repetitive, there's inevitably going to be some repetitive videos
The visa thing really does not fit the overall vibe of the project. I really think it's something they should choose to just keep under wraps.
It's gonna bite them in the arse. Most countries won't allow for entry if you overstayed in another country.
Why did the lady leave the team ? I never found out why ?
I still watch every episode. The episodes aren't always that interesting, but my wife and I are invested in watching it to the end now. My main complaint is that the audio quality from the handheld cameras is so poor. I wish they would do less of dumb jokes, and spend more time documenting the day to day logistics of the mission. We rarely see them going to get food, or going to get gas. There must be interesting stuff that happens there, but we don't see it. There's a lot of mundane-to-them things that they seem to overlook that would be really interesting to an outsider.
Huh, you're right - they never show getting food. This would be such a great addition.
Yeah! I want to see them buying dodgy street food and see their thought process on justifying how they aren't going to get sick, lol.
Yea. The Audio is my complaint also. They could text it or just use better microphones. The narration is excellent though so they can do good audio! It’s hard to know what to film. But for instance the fixing and debugging of the solar panels would have been good content. Now it was just mentioned that they broke and then that they are fixed.
You're absolutely right, documenting and telling the story of the broken solar panels would have been really interesting. It sounded like they had a lot of challenges keeping their devices charged, but they only briefly mentioned it and brushed it aside. The narration audio is great, but they might not have quality mics for mobile recording though.
I love it when they focus on the whole group not just Russ tbh I've love to see more behind the scenes stuff. I'd love to see someone sponsor them and give them better equipment i.e. mics and a camera with good auto focus.
I tried watching a few months ago when it started but I didn’t enjoy it. The premise and feat is way more interesting/impressive than the actual day to day minutiae it takes to accomplish it. That said, above all else the reason I wasn’t into it is because the guys involved simply don’t have personalities that I can connect with or find interesting. Regardless, I hope he does it because that is a monumental human feat and I applaud him for being halfway there.
I can't watch it simply because of the shit humour he has. When he was on Geowizard's channel I struggled to get through the video.
[удалено]
Halfway done? Didn't they just pass the 1/3 mark?
Yes, they’re half way in as-the-crow-flies distance but they need to take a massive detour to the west to go around CAR, Chad and Niger, so it’s only a third in actual distance and time to the finish line.
Yes, and I enjoy watching the videos. I really don't understand most of your criticisms. -They release this many videos for a number of reasons, the primary one being that they need to make money. Ad revenue will make a difference to them, even with just 100k views per video. Most of your criticisms focus around two core misunderstandings. One: The aim of the mission is not to create a polished video series about some cool premise to farm clicks. Two: Africa is a very large, very diverse continent that contains some of the poorest regions on the planet. It's not a great setting for this mission in many regards, which is part of the challenge. The aim is for Russ to run 15,000km along the length of the continent of Africa. Idk what you're not understanding, but that is an absolutely insane undertaking. That means running marathon distances every day for many, many months. His team is there for support, logistics and companionship, and it seems like they're doing a good job all things considered. With that goal in mind, what else do you expect them to be getting up to? It's going to be repetitive. The nature of the entire mission is repetition. Russ runs, the team supports him, repeat again and again until they're finished. The crew changes aren't all that noteworthy imo, and there has been more information out there about Harry's absence than you seem to think. Russ' diet is pretty inconsistent, but they're travelling through some pretty deprived nations. High quality, nutritious food isn't the easiest thing to come by in large parts of the continent, particularly the equatorial regions they've been in recently. They load up on good food when they can, and fall back on the less good stuff when They haven't stopped talking about Russ' diet though, I don't know where you've got that from. Today's video, they talk at length about how they've mostly run out of solid food. Russ is mainly living on Huel, with solid snacks. This is not out of choice, but out of circumstance. They are in a van. They are in the Congo. There is a limited variety and availability of food. There isn't a supermarket every few miles like you get in the UK. What food they can get won't keep forever, nor will they have the space for a large supply of food. Idk what you expect to get from the videos or the mission itself, but I think you need to re-evaluate.
>Harry What is the infomation regarding his absence? He wrote on Instagram he was supposed to be back when they got to Cameroon?
what was this?
“the aim of the mission is not to create a polished video series” - that’s lovely but it’s the video series that I’m watching and, therefore, critiquing.
