The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
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DVD details
Actor: Crusades-Cresent & the CrossBrand: A&E
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, 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: 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.
DVD Review: Very weak historical documentary - read Wikipedia instead
Summary: 1 Stars
I read all these reviews before ordering this product; and I can't believe it has been so highly rated. Even the people who rate it poorly have really second-rate criticisms.
First; this is a 2 DVD set, and it only covers 3 of the 9 crusades- at which point is simply ends. For my tastes, it has too much British cheekiness, and is a little too much like a made-for-TV docudrama.
Everything relating to the Crusades is on the first DVD. The 2nd DVD has a whimsical 'Making of' feature; and a feature on the Knights Templar. The Knights Templar documentary is pretty decent about 30-40% of the time; but the rest of the time it's like some cheezy Bermuda-Triangle type of presentation.
This product is not a serious history documentary at all; and all this junk could have easily been condensed onto just one single DVD.
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At the same time that I ordered this product, I also ordered the History Channel DVD on the Dark Ages. I liked that one, learned a lot from it, and it seemed like decent historical treatment. The Dark Ages DVD also has a really good feature on the Plague.
If you'd like to learn a bit about the Crusades, in a short period of time, I recommend you to read the Wikipedia article instead.
DVD Review: Half the Crusades .
Summary: 3 Stars
It's just half the Crsuades , till the showdown between Saladin and Lionheart . It would've been a better documentary if it was about all the Crusades .
They've wasted their budget on re-enactments , re-enactments are a bore . I enjoyed the mini documentary about the Knights Templar in the bonus material more than this documentary .
Documentaries are not about big buget fanfares , its's about informing , educating and smart movie making ,with as few as possible cast behind the camera and as many as you want of real people in front. No actors please .
And , re-enactments are a bore .
DVD Review: Excellent Introduction "The Crusades"
Summary: 4 Stars
From a military history standpoint this is an excellent introduction to "The Crusades". As a Religious history "no one" Jewish, Muslim or Christian is going to agree, there is just to much tradition, interpretation and dogma over the centuries separating all. Frankly all religions contrary to popular beliefs have blood on there hands.
The other issue, is most modern viewers or readers are not going to understand the true nature of civilizations (East or West) in this remote time period. All military actions in this time frame were bloody slaughters with Armies laying waste and consuming any and all resources in their path. Even the basic conventions of warfare had been forgotten or had not developed as to the treatment civilians and POWs. My point is as we view or read a history we must keep the people in the time frame they existed to correctly judge their actions. Only having done this, can we judge the age in terms of our own.
As I said I consider this only a introduction to the subject of the Crusades. No one television documentary can do anything more than an incomplete survey. This presentation while much better than most is no exception. I personally would prefer to see more of a presentation of Strategic cause and effect, order of battle and tactical maneuver. What we get instead colored is Political intrigue and romance. Which I admit is interesting. Production values well above those of similar documentaries (case in point the Knight Templar piece included on second disk).
DVD Review: The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross
Summary: 3 Stars
A good production. The cinematics and special effects improved the documentary immensely. I wish that there was a little more depth as to how the muslims rose to power in the middle east before the crusades. It would help to clarify the christian views of why going to war was considered necessary. Also a bit more balance of the christian point of view vs. the muslim point of view would have been nice.
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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