Conquistadors

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.

Your own personally guided tour through a sweeping historical narrative. The author takes you over the same paths, roads, jungles and rivers as the Conquistadors traveled. The photography is OUTSTANDING. It adds to the feeling of being there. You can still see remnants of old cities and roads built from stone. You visit the same native peoples as existed in the 1500's. All of this adds to the depth of the story.

I can't say enough good things about this DVD. It is another fine PBS production.

I was DEEPLY disappointed by this effort by one of the best history
presenters out there. His seminal work, "Trojan War" opened whole
doors for me and is a superb production on almost every level even
if it is somewhat dated by today's standards.

But "Conquistadors" was quite another matter and one need only look
at the contents page of the book to see why. Whereas the book was SIX
chapters long, the video is only FOUR parts. Painfully for me, Wood
chose to leave out almost any mention of the Journey of Cabeza de Vaca
from the video although it is the final chapter of his book. The tale
of de Vaca is perhaps the most fantastic of the Conquistador Tales if
only for its' tragedy and futility. And these qualities are matched by
the sacrifice and determination of those same adventurers.

More to the point, it is THE classic tale of the search for the "Seven
Cities of Gold" that is the culmination of the Conquistador Era.
Instead, Wood choses to conclude with a meandering tale of lost men in
the Amazon Basin that while it is heroic it is also distant from any
of the previous tales as can be. The longer Wood worked his way down-
river the more I was reminded of his early effort in the old "Great
Rail Journeys" PBS/BBC series where he beautifully summed up the
ravages of Colonialism whilst retracing the ruined remains of the old
Congo Railway.

That interpretation of the Congo Railway was a brilliant re-tracing,
this video is just plain up the creek without a paddle. A rental, maybe.
No way a purchase. Borrow the book from the library if you like and
then if you like what you read come back here and look for reprints of
the original histories Wood drew from. Those ARE worth your time indeed.

From the comments made by some reviewing this series, I can see that they are not practicing historians. Most modern historians understand the biases of especially contemporary and nineteenth century writers. It is interesting that they would question the presentation of modern research and not those of the past. That said, this presentation is a modern interpretation of the period of Spanish conquest. The one point that it shows better than most interpretations is the role that Native peoples played in the conquest of the Americas. Used in a classroom, the series is a good place to initiate conversations on cultural misunderstanding and conflict as well as the events portrayed.

This is an entertaining review of the exploits of the Spanish conquistadors in the New World -- it skims over their various adventures with the advantage of letting us see the places where they actually occurred as they are today.

I bought this film for use in my social studies classes. The film had more to do with the producer visiting modern mexico, riding around in taxis and trains, eating mexican foods, talking to modern people, etc than with Spanish Conquistadors. This film was really hard to follow for students and many came away saying "what did that have to do with Cortez?" I expected something on the order of "500 Nations" or something that would interest young learners and am really suprised that PBS released this quality of documetary. It was more like a travel film or something like that. The viewer walks away from this thinking "huh?"

I have recently taken on learning the history of the Spanish Conquistadors and have read several of the classics of that history like Diaz, Prescott, and Thomas, and I must say that this show is almost completely opposite to their writings.
This documentary I believe is the history as this phony wishes it and not how it was. It makes me wonder why my tax dollars would support such a work of falsehood and trash.
Save your money and don't buy, instead read Bernal Diaz or Prescott.

I THOUGHT THIS WAS SUPPOSSED TO BE ABOUT THE CONQUISTADORS. I THINK THE HOST HAS AN EGO PROBLEM. HE SHOULD WATCH SOME OF THE KEN BURNS SHOWS SO HE WILL KNOW HOW TO MAKE A GOOD SHOW. MANY TIMES THEY MAKE YOU WATCH THE HOST WALKING OR SHOW HIS BACK OR CLOSE UP SHOTS OF HIS FACE. WHAT THEY SHOULD BE SHOWING IS RUINS,PAINTINGS FROM MUSEUMS, ACTORS IN COSTUMES ETC... I DID NOT WANT TO SEE A BUNCH OF GLAMORE SHOTS OF SOME GUY. THAT BEING SAID: SOME OF THE THINGS SHOWN ARE GOOD. THEY DO SHOW SOME RUINS ETC... BUT, THEY KEEP GOING BACK TO THE GLAMORE SHOTS OF THE HOST. ALSO, SOME OF THE SCENES ARE OUT OF PLACE. WHEN DISCUSSING THE TIME CORTEZ DESTROYED HIS SHIPS SO HIS SOLDIERS COULDEN'T LEAVE THEY SHOW A BUNCH OF PEOPLE DRAGGING A MOTOR BOAT ON SHORE, WHEN DISCUSSING HIS MARCH INLAND THEY SHOW A BUNCH OF PEOPLE RIDING ON A BUS. THE INFORMATION DELIVERED VERBALLY IS GOOD. BUT, THEY COMPLETELY DESTROY THE MOOD FREQUENTLY WITH THE PRESENTATION.