Conquistadors

Excellent Product and Service

If, as has been recounted, the historians of ancient Greece recited their works to rapt audiences...much as the ancient wandering poets had performed their epics to the audiences in the palaces of the kings...then in this incredible video and audio presentation of the journeys and adventures of 4 conquistadors and the men with them, Michael Wood and the producers of this PBS series serve up the same wondrous combination of narrative (as poetry), an incredible musical score (with ethereal mesmerizing voices artistically blended with the music), and stunning visual photography......on the first cassette, Michael Wood recounts the journeys, hardships, personalities, and conflicts of Cortes and Pizarro...on the 2nd cassette are the stories of Cabeza de Vaca and another conquistador......from the first moments of the video on Cortes you know that this is a documentary like none that you have seen before...when Wood jumps from a boat onto the shore of the Yucatan coast, the lighting of the sky and the effect on the surrounding trees and sand is enchanting... it looks like the lighting (supplied by nature, not by the documentary producers) in the painting of El Greco's landscapes......I have admired and tried to see as many Michael Wood presentations as possible...his wondrous enthusiasm for history and questing and sharing of his knowledge, his admiration for the persons and happenings of the past, as well as his pique and his dislike... are infectious... and compelling...I have been in awe of his knowledge- filled (but never dry or dull) dramatic prose... filled with the breath of his own enthusiasm, interest, and actual footsteps in the paths of the past...I have followed him on the Sacred Way from Athens to Eleusis...I have journeyed with him in Search of the Trojan War....I have traveled with him across rivers, through mountain passes, across plains, as he quested in the Footsteps of Alexander...I have been at his side through the Legacy series...and now there is this culminating video series on the Conquistadors...his personality and attractive features make him a magnetic narrator and recreator of the excitement and wonder of what the past has been and done......the most incredible scenes in the Cortes presentation are of Michael Wood slowly, breathlessly climbing up the mountain in the rain...actually enduring what Cortes and his men also had to face and endure...recounting... and even reading from a translation of the journal of a soldier with Cortes, Diaz (apparently, from the video, I noticed it is the Penguin Classics edition of Diaz' retelling)...and then they sight the pass at the crest of the mountain...the scenes in Mexico City as Wood retraces the path of Cortes...and matches the past with the present...the retelling and showing by actually climing the steps of the pyramid and going into the enclosure at the top, of the Aztec Emperor Montezuma taking Cortes and showing him the Aztec gods...of Cortes asking Montezuma if he can put a picture of the Virgin and a cross in this place where there are these false gods... of Montezuma's anger and puzzlement at the crassness of this visitor whom he had thought he was sharing a sacred privilege with of entering the presence of his own gods... the retelling of the retreat of Cortes at night from the city and the attack by the Aztecs, after Montezuma has been killed...of Cortes being concerned only about the fate of two men...one of them the shipbuilder...and then Wood retraces Cortes' path back to the mountain side and actually shows the cutting down of a tree...because Cortes had ships built there on the mountain and then taken apart...carried back to Lake Texcoco where the Aztec capital was located across causeways in the lake... and using them to conquer the city of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital...and bringing an end to a civilization... the ending of this section is incredible...Michael Wood goes into the hospital which Cortes had built later, and in front of a painting of Cortes, Wood recounts what it had been the fate -- and determined will -- of this man to do.......the other parts of this incredible documentary series are as thoughtfully and creatively presented...the part on Pizarro and the Incas is mesmerizing...and then Wood even follows up with the retracing of the uprising of the Incas after the Spaniards had thought they had things "under control"...the courage and determined fire of Manco, the last Inca leader, who led the uprising and then went into the interior to create what would become a lost city until its rediscovery in the 20th century......sometimes Michael Wood can be a bit strident and ideologically dogmatic (left of center) as in the Legacy Series...especially in the segment of that series dealing with the West...but he is ALSO always objective in presenting a full and compelling retellingas well as analysis...in this Conquistador series, he is never strident...rather saddened by man's inhumanity to man... saddened at the the broad swath of blood, pain, death, and lost understanding that the path toward ambition, glory, fame, and riches may leave in its wake......but he also shares the wonder and the admiration for the courage, endurance, and vision of the Conquistadors... this is a video series for the present...and for the generations and ages to come...I only fervently hope that they will put it on DVD! ...

I was expecting a straightforward documentary. Instead he records his own modern travels to the places involved and seeks to capture some of the feel of these Spanish intrusions into other cultures. Somewhat interesting.

Let it be said that I love documentaries. Many of my friends roll their eyes and shake their heads . . . but I still love 'em. The topic of Conquistadors summoned up romantic images of my California history classes in 4th and 5th grade as I grew up in LA. I went ahead and made the purchase. At first, I was a bit put off by the style of documentary. I was more used to the traditional style of documentary in which images and photos from history are accompanied by the narrator's voiceover interspliced with that of knowledgable historians.Mr. Wood however, takes you on a journey and the majority of his images are from modern times shot "in the footsteps" of the Conquistadors he is profiling. At first I was dissapointed, but eventually, this "genre" of documentary grabbed me and I began to really enjoy it. The final installment on Cabesa de Vaca is simply amazing and worth the price in and of itself. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the videos. Not my favorite . . . but definitely worth it.

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.

