Conquistadors
by David Wallace
List Price:
Our Price: $11.55
You Save: $13.43 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $10.99 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Canada
DVD Cover Information
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
Movie Reviews of Conquistadors
Movie Review: Worth your attention
Summary: 5 Stars
Some of the other reviewers have complained that this series doesn't match with the "classic" history authors on the subject. It's my opinion that this view fails to recognize how Michael Wood's documentaries usually operate. His research often has a revisionist ethic, and if you observe the credits and his interviews, many of his sources are often current versus classic experts, and he also goes out of his way, especially in this series, to get folk and indigenous perspectives.
This is in line with his general humanist approach. I for one enjoy it, and while he interprets facts with a an eye for revision or "what ifs" or "just maybe," he never abuses the subject. In fact, he takes us on a journey to question everything we might know or think we know from reading canonical texts.
This particular series is also beautifully shot and taken as a whole is a fresh educational and entertainment experience for those who know little about the Conquistadors and their importance to world history.
Summary 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
In Search of ShakespearePBS; Release date: 2004-03-09; DVD
Best price: $18.84
Price in other shops:
Legacy: The Origins of CivilizationAcorn; Release date: 2010-03-30; DVD
Best price: $39.45
Price in other shops:
Mexico's Great PyramidsA and E Home Video; Release date: 2009-06-30; DVD
Best price: $8.89
Price in other shops:
Michael Wood: In Search of Myths and HeroesPBS; Release date: 2005-11-01; DVD
Best price: $17.66
Price in other shops:
Story of IndiaPBS; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops:
In Search of the Trojan WarWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $18.07
Price in other shops:
In the Footsteps of Alexander the GreatWHV; Release date: 2010-05-25; DVD
Best price: $25.37
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - In Search of History - The Aztec Empire (History Channel)A and E Home Video; Release date: 2005-12-27; DVD
Best price: $12.39
Price in other shops:
Conquest of America (History Channel)A and E Home Video; Release date: 2005-08-30; DVD
Best price: $9.35
Price in other shops:
Artist Not Provided - National Geographic: America Before ColumbusUni; Release date: 2010-03-16; DVD
Best price: $12.92
Price in other shops: