Customer Reviews

Clash of the Gods: The Complete Season One [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This DVD set is a fantastic teaching tool. I teach 9th grade and the 2 sections about Odysseus and his journey match our textbook exactly. It is a wonderful visual review for my students and helps explain the chronology in an effective way. Also, the section on Hades is helpful, as it explains how control was divided, and the three "levels" of the underworld, as it reinforces subject matter I have already taught. This set is a bargain for only about $30.00.

A docu-drama of sorts. I enjoyed the insight of those presenters and the clarification on various points that I may have forgotten from High School. I did find the acting a bit stiff even for a Documentary but it accomplished the task. This would be a good intro for a freshman in HS who is not sure what to make of the Greek Gods of old. It may help inspire them to read and learn more. I would buy again as a gift.

I teach Latin in Middle School. Clash of the Gods is a great aide to explaining the workings of mythology to teenagers. It most definately holds their interest while at the same time conveying a great deal of information.

I find the main review for this series to be exceptionally harsh, and overly negative. Beyond that, it seems to miss the point. Clash of the Gods is, if nothing else, an exceptional educational tool - weaving deftly between complicated mythology and historical fact and joining it all together in 45 minute segments. The point of the show is to not merely retell the myths, although that sort of thing plays a significant role, but to provide examples of how stories are rooted in the beliefs, hopes, fears, triumphs and failures of humanity as well as how all of it is shaped by History. When there were no movies, or television shows - when science was in its infancy and the world was a largely terrifying place, people needed to have reasons for the things that occurred during their daily lives. They needed entertainment too, and these tales served them very well as both. Finding inspiration in reality to create something much larger than themselves in order to give their lives a greater meaning that they felt was otherwise beyond their reach.

Acting is not the focus here. Indeed, you could hardly call non-speaking roles, with narration explaining them "acting." But the visuals are better than merely being told what the story is, and I do like the narration. I think it adds to the overall experience of the show, instead of detracting from it. It is far too easy to label something as "derivative" or say it's been done before. You would be hard pressed to find any concept that hasn't been done before. Execution is key, and the History Channel really seems to excel at this. The interviews from scholars, historians, and professors really give interesting background to tales many have heard before.

The Tolkien episode serves more to show how one can create their own mythology, in a way that can tie it back into the overall themes of the show. Here again, the main review missed the point. I suspect that what the reviewer found boring is having to do the review. But I really liked the show and give it my highest recommendation. 5 Stars.

Clash of the Gods has horrible acting, cheap special effects, and uses the same footage over and over and over. But in spite of those very considerable flaws it is a very good show. Each episode focuses on either a deity or a legend, telling the basic story with the major emphasis being on both violence and sex. Ancient myths are usually told today in such a sanitized way that they are boring, but the truth is that those old tales are filled to the brim with extreme sex and violence. When a show tells the stories without shying away from the sex and violence the stories are much more entertaining and meaningful.

I am a huge fan of Beowulf, but I learned a few things about the legend from this show that I didn't already know. I am also a huge fan of Lord of the Rings, and likewise the Tolkien episode of Clash of the Gods revealed some things about Tolkien's mythology that I did not understand previously. This show has helped me to understand the Odyssey and Iliad like I never have before, and Thor the Norse god of thunder is a totally bad dude.

Be entertained. Baptize yourself in the flowing blood of the gods. You may just learn something along the way.

Seldom, if ever, have I awaited the production of a documentary series as much as I did this one. And seldom, if ever, have I been more disappointed with the final outcome than I have with this series. While I am not a serious student of Greek Mythology, I have read the majority of the myths over the last 45 years or so and as I watched the series I kept saying to myself, "that's not right", "I don't remember that", "where did that come from" and "What's with all the bogus tie-in's to christianity"?

First, let me state that the visuals and the production were OK from a technical aspect. The CG work was not state-of-the-art, but not all that bad, (other than the World Snake), and better than many of the made for TV movies on the SyFy channel. The choice of actors playing the parts, not horrible, not great, but not horrible either. Zeus taking his hood off and shots of his glaring eyes, over and over again. Athena as she stared out of the camera in rage, over and over again. The rehashing of stock footage throughout the series was just a bit annoying also. The choice of the actor playing Thor however was horrible. Let's see, we needed to find an older actor, (say late 30's early 40's, a prime specimen of rugged manhood), to play a huge, buff, super strong, redheaded guy with a healthy red beard who wears an magic belt and iron gauntlets, (you know, the big cuddly guy the size of a bus, who's quick to anger, quick to forgive, loves puppies, hates giants), yah, .............you, you there, young fellow, you look like you work out between cappuccino's, not too buff but that's OK you're big enough for our budget. Hummm, you can't grow a beard? Well that's OK to. Your hair color isn't right either but close enough for government work, do you want to be in a movie? Sorry you only get a belt and a loin cloth, no magic gauntlets or hammer worthy of naming; not in the budget.

As I stated earlier, I am not extremely well read in Greek mythology. I am however fairly well read in Norse myth.

Some of my points of contention follow:

The "Thor's Oak" or Donor's Oak as it is known, "was used for human sacrifice to Thor". It is my understanding that the majority of the animal sacrifices were to Thor, Odin, and Freyr. All of the accounts I can find state that while it was used for human sacrifice these were mostly made to Odin & Freyr, not Thor.

The statement that, "The Dark Ages were a very violent time". That's about as ambiguous a statement as you can get. What "peace loving, KUM BA YAH singing", times were they referring to? The tunnel of love Roman Colosseum times? The compassionate Ukrainian harvests of the 1930's imposed by Stalin time? The wonderful and heart wrenching Aztec times? The love fest of the Assyrian conquest times? How about the wise and benevolent rule and policies of Saddam Hussein? The Black Death? Nuclear War? You get the picture. I'm not sure how to break this to the "experts" at the History channel but, all of history is a violent time. I'd also be willing to bet that the average villager living north of the Rhine-Danube border was safer than ones in the south after Rome fell. The "Dark Ages" were not all that dark or at least no darker than the Late Roman Period or the Early Medieval period.

Freya is not Thor's sister as they stated, she is Freyr's twin sister.

Referring to the Sagas and Edda as just "stories", I find rather demeaning to the thousand years or so that the Icelanders and other groups preserved these brilliant and irreplaceable works of Northern European literature.

Referring to Ragnarok as the end of the Viking Age, (as they implied by its being replaced with Christianity), is a bit much. Symbolically it represents the cycle of life, death, rebirth and the return of the Sun. Sometimes it is hailed as the return of Balder, the "Shining One". Granted, their may have been some christian influence regarding this Edda, but basically it represents the turning of the wheel of the year and the rebirth of Spring from Winter.

Thor is not the head of, leader of or the inspiration for the Berserkers! They are and always have been Odin's.

Why was Odin depicted with both eyes? Even an absolute novice to Norse studies knows he sacrificed one of his eyes for knowledge.

The statement was made that the worlds tree, "Yggdrasil, holds the Three Realms of the universe". I could have sworn that there were several more than that. That might be because they are called the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil, and they are, (in no special order):

1. Menn (humans): Manheimr (see Miðgarðr).

2. Aesir (gods): Ásaheimr (see Ásgarðr).

3. Vanir (gods): Vanaheimr.

4. Jötnar (giants): Jötunheimr.

5. Álfar (elves): Álfheimr.

6. Náir (corpses, the other world of the dead): Hel.

7. Svartálfar (Dark Elves, Dvergar, Døkkálfar): Svartálfaheimr.

8. Primordial element of Ice: Niflheimr.

9. Primordial element of Fire: Muspellsheimr.

(From Wikipedia: Yggrasil)

I find it interesting that until I watched this "documentary" I had never heard that Thor had ever presented himself as a child when he went fishing for Jörmungandr. Where did this child thing come from? He drank Hymers ale and devoured his cattle as Thor. He butchered Hymers Bull for the bait he used as Thor and got on Hymers boat and rowed out to sea as Thor.

