December 28, 2008.

Very weak historical documentary - read Wikipedia instead.

Rating: 1
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.

December 20, 2008.

Half the Crusades ..

Rating: 3
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 .

December 20, 2008.

Excellent Introduction "The Crusades".

Rating: 4
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).

December 02, 2008.

The History Channel Presents The Crusades - Crescent & The Cross.

Rating: 3
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.

December 06, 2008.

Can You Handle the Truth?.

Rating: 5
Find out about the Crusades and another reason there's this resentment between the Muslim world against the Westerners.