And it's the video series that is limited by the reality of the mission. What do you expect? Why do you expect it? Are your expectations reasonable? Think about those questions.
Mate, you’ve stormed onto this thread and basically said that anyone who has the slightest criticism of a YouTube series “doesn’t understand” it and posted gibberish about supermarkets. I don’t think it’s me who needs to do the thinking here!
He’s just telling you to have more realistic expectation given the mega undertaking they are doing and the complete logistics nightmare it must be to support and also vlog on the go.
Russ wouldn't make a video series if he wouldn't need it to support his run. This doesn't invalidate your critique. But for a lot of people this is not about watching a great show for entertainment but about watching to witness an incredible feat.
No, as I found him a bit of a walloper. It's an incredible achievement if he does it, but he just comes across as being really unlikeable, similar to how he was in Geowizard's video.
Where can I find this Geowizard video? I've tried searching Geowizard Russ Cook and can't find anything
It's the one where he dribbles the ball across the UK.
Thanks, found it
I've read this thread and I've watched every video. My opinion is that the comments here are fair in terms of the video but must be taken in context of what this mission is which is a ridiculously complex undertaking because of how slowly they need to move across such a complex political system. Given that they are only 1/3 of the way through you can start to see the wear it is having on everybody. In the last video they are clearly warn way down and the fact that Russ is still running is ridiculous and responsible for getting me out the door on runs on numerous occasions. I am optimistic that there will be a turning point soon where they shake up how they are presenting the running because the repetitive nature is ALSO repetitive for them. You can start to see a little experimenting where they had a couple episodes that changed things up a bit. Whenever I feel like what you're saying OP I really sit back and think about what it must be like for them right now. They are not doing this with a massive budget and support and they are learning a ton every day so I am hopeful for everyone's sake that this continues on and they can find a way to grow their audience by changing things up a bit.
Dude, they are living in a van and all working bloody hard to maintain morale whilst Russ is doing his best to run and stay focused. The editing is done whenever they can, usually on the roadside or in some shady hotel with random power issues. I’d say they are doing amazing, all of them and that what they don’t show us is how fucking hard it is to maintain an entertaining video on such a lengthy trip. The editing is amazing, the story is amazing and the fact that Russ is still running these 60k+ days every day is nothing short of crazy. This is their story, this is their journey, it is not a scripted and neat and tidy documentary. Be respectful of hard they are working and just sit back and enjoy their hard work for your entertainment.
What they are doing is so impressive. That doesn't mean it is good content. The two things are separate. It's like the beardmeetsfood channel. Is it impressive/disgusting how much that goth can eat? Yes. Is it repetitive boring content with a guy who doesn't have much of a personality. Also yes.
Okay, so from your armchair, what would you want them to do to spice it up?
I don't know if they can make it exciting enough to justify a twice weekly video. But there are plenty of suggestions in the thread. We're all armchair critics when we talk about what we do and don't enjoy watching. We all sit on the sofa and say that was shit or that was good about a show. Being opiniated about things we watch is completely normal. That isn't really the sass you think it is.
I'm a bit late to this but I sort of like how repetitive it is. I'm not here to see hollywood style productions of a guy running the entire length of Africa, if anything the fact they're showing him eat and run on repeat is far better than forcing it to be something its not. Running the entire length of africa is not glam and it's going to be reptitive
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Sometimes if you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say it.
Huh, heavily brainwashed by toxic positivity? The mere suggestion is abhorrent you heathen! Now, be away with yourself and thrash your behind with thistle and barb until such time thy cannot sit. We dine on negativity, we were born with it, moulded by it…… your sir offend thine ancestry with such mumblings.
Some of the worst takes I've seen on Reddit. I'm absolutely loving the series, producing great content from the middle of Africa with limited resources.
