I purchased this DVD because of my interest in ancient cultures, In particular Greek, Persian, Roman, and Egyptian. I believe to get the history right you need to read and learn from all sides involved in a historical event. I do not trust English books about Napoleon nor I trust French books. Both sides have overstated the truth. In this DVD you will see some reproduction of battlefields and will hear from some historians about what has happened in that era. By all means you feel like you are listening to storytellers who are trying to make you excited. Rather than talking about the known facts you will see someone talking about details unknown to everyone even the speaker. Not more than perhaps 20 participants are seen from beginning to the end and yet poor battlements are shown over and over to make it feel like this film is longer than what it really is. Storytellers are all one sided and trying to demonize the other side. Although it is known that Greeks were equally if not more responsible for inflecting the wars at that time but storytellers are trying to implement that Persians bore the responsibility alone. Every effort is made to make the Greeks heroes, make their victories glorious and their defeats unimportant. The way this story is said here, Greek defeats were nothing but the cause of being betrayed by their own otherwise nobody could defeat them. Most of information, which has been relied on, is the ones coming from Greek historians, which have overstated the events even by Greek standards. One of storytellers cannot ignore this fact and to make his statements more credible he is forced to talk about it. I think in every war, ancient or present there are heroes on both side who believe in their cause. For a history documentary to be credible there is a need to cover all sides. This film does not rise to that level and it is more of propaganda in modern day about an ancient event.Read full review
While an accurate over view of the period with an entertaining narrative the historical re-enactments are very poorly done
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
As far as the basic background and events of the Greek and Persian Wars, this is Ok. However, compared to more recent documentaries, e.g. from History Channel, it now seems pretty outdated. Brian Blessed is amazing as always, and it's probably worth a watch just to see him 'gush' about the narrative.
Very good explained the Greek and Persian war and why a Marathon is 27 miles long. To help me write a history book.
I bought this dvd to give a visual dimension to a subject I am studying for a degree and I am using mostly ancient sources . So it was good to see a reconstruction, the clothing and weapons accurately portrayed and great commentary from Brian Blessed. Brilliant maps of the battle at Salamis. Excellent buy. This kind of commitment to historical accuracy is invaluable. We so often find Hollywood versions of these events which bear little relation to the actual events.
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