Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Like a previous reviewer, I found the omissions in this program to be glaring & laughable. If anyone is expecting to get a comprehensive treatment of the Third Crusade, look elsewhere. One is gets as accurate a treatment of history as in "Kingdom of Heaven," which played fast & loose with historical accuracy.
One would get the impression that Richard I was the prime force behind the Crusade, depsite the fact that Barbarossa & the Germans left for the Holy Land a full two years earlier. The program would have you believe that after Barbarossa's death, the German armies simply melted away --- I believe the narrator actually said that most of the Germans "went home." If he meant that "home" was Antioch, then I suppose that is an accurate statement. It was the remnants of the German army (largely decimated by plague) that successfully defended Tyre (left almost unmentioned in this program) against Saladin's forces. Also barely mentioned is Phillip II of France, who played a key role in the political events that unfolded in the Holy Land.
The producers at least mentioned Richard's execution of the 3000 prisoners (following the siege of Acre), but left unmentioned is Richard's complicity in the assasination of Conrad of Montferrat, recently crowned King of Jerusalem, in 1192. The program would prefer to paint Richard as a noble warrior, rather than a political strategist of the first order. The political in-fighting between the Germans, French & English (not to mentioned the already entrenched Crusader States) is a not insignificant part of the story of the Third Crusade, but it goes entirely unmentioned here.
In fact, this program skims the topwaters to such a degree that only a historical neophyte could find much value in it. This program is a big disappointment overall.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Empires - Holy Warriors: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin (2005)
Studio: Paramount Home VideoRelease Date: 10/11/2005
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