Explorer Blu-ray and DVD Review

3 star definitive story of a great adventurer.

Explorer: Ranulph Fiennes – Survivor, Rebel, Icon is a 2022 documentary directed by Matthew Dyas (Earth: A New Wild, Fiennes: Return to the Nile) taking an in depth look at the life and epic adventures of Sir Ranulph Fiennes. It will be available on Blu-ray and DVD from 29th August 2022 courtesy of Dazzler Media.

“He’s the last great explorer. The man has become a myth.”

This fascinating documentary opens with an extremely impressive list of the numerous achievements of Sir Ranulph Fiennes in chronological order. While impressive, what this documentary seeks to do (and succeeds) is to provide a personal insight into the life and times of this notoriously hard to read individual.

Now 78 years old, the “Worlds Greatest Living Explorer” drives us around in his very battered silver Ford (280,000 miles on the clock) displaying an alarming lack of driving aptitude as he looks back on a career spanning decades and also the globe, as well as his early life.

His father having died before he was born, he was raised entirely by women and inherited the title of Sir, which he does not like to use, instead preferring to be called ‘Ran’. From his time at Eton, through service in the armed forces and S.A.S and forming a relationship with his wife Ginny, he tells us of the experiences which forged his desire to explore.

There is plenty of nail biting footage of his exploits, including the Transglobal expedition, to go around the world through both poles with some pretty horrifying footage of frost bite and various other ailments which would no doubt have stopped almost anyone else in their tracks.

The jusy is still out on whether or not this gung ho attitude represents bravery or stupidity, but one thing is not in question, his is a lifetime of incredible achievements and deserves to be celebrated.

“One time I said ‘you know, why don’t you just take a gun and shoot yourself in the middle of a field. It would be much less expensive and it would not involve so many people.”

From world records, to pole to pole travels, to discovering the lost city of Ubar in Arabia, all of his incredible accomplishments are covered here, along with some not so laudible exploits in his younger days.

With lots of archive footage as well as modern interviews, this is a comprehensive and personal look at a great man. If I have a complaint it is that at over 2 hours long, it’s a bit of a commitment. However, it’s well worth adding to your collection and fascinating to see what makes a man like Sir Ranulph Fiennes tick.

“This guy is so classy. You don’t know that there’s even anything under the skin. You know, a piece of granite, cut out of the same stuff from the skin all the way to the heart.”