Whether it shows a lot of actors in costume or not isn't really the point. He takes you through areas as a tour guide and tells you the history. The last part about De Vacca and his revelations and the extraordinary journey was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed this just as much as I do Ken Burns' documentaries, it is a different style. I don't want to see everyone do things the same way. As far as him showing art, he did show art, he also showed you by trying many things how these people survived, what they ate, how they cooked, how they made plows, how the Aztecs made weapons that were inferior to the steel ones the Spaniards came equipped with. Also, the journey of the Incas leaving their beautiful land to try and put separation between themselves and the conquistadors was heartbreaking. I very much enjoyed it and will look forward to more of Michael Wood's exuberant storytelling.

I was looking forward to watching this series after having seen Mr Wood's history of India series on PBS.It is very informative, well made and would be a 5 star product if it were not for the fact that it's advertised as 1.85:1 (wide screen in my books) but is actually a scaled down to 4:3 wide screen.My TV is able to zoom in, so I can compensate, but the picture quality is not what I'd been looking forward too. Hence 4 stars.Other than that a great documentary.

Michael Wood does really good work, even when he blames us for this and that he is still easy to enjoy and presents a lot of little known facts.

This is one of Michael Wood's best series. He avoids all the cliches about the conquest of the Americas by the Spanish, and instead really gives us an insight into the Native Empires that were lost and into the minds and hearts of the Spanish soldiers and explorers who saw a world now vanished forever.Wood takes us to places we have never been - all along the Amazon from the foothills of the Andes, through small villages and little towns, telling stories of the old days and exploring the relics and echoes of ancient customs. On horseback and through recreations, Wood takes us to Florida, the Mississipi gulf, Texas, across northern Mexico to show us both the ancient cultures and the unexpected realities of the ConquestIt's a really surprising series, full of new and exciting images and characters.

I am very happy with my order. Fast delivery too!

Very well made.

The Conquistadors is Michael Wood's excellent BBC Television Production. The show's format is similiar to 'In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great', in which Wood follows the paths of famous conquistadors such as Hernan Cortes, Francisco Pizzaro, Francisco Orellana, and Cabeza de Vaca.Each programme acts as a short introduction to each conquistador. In no way is this an in-depth series like Wood's 1985 'In Search of the Trojan War' and as a result the series does suffer a little because of it. It is very difficult to cover the Fall of the Aztec or Inca Empires in only one hour, but Wood makes up for this by being a wonderful and amiable presenter who shows great enthusiasm on every step of his journey.The camera also manages to capture the exotic sights and sounds of the New World, from the bustling streets of Mexico City (once Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital), to the deserts of Texas, the jungles and waterfalls of South America, or the towering mountains of Peru. Wood also visits the ruins of many of these sites, from Inca fortresses to Maya temples. Here he meets up with native historians who present their own interesting views of the conquest.Wood does his best to follow the Conquistadors paths as closely as possible, which leads to some interesting scenarios, especially when he has to make a dreadful camp up on a freezing rain swept mountain in Mexico, or has to haul heavy packs through baking hot North American deserts.Wood also visits sites in Europe including the homes of the Conquistadors. It is in Valladolid in Spain, in the last episode of the series, he presents a poignant account of the debate between Sepulveda and Las Casas on the humanity of the native peoples. It is here that he recounts Las Casas's words to the King of Spain "All the World is Human", in the hopes that the King would put an end to the barbaric conquests. It is made doubly poignant when you realise that despite Las Casas's arguements, and even the King's own ban on further conquest, the slaughter of the natives continued.This is a fascinating and brilliant series on one of the most important events in human history - the discovery of a new continent by European explorers. It might not be up to standards of Wood's Trojan War series, but it's still very watchable and entertaining nonetheless. If only the BBC had released a Region 2 DVD!DVD Features:Region: 1 (USA) will not work on UK DVD Players, unless they are Region 1 Compatible.Running Time: Approx. 240 minutes (4 hours) 2 episodes are combined into one part, with two parts each on the disc.Subtitles: None.Special Features: Internet address to PBS. Org, with some minimal PBS adverts at the end of the series.

This is a PBS (the American Public Broadcasting Service) presentation of the BBC series. There is scarcely any difference between the two, for those of you worried about buying this version. All four episodes are included, although episodes 1 and 2, and episodes 3 and 4 run into each other. There is minimal intrusion from sponsors.As for the series itself, I have rated it only three stars because I do not think it is as good as Michael Wood's other searching programmes. Where in the past he has concentrated in some detail on, say Troy or Alexander, or Shakespeare, somehow the tale of the Conquistadors is too huge a subject to warrant just four programmes: we are, after all, talking about the conquest of a land bigger than a continent. There is also a dearth of historical context. Sure, he tells us about the individuals involved but little of their early personal histories are related and hardly any at all about the European scene from which they sprang. One concludes that Wood's historical bias is towards the men rather than the movement, which is fine but only tells a partial story.Still, the stories themselves are well told in his own inimitable style, with a schoolboy's adventurous twinkle in his eye and a willingness to embrace and communicate true wonder in a world now seemingly bored with the epics of our global past. Risking more than Michael Palin ever would or could; delving deeper into the literature and historical records; and, yes, suffering more for his art and his tale: his journeys through Peru, down the Amazon and across Mexico are always enthralling.This is a fine series, but somehow I felt it rushed through the highlights, and left me wanting to discover a more detailed narrative. And in that, I guess it succeeds in its purpose.