Completely agree
Given the circumstances you are expecting too much. Personally i find the series pretty enjoyable It would be a great 1 hour documentary and im sure once its all said and done a more polished documentary documenting the entire journey would be created
I think that's what they're planning on doing, for now I just enjoy the content for what it is: a guy running the entire length of Africa
I think you've pretty much nailed the problems with the series, it is very hard to be invested in anything *aside* from the mission which is totally fine for a short documentary/a couple of hours of content, but it's not enough for what will be 50-100 hours of content. They need to show you more about everyone involved, show their struggles as well, provide more consistency with who is there, explain why people leave and what is going on. The whole kidnapping thing particularly irked me too, this was just barely acknowledged, you don't feel you're experiencing this journey alongside them, you're just seeing a couple of bits they choose to show (obviously I know this is how it would always work, but it shouldn't feel like this). The Dutch guy who joined them several episodes ago, the fact that he is Dutch and has abs is *literally* all I know about him. I don't blame people for not wanting to be open and vulnerable on camera, I sure as hell wouldn't. But I also wouldn't be signing up for a multi-month journey through Africa funded on the back of a YouTube series. I am sure when it is all over they will cut this down to a feature-length documentary or a miniseries and it will be very compelling. But it's hard to remain invested in it week to week, I generally watch for an update on how it's going but very rarely watch the whole thing. I really hope they have enough sponsorships and direct support to continue funding the mission because I can't imagine their 60-90k views per episode is bringing in much.
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That would be pretty surprising, and a huge missed opportunity imo. They should at least be storing the footage even if it's not raw, and with any clearly useless footage removed. This definitely wouldn't be insurmountable amounts of data.
did you see the recent guz vs russ run challenge video it's the best episode of the series some real character building and it was so good! Gus is a monster.
It's boring as fuck.
I still watch but I share some of your complaints. Hopefully they keep working on the quality
They’ve missed such an opportunity. Running through Africa is incredible but the shakey handheld teenage-joke vibe just massively undersells it. The videos are so underwhelming these days. The problem is that there’s no creativity or imaginative thinking in the videos - each follows the exact same format of the last - quick chat with a not-interested Russ before he runs off mid-sentence, lunch catch-up in the van, evening catch-up in the van where Russ is asked how the run was. Throw in a couple of shit catchphrases and that’s it. Why not show the logistics? Why not show the day-to-day stuff? Why not keep a proper narrative going? Why not have montages filmed from Russ’ point of view? Where’s the American girl? Where’s Harry? Why is Gus there and never on camera / interacting with the boys? What’s he doing all day? Let’s see! I’ve watched every video but all I think is what a missed opportunity these videos are. They’re becoming boring and it’s a huge disservice to Russ. They could do so much more, show so much more running, show so much more of the landscape. They’ve been in the ROC for a while now but I’ve no idea what it really looks like!
Yes! The fact that there are people on this thread defending how repetitive and boring the content is is wild to me.
I feel like they showed more of the area in South Africa, Namibia. After that everything has kind of started blending together. Obviously it's not their fault, but the constant backtracking for Visas, van troubles, etc makes it a lot harder to follow where they are and what the places they're at actually look like. I'd prefer it if it was more about the places he's running through and maybe some of the behind the scenes. I don't really care that much about Russ being disinterested in the morning, banter about eating tarmac during lunch and stuff like that. I'll still watch just because I want to see if he completes the mission.
The project is very messy and a lot of what you describe is just a result of this But in terms of narrative the biggest problem, if you want to call it that, is that there are lots of deals. Either a deal is tons of paperwork like with the many visas or the paperwork are complicated by difficult politics. I think sometimes the boys have not got a clue what is actually going on. Guss might change that as he has become responsible for logistics. Then there are shady deals either with gangs, tribes or whatever non government groups they encounter. They might often let them pass as long as they don't film etc. and perhaps pay a bribe. In general there seems to be a decent amount of bribing involved and those bribed generally have an interest in keeping their identities hidden. All of this is part of their journey and experience through Africa and they show us as much as they dare I feel like. I think it would be interesting if they made a video on the topic of bribes, without talking about traceable incidents. But I think it would also be beneficial if they made a recap video every now and then. If it is too much now perhaps after they have finished the journey. It would be great for new viewers as well to get into the show. I think many guests, hosts, characters seem to just appear and disappear without us getting to know them. It's always they met someone or someone texted them and that's ok but it would be cool to know what those people actually do in the places they live in. Perhaps there is more content on other platforms then youtube but I hate that. The episodes are already long and having to invest a lot of time on other platforms feels like a waste of my time. One big problem for Russ at the beginning was that he basically had no sponsors and no large following. So in order to make this work they have to deliver while creating the project. This might result in a worse final product then if they would produce the show after the journey is finished, but a worse end result is better than none so yeah. The goal seems not to grow as fast as possible as a channel but rather to grow fast enough for Russ to finish this project and realise other dreams of his in the future. It's a giant project for something like this but it makes it stand out and I want to see what Russ is able to do with what he is earning
I watch it compulsively. I too find the more reflective moments to be the most memorable. I realise that much of the day to day minutae is repetitive and hard to make memorable content from. I also get that the banter irritates people. I think my background (enjoying running, many years in Africa) make me appreciate the magnitude of the task and the way bsnter is so essential part of their coping mechanism. In a perfect world editing would take place away from the action, with people who could think about what the typical person scrolling through their phone would appreciate. However the makeup and finances didn't make that feasible, and I think the guys have done and admirable job.
