Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The ancient Spartans were perhaps the most intense people to ever walk the face of the earth! I thought I knew all about them - I was wrong. I barely knew half the story.
This is a lengthy documentary: running over three hours. It's also surprisingly formatted in 16x9 widescreen, which was a joy. The picture is clean, bright, and mastered well. There's some re-enactments herein, a nice use of re-created "Spartan" music for the background score, and plenty and plenty of info, facts, trivia, ancient and modern quotations, and tidbits.
You'll get the whole story here: they leave little out - from Sparta's early beginnings, to it's strict social code, to it's intense training, it's subjectism of the neighboring Messenians, and the city-state's eventual decline. The only thing the documentary failed to capitalize on is the rise of the Macedonian powers and the fall of the various Greek city-leagues to Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great.
This documentary is excellent! It certainly helps that your host throughout the tour is a gorgeous British brunette with a sexy voice who walks around the various parts of Greece in tight bluejeans and sexy red tank tops. Aristophenes would have agreed no doubt. It's certainly a whole lot more interesting watching this intellectual beauty story-tell her way around the Greek islands than it would be to have a dull, monotone, male narrator VOG. She's alot easier on the eyes and her voice would launch a thousand ships to make Hellen of Troy seem pitiful. (I think I'm in love).
I've since watched this DVD from beginning to end several times now and it does not get redundant in the least! Indeed, I would recommend several viewings to absorb all the details it's so rich in research and information about ancient Sparta. Both the novice and casual observer will be highly entertained by this DVD, but hardcore scholars and history students will find a well-researched documentary that will add to their expertise as well.
Well worth every penny. I am proud to have it as part of my DVD collection for years to come.
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