The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
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DVD details
Actor: Artist Not ProvidedBrand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 180 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-26
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: A&E Home Video
DVD Reviews of The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
DVD Review: good information
Summary: 4 Stars
Provide a very accurate account of the history without taking side for the crusader or the muslim. worth to spend your time watching it DVD Review: The Holy Land
Summary: 3 Stars
In my opinion I think Jerusalem should have been divded up evenly between the followers of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.DVD Review: pro-Western bias
Summary: 3 Stars
many commentators claim that the documentary is pro-Muslim. actually I had a totally different perspective. It was very weak in showing Christian atrocities and Saladin's fine examples of chivalry. for instance, the massacre in Acre was justified as necessary by the British academic and the reporter did not challenge it. it was not mentioned that those who were massacred included children and women. in the reenactments only male adults who appeared as soldiers were shown as massacred in close parallel with the killing of crusader knights. they were not in the same category. there was little mention about Jews living in Jerusalem. Jews were able to enter the city only when it was under Muslim control. When Muslims captured Jerusalem in 638, they ended 500-year ban on Jewish entry to the city. After his conquest, Saladin asked the Jews to return to the city. These facts are important in giving credit to Muslim tolerance to Jews, as indicated by many other cases, including the Muslim coexistence with Jews in Andalusia and Muslim protection of Jews during the Holocaust in North Africa.
Details about Saladin's chivalry are not highlighted enough in comparison with many minute details in other parts of the film. this is from the wikipedia article about him: "All attempts made by Richard the Lionheart to re-take Jerusalem failed. However, Saladin's relationship with Richard was one of chivalrous mutual respect as well as military rivalry. When Richard became ill with fever, Saladin offered the services of his personal physician. Saladin also sent him fresh fruit with snow, to chill the drink, as treatment. At Arsuf, when Richard lost his horse, Saladin sent him two replacements."
In comparison with the brutal Richard, Saladin was a true gentleman. yet the documentary does not capture this in enough detail and emphasis. Both men are shown on the same level. Saladin would never kill chilren and women if he held Acre. Saladin was a Kurd, a fact that needed to be mentioned in the film.
still the film is good to show in the classes to give some background about the mindset of people in both sides of the world. I liked the part on the First Crusade more than the second part. it was more detailed and successful. For Saladin, there is another documentary, which is worth of seeing: the Holy Warriors by PBS.
it is very interesting that the Western minds still react to the Crusader story with some zeal as indicated by many comments here. seeing this reaction, it is hard to imagine that the Western military presence in the Middle East and its support to Israel's creation and maintenance have been completely free of such influences.
DVD Review: Definitely one-sided
Summary: 1 Stars
I agree with others here that have said that it was pro-Islam.
It leaves out whole chapters in the history of why they were fighting.
They made the muslims look like the good guys & the Christians were taking over their land -excuse me -who was there first? Mind you I'm an atheist but I love the truth & not some political correct bs.
DVD Review: Muslim PC Crap
Summary: 2 Stars
Although most of the facts were correct (legalistically), the spirit of the documentary was framed in PC terms, and hijacked by a pompous, final "authority" on the crusades, a muslim scholar from the UK.
In particular, the muslim scholar (I forgot his name) was a narrow-minded, intolerant, and prejudiced individual. I especially detested the callous disregard of the meaningful contributions that the Catholic Church made to protect innocent Christians from persecution. Many of these persecuted Christians had roots that went back hundreds of years in areas that were "Islamitized." Moreover, the Catholic Church, protected Christian pilgrims: an honest, God-fearing people.
P.S.: In case you're wondering I'm not Catholic. This documentary just pissed me off with it's historical revisionism.
Description of The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
THE CRUSADES: CRESCENT & THE CROSS presents the epic battle between two Middle Age superpowers: the Christian Crusaders and the Muslims. Fought over two centuries, the conflict decided the fate of the Holy Land of the Middle East. Only a tiny strip of land, just a few hundred miles long, it contained the ultimate prize, the city of Jerusalem. The documentary is driven by the key personalities of the First, Second and Third Crusades, the popes, kings, sultans and knights who, in the name of God, ruthlessly fought for land and power. Experience the murder, treachery, and bloodshed of this legendary chapter of history throuth the eyes of key historical figures such as Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, King Louis VII and Nur al-Din. With breath-taking CGI-enhanced visuals, heart-pounding reenactments, and stunning footage from rarely-seen locations THE CRUSADES: CRESCENT & THE CROSS brings the first three Crusades alive for a new generation in conflict. DVD Features: Timeline; Behind-the-Scenes Featurette "History in the Making: The Crusades"; Bonus Documentary "The Knights Templar"; 16:9 Widescreen Format; Interactive Menus; Scene SelectionThe Christian invaders were regarded as infidels. The Arabs were scorned as lawless pagans. The Westerners saw their quest as literally a sanctified crusade, while the Muslims launched their own holy war, called a jihad, in retaliation. Sound familiar? It should, because although the events depicted in the History Channel's The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross took place nearly a thousand years ago, they are but a distant mirror to what's going on in the Middle East right now. This two-part, three-hour program, released here on two discs (the second includes over an hour of bonus material), impressively details all three Crusades, starting in the late 11th Century, when Pope Urban II dispatched a huge force to reclaim Jerusalem, which had been under Muslim control for some 400 years. For the knights and others who made the journey, it was a noble spiritual quest, not to mention an escape from Europe's petty wars and famines; in the end, the fact that many of them were greedy butchers who murdered Muslims, Jews, and even other Christians indiscriminately (sometimes even eating the flesh of the vanquished) detracted not at all from their conviction that they were acting in the name of God. Of course, so were the Muslims, who, after the bloody first crusade succeeded in seizing the holy city, mounted a massive counterattack under leaders like Nur al-din and his son Saladin, who managed to take back Jerusalem (from whence Mohammed was said to have ascended to heaven) and hold on to it through the failed second and third crusades, the latter led by England's Richard the Lionheart.
All of this is presented by way of techniques that will be recognizable to History Channel buffs. They include modern-day historians, who re-trace the routes of the crusaders and examine the ancient sites where the action took place, as well as actors who portray characters of the time (chroniclers, knights, and others); numerous re-enactments, aided by excellent cinematography and skillful use of CGI (whereby a few dozen extras could be made to look like many thousands), vividly illustrate the battles and other events that took place during this roughly 200-year period. Add to that a bonus documentary about the Knights Templar (the soldier-monks in charge of protecting the Kingdom of Jerusalem) and a decent "making of" documentary, and you have an absorbing, enlightening look at events that prove one thing above all: the more things change, the more they stay the same. --Sam Graham
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