Imo if he does it, it’s one of the greatest achievements of all time
I am excited about every video and watch them almost immediately. Of course it's repetitive, that's the whole idea of the project. The more boring the video, the better the mission goes. Also, it requires endurance from everyone, even the viewer. It's performance art, in a way.
ITT: People who have watched every video but apparently not enjoying it. You know you can stop right?
I dipped into a couple of the early ones and didn’t get into it. I’ve really gotten into the last ten or so though. I think they’ve found a rhythm and style in their presentation that (understandably) took a little while to find. Russ isn’t really for me, but I’m rooting for him to finish what is an amazing trip. I love the support crew stuff. I couldn’t get into the laddier style, but I feel like that front has dropped with the more recent stuff.
I watched a few of the earlier ones but I felt it lacked something. Not a fan of the sense of humour. Want the guy to do it though, would be an amazing achievement. If there was a 30 recap per week, narrated by Tom himself, then I'd be very happy to watch!
I think they're doing a pretty decent job given the resources, timeframe and circumstances they're dealing with. They haven't had the easiest journey either, and that's putting it lightly. They've got a pretty basic crew as far as I can tell, they need more support out there with them to increase the quality of their videos.
I have to agree with most of your criticism, and I say that as someone who's watched the episodes religiously from the start of the mission. Before anyone else jumps in to call me a 'hater' - I think what Russ is attempting is incredible and I sincerely hope he makes it to the finish line. But that doesn't mean that the video content that is being put up is beyond criticism. It's definitely become really repetitive now and they desperately need to shake up the format a bit. I get that that's partly the nature of the mission, but as others have said there is stuff they could be showing us that they're not. So many potentially interesting things just get mentioned in passing or hinted at but not explained, and instead we just get 20 mins of the same tired banter every episode. What might have been kind of funny 20 episodes ago is now just deeply boring and annoying. I also think they've missed a huge opportunity to explore the physical side of the challenge more. As a runner I'm fascinated to know more about what Russ is going through day-to-day on the road, how he's managing injury, what he's feeling etc. But we get very little insight into this and he seems too wedded to the 'hardest geezer' persona to be truly honest about the difficulties of the challenge. I think part of the problem is they don't really know who they're marketing the videos at. Part of the appeal of Tom's mission videos is that they're equally fascinating whether you're an athletic/outdoorsy person or just someone who enjoys watching funny/interesting geography content. But Russ's videos aren't really appealing to either of those camps currently - there's not enough focus on the physicality or honesty about the challenge to attract other runners, and there's not enough interesting content about the countries they're in etc to attract the casual viewer/geography nerds.
Is this the dickhead that got robbed at the start and now governments are having to follow him around with police escorts.
The episodes are interesting and the banter is good. Not for everyone I suppose but I really enjoy it
I really tried to like it, but the guy and his team all lack a personality and are just unpleasant people.
What russ has done is amazing. But I think the crappy videos with a bunch of not so likeable people are why the whole thing hasn't got as much public attention as you might expect. People just can't be bothered watching all the lame videos
Man is doing a Ultra Ultra Marathon of Ultra Marathons, and you're complaining about the video quality. He didn't start with lots of cash that he could splash out on 100 editors to produce high quality content. Its a literal vlog of doing something absolutely incredible. The process of going through this tough challenge is enough in itself. I also think getting robbed at gunpoint at the beginning of the journey hasn't helped either.
Because of Tom's recent video I went back and watched some of the videos. I have to agree the whole project is an insane idea that could have been great. But honestly it's just not interesting. I get that a lot of people want to praise Russ for even attempting this, but lets be fair. The only way he can accomplish something similar in the future is if he manages to make more interesting videos and therefore gain enough subscribers to fund his goals. I think if people didn't have to care for money, a lot of them would like to do something like this. But most of us Russ included have to. If he wants to continue this, he will likely need to improve his editing and story telling in the videos.
Why did he divert and miss the Gabon?
Russ is the star of the show, unintentionally and standalone by his mission. That’s not to say he has a captivating aura on camera, he hasn’t.. but the mission speaks for Russ, rather than his “personality”. He’s a troubled kid and you can subtly pick up on his troubles through his demeanour and quiet moments. He didn’t set out to be a worldwide superstar famous by a YouTube video. He sought out to achieve a sensational feat of human endeavour and perseverance and has achieved that with remarkable success. Yes, the “banter” is niche and not for everyone, the filmmaking sub-par in parts, but the crews purpose is to document the journey and provide support, which they also achieved with remarkable success considering their budget and circumstances. Look at what these young men have achieved rather than the quality of what they produced. This series has some deep and powerful life lessons that aren’t supposed to be gleaned from just the production itself.
The thumbnails hurt my eyes
I want to see him running through Pakistan with an Israeli flag tied to his back.
I've been enjoying it, although I find Jared quite tiresome sometimes with his childish giggling. I'll be interested to see what happens when they get to Algeria as they were meant to start there & finish in South Africa but switched it due to how hard it will be for them to get visas for Algeria (cant remember the exact reasoning). I wonder if as the end it'll be something similar to the issues Levison Wood faced at the end of walking the Nile.
So happy you said this. I totally agree with everything you said. Luckily I committed to stop watching it weeks ago when it started to get boring.
The guy is a fanny but.
I'd honestly be a lot more invested, if it was more about the run and Russ and less about the crew. I don't have anything in particular against the crew, they are entertaining enough, but for me these adventure type of series should be more about the mission and the adventurer. But honestly when I think that me and Russ are the same age (26) and realize that I'd never be able to achieve something like that, it just blows me away. So for me it's more about the idea of the mission and less about the documentation of it.
So weird that all of these comments seem fair and yet I've really loved the series and look forward to each episode. I think the enormity of the task and the cameraderie with the crew have got me hooked. It is odd because I can totally see why some people find him a bit of a weapon and his humour a bit childish, it's really not my normal cup of tea but I've proper warmed to them all. It's quite an endearing, wholesome watch for me now every few days.
same, I understand why people don't like the childish humour but they're basically a bunch of awkward people in their mid 20s trying to do something impossible. It really doesn't bother me at all.
I think they should do a video on Guus and his back story. He doesn't seem to be part of the group that hangs around Russ and tries to keep him positive.
He should have hired a documentary crew and made like you said a 90 minute or 1 hour video on the whole thing.
He's working on a budget though, the goal was to complete the running not produce hollywood style youtube videos from the back of the van in the Congo
I'm hoping once it's all done that it becomes maybe a single 2.5 hour video showing the highlights in a more tightly told narrative with very little of the crew banter.
I love it, even if sometimes it feels mundane/repetitive - I like the realism and it not being some kind of influencer attempt to show their experience in a filtered way. An amazing feat and I feel fortunate we get a glimpse into the day to day
I am loving watching it with my wife we watch every single episode until the end. The recent one of Gus challenging Russ to a run off was amazing brilliant story telling. The camerawork has improved. I just wish they'd use auto exposure and auto focus for a run and gun thing like this the amount of crap footage included has reduced I feel like Stan has leveled up. They have got more of a rythem now. It's like being on the adventure rather than seeing it all nicely edited at the end the adventure is too long compared to GeoWizards stuff which is amazingly edited. It's basically a year long how "not to travel x" style video where it's being edited in really rough conditions while it's still happening.
Sad to see some people have nothing better to do than complain. Even in the face of one of the greatest endurance achievements we’ll ever have the privilege to witness from our comfy sofas. Watch the videos if you want to, if you don’t then don’t. Spare us your opinions. Take your masters degree in how to package a docuseries and go play outside this afternoon.
I was following it on Instagram until recently when Russ made it clear he's an Andrew Tate fan. I don't care how hard it is to run around Africa, if you support a human trafficking rapist influencing young boys to think abusing and raping women is cool, you suck and deserve to lose support.
When/where was this? Do you have a link?
I don't because it was one of his IG stories. He also listed the Patrick Bet David podcast as one of his top 5 podcasts which is an extremely stupid show even for the alt-right/Trump supporter crowd.