Conquistadors
by David Wallace
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DVD details
Actor: John Collee, Michael WoodDirector: David Wallace
Brand: PBS
Writer: Michael Wood
Cinematographer: Peter Harvey
Editor: Chris Lysaght
Editor: Gerry Branigan
Producer: Laurence Rees
Producer: Leo Eaton
Producer: Rebecca Dobbs
Producer: Sally Thomas
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 240 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-06-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: PBS
DVD Reviews of Conquistadors
DVD Review: Much Less when Much More was needed
Summary: 3 Stars
I was DEEPLY disappointed by this effort by one of the best history
presenters out there. His seminal work, "Trojan War" opened whole
doors for me and is a superb production on almost every level even
if it is somewhat dated by today's standards.
But "Conquistadors" was quite another matter and one need only look
at the contents page of the book to see why. Whereas the book was SIX
chapters long, the video is only FOUR parts. Painfully for me, Wood
chose to leave out almost any mention of the Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
from the video although it is the final chapter of his book. The tale
of de Vaca is perhaps the most fantastic of the Conquistador Tales if
only for its' tragedy and futility. And these qualities are matched by
the sacrifice and determination of those same adventurers.
More to the point, it is THE classic tale of the search for the "Seven
Cities of Gold" that is the culmination of the Conquistador Era.
Instead, Wood choses to conclude with a meandering tale of lost men in
the Amazon Basin that while it is heroic it is also distant from any
of the previous tales as can be. The longer Wood worked his way down-
river the more I was reminded of his early effort in the old "Great
Rail Journeys" PBS/BBC series where he beautifully summed up the
ravages of Colonialism whilst retracing the ruined remains of the old
Congo Railway.
That interpretation of the Congo Railway was a brilliant re-tracing,
this video is just plain up the creek without a paddle. A rental, maybe.
No way a purchase. Borrow the book from the library if you like and
then if you like what you read come back here and look for reprints of
the original histories Wood drew from. Those ARE worth your time indeed.
Description of Conquistadors
Studio: Pbs Release Date: 05/06/2009 Run time: 240 minutesIn 1519 Hernán Cortés defied the Spanish governor of Cuba and set sail from Santiago with three ships and 300 men. He was looking for gold, and he would find it, but he would also destroy the Aztec civilization, setting the agenda for further expeditions that shaped the future of the Americas.
Conquistadors is written and presented by Michael Wood, the adventurous historian who has traveled in search of Troy and followed the path of Alexander the Great from Macedonia to India. In his latest series he walks in the footsteps of Cortés, Pizzaro, and their fellow conquerors to explain what happened when two cultures met for the first time. Whether he's climbing a mountain pass in the pouring rain or eating guinea pigs in a mountain village, Wood's passion for the story he's telling makes Conquistadors compelling viewing.
When Cortés arrived in Mexico he burned his ships so his men had no choice but to follow him, and Pizarro destroyed the Inca empire with 160 soldiers. These were remarkable people, but their lust for gold and glory caused terrible destruction, and Wood doesn't shy away from the horrors of the conquest, revealing his protagonists in all their troubling complexity. His encounters with the descendents of the Aztecs and the Incas also reveal that although the conquistadors destroyed empires, traces of the native cultures survive, transmitted by generations of ordinary people. Wood's unique approach to history once again reveals how much the present owes to the past. --Simon Leake
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