ICE ROAD TRUCKERS (Most Dangerous Episodes) New R1 DVD

To celebrate the beginning of the third season of its popular series Ice Road Truckers, the History Channel recently decided to pick the four most intense episodes from the first two seasons and release them on a separate disc entitled Ice Road Truckers: The Most Dangerous Episodes.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show, Ice Road Truckers documents the journey of several tough drivers who make a bunch of moolah hauling big supplies across hundreds of miles of frozen roads and steep hills. Their objective: transport heavy loads to isolated diamond mines and natural gas drilling rigs in Canada's Northwest territories.

Driving massive trucks across great distances on frozen lakes or the Arctic Ocean comes with a lot of risks, and the show does a pretty solid job at highlighting the pressure most of these truckers must deal with when they're on the road while temperatures outside can drop to forty below. Interviews with the drivers offer viewers a better perspective about the job, and cameras mounted on the trucks and in the cabins give the whole thing a more realistic feel.

The disc contains two episodes from each of the first two seasons. In "Driving on Thin Ice," the DVD's most vibrant episode, veteran driver Jay transports a 95,000-pound load to a remote diamond mine. Not only is the item he carries heavy, but it's also huge, prompting the courageous trucker to be alert at all times, especially when he's driving on pure ice.

In "The Final Run," my second favorite episode on this disc, spring is about to hit the territory and truckers rush to complete a few more runs before the ice season comes to an end and the roads close. Drivers Alex and Hugh compete for the top load count, but an unfortunate accident puts Hugh's lead in jeopardy. This is quite an exciting episode, and also one that offers decent repeated viewing potential.

The third episode is "Edge of the Earth," in which our truckers hit a different road. This time, they're driving right over the Arctic Ocean, and conditions there are quite different than what they are used to. While this one is not as suspenseful as its predecessors, it offers viewers a more detailed look behind the scenes of all the driving, including how the ice roads are prepared every season.

Finally, "The Big Blizzard" documents what happens on the ice roads when they're hit by a massive storm. An unexpected blizzard shuts down all operations, meaning the truckers who are still on the road must give it their best to beat the storm and make it to their destination safe.

As someone who's only seen a few episodes of Ice Road Truckers, this disc is a nice opportunity to get a better look at what this series is really about. It's a well-produced show that offers viewers plenty of informative content and some beautiful images, proving that trucking can be quite dangerous (and exciting) in particular conditions. On the other hand, the rough character of these drivers is not something every viewer will appreciate. Most of these guys swear at least once in every sentence, and all the bleeping can be a bit irritating at times.

The picture quality on this disc delivers the goods, and some of the outside shots of the threatening ice look gorgeous. The sound transfer works just as fine. Unfortunately, the DVD carries no special features.

If you're completely new to the series, and you're still not sure what to expect, this four-episode DVD proves to be a great investment. Over and out.