Customer Reviews

Empires - Holy Warriors: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin

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

 

 

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.

I found this documentary very compelling and well done. I particularly liked the actors who they cast in the roles of Saladin and Richard I (the Lionhearted). They looked perfect for their parts. The visuals were beautiful, there were some unnerving make-up (or dummy) special effects, and the narrator was easy to understand.

I disagree with those who thought that the documentary was biased in favor of Richard I. Most of the historical commentators in the documentary were Arabic and greatly favored Saladin's position, and even one of the English commentators said that Saladin was far more noble than Richard; that they came from "different worlds," that Islam is about tolerance, and that Christianity was very intolerant at that period in history, and that Saladin was too noble to comprehend Richard's brand of dirty fighting. They also glossed over the massacre of the survivors of the Battle of Hattin, but gave a fair amount of time to the massacre of the 3000 Muslims of Acre.

From what I have heard of Saladin and Richard, Saladin probably really was more humanistic than Richard, and the Crusades were not the highest point in Christian tolerance (not that it was the high point in Muslim tolerance either), and I think that this documentary makes it very clear which religious group attacked the other first, and who was nobler of the two great military leaders. Neither the Christians nor their leader look very good in this documentary.

In light of a certain amount of anti-Muslim sentiment in the West following 9/11 and the attacks in Europe, and the ensuing war, it is understandable that the makers of the documentary would look back on the Crusades and find fault in Western behavior. I just find it strange that so many commentators actually thought it biased in favor of Richard I.

The Crusades were a very morally troubling period for both sides to the conflict. There were noble leaders who arose in the midst of it, but no one national, ethnic, or religious group was free of blame for the bloody path that it took. This documentary, like many others produced by Westerners, turns the bulk of the criticism inwardly, and examines the role played by Europe in perpetuating the conflict.

I appreciated the style of the movie and thought it engaging, entertaining, and visually excellent. However, I disagree with the other reviewers that claim the movie is biased in favor of Richard the Lionheart. The cover of the dvd case states that Richard earned the name Lionheart "as much for his