The History Channel Presents: The Crusades - Crescent & the Cross [Blu-ray]

History Channel did a great job with this series my only complaint was it lacked battle strategies and tactical overview maps of the warring parties,which would of been sweet! but as it stands they did do a great job none the less.

Although George W. Bush may have viewed (and publicly referred to) his "War on Terror" as a crusade, historians (and most of us with at least a middle-school education) know that the word - not to mention the actual events - is much too powerful to simply throw around as a scare tactic. Thankfully the History Channel understands this concept as well; The Crusades: Crescent & The Cross presents the story of these wars, which included some of the most bloody and religiously charged battles of history.

Although the story is set in the past, the similarities to current conflicts are clear. For while the techniques and technologies have certainly changed, unfortunately the underlying fears and philosophies have not. The Crusades explores the conflicts between two Middle Age superpowers - Christians and Muslims - fought over a period of two-centuries. The aftermath of the conflict decided the fate of the Holy Land - at least for a while - but left in its path the continuing struggles and conflict we have today.

Unlike some documentaries that are often full of bad re-enactments and laden with tedious interviews with historians and academics, the History Channel's presentation is alive with excellent cinematography and high quality production value. The modern-day historians who are included provide excellent and engaging insight into the battles and beliefs of the Crusades, and the ancient locations where it all took place. The re-enactments are impressive, the acting solid, and the use of CGI excellent. This is an engaging, enlightening and entertaining documentary that can be appreciated by young and old alike.

The Crusades is presented in two-parts, for a total of three-hours. As a television documentary, Bonus Features are not part of the production process.

Ever wished your favorite movies were documentaries instead of narratives? That Morgan Freeman didn't just offer a few prose passages between Red's time in Shawshank but pretty much read Stephen King's story on an audio track? Or maybe Christopher Walken voicing over the Deerhunter? Really the choices are endless and, to sweeten the pot, imagine the things you'd learn about the characters. Guess what? Apparently the History Channel is doing that now. At least they did it for Kingdom of Heaven, the movie about the crusades starring Orlando Bloom and Liam Neeson.

Okay, they didn't really do that but you'd never know the difference.

The Crusades: Crescent & the Cross plots out the major events and the hidden history of the greatest mistakes ever pursued in the name of religion. The strip of land on which Jerusalem stands has been the most contested area in the history of the world. Tribes have fought and died for it. Kings have politicked and schemed for it. But full-scale war made the Crusades unique in the size of their blundering.

Despite being a horrible mistake (three horrible mistakes, really) the Crusades provide an interesting contrast against which to measure the current happenings both within the Gaza strip and across the globe. Watching the interactions of historical figures like Richard the Lionheart or Nur al-Din you begin to see similarities between their attitudes and those of today's politicians. The re-enactments may sometimes feel like an overwrought presentation from the cutscenes of Medieval Times, but the parallels between then and today still hit home.

The three-hour presentation offers a sizeable amount of material and quite honestly it feels twice its length. Even with content as interesting as the Crusades, stretching coverage of each to about an hour doesn't sound like too much. But it is. Or at least, it is in a single serving. Sitting on a couch as a narrator bleats on an on with temporary breaks of people in Crusader or Muslim warrior costumes discussing their motives and anger holds interest for an hour or two - two is the max. The three hour stretch is maddening.

Where this epic fails in captivating material it succeeds in creating beautiful imagery using hi-definition filming and decent CGI. The CGI might help the special to imagine how things occurred, but the footage is what makes this special something to behold. Wide breaking shocks of open deserts, sparsely populated desert towns and Crusade-age fortresses have been filmed in hi-definition and add a nice counterbalance to the meager dramatic scenes used to drive the story. The History Channel does this a lot. They create these pieces that might have a substandard concept and narrative audio track, but then complement them with must-see visuals that help their presentations jump off the screen. At the end of it all, you'll have grown so used to the overexposed desert scenes that seeing an outdoor shot that doesn't have a harsh yellow glare will just seem unnatural. It's long, but it's beautiful.

With that, we have the reason History Channel chose to release this piece on Blu-ray and not just another standalone DVD to get lost on your shelf. The amount of conjecture and hypothesizing in the story allows for some creativity on the part of the producers but in the end that's not what does the most damage to the special's watchability. Three hours. Listen, I am fascinated by the Crusades. I've read lots of books on the subject and yet three hours in front of this special still feels too long. The pacing is far too dry and the narration not at all immersive. Shave off 45 minutes, replace Keith David as the narrator for the piece and rewrite the narration and this piece could be a compelling special worthy of purchase for more than its good looks. Good looks can only carry you so far, and on the History Channel it isn't nearly far enough.