Here is a quote from another reviewer on this particular installment, by Christopher Long in, "DVD Town", "Here's a firm rule. If you go through an entire episode about Thor and do not use the word "Mjolnir"...... you are not worthy". Wish I would have thought of that one. For those of you who do not know what Mjölnir is, and you would not if you depended on this series to tell you, it is the name of Thor's enchanted Hammer.

The best thing about the Thor story was that Mjölnir was not depicted as some SiFi, grotesquely huge hammer of ridicules proportions. This was a plus.

Another plus: No hideously offensive and non-historical winged or horned helmets, (although one of the giants might have had one on).

Nuff said. With what I know about Norse mythology I find it very hard to accept much of anything that was presented on the Greek Gods as having much creditability. This series was only for show and rushed to production to coincide with the remake of, "Clash of the Titans". The phrase's "ride the wave" & "make a quick buck", come readily to mind.

All and all, visually not real bad however, the "facts" which the series is based are totally disregarded by the writers, director and or producer. I have no problem with this approach in a work of fiction however; this was supposed to be a documentary. I, (and many others I know and correspond with), were extremely disappointed with the end result of this History Channel production. Until the so called History Channel redeems itself, stick with established written works on Mythology. The only reason I am rating the series at a 2 star rating is because the effects were slightly better than average.

Spence the Elder

"Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc"

-M. Addams

I watched these tales when they were shown on the History channel. For the most part, I enjoyed hearing the stories of the Gods of the Ancient World. Some of the choices though, were surprising. Medusa, not a God, was included. Her story is timeless & important, but found it out of place in the series for the Gods. If they wanted to include female mythology, they were many I would have wanted to see.

Poseidon was featured in the story of Medusa, but He is so important, as a God Himself. His story would have been a better choice, and Medusa could have been included in His tale. The Minotaur, Beowolf & Tolkein's monsters were also out of place in this collection. Even my beloved Odysseus could have been included in Poseidon's tale, instead of being separate.

We could have have other Gods, Dionysus, Aries & Apollo, who would have been excellent choices! But, overall I bought this set because it tells so many stories of the Gods & the interaction with mortals, with good commentary from the presenters.This is a good set for all lovers of Greek Mythology, young & old. I just wanted more "Immortals!"

I am a high school teacher and my kids on the whole liked this series a lot and learned a great deal. I was actually surprised that the talking head professors who were interspersed into the action did not turn most teenagers off. I come at this with a classical perspective (I'm a Latin teacher) and my one serious qualm was that the production did not address the fact that there are usually several versions of the same myth; there is in fact no one canonical version, contrary to what this series implies. Different authorities give different versions of the stories. But I think this is a relatively minor proviso considering how much the series offers.

First of all, let me say like others have, this series isn't without it's mistakes. Most of the errors are with the Thor segment, but a majority of the Greek stories are close.

All of the episodes are must see segments. The highlights are "The Minotaur", "Zeus" & "The Odyessy". Greek mythology stories will vary here & there depending on the source of the material. The mentioned shows are close to the stories, and having the other experts making comments are fun, making it seem that the stories are really part of history.

The Norse parts, "Thor" & "Beo-Wolf", aren't bad too, with "Beo-Wolf" being the better of the two. Now I'm not as taught on Norse as the Greek stories, but even I know that the Thor segment was seriously flawed. All starts with Thor's lack of flowing red hair & beard to match.

All in all, if you want some entertainment, this is a must-buy. I hope they eventually do a season two.

I am a huge Greek Geek and I LOVE THIS DVD set! It has Zeus, Hercules, Hades, Minotaur, Madusa, Beowulf, Tolkien's Monsters, Thor, and Odysseus! All on 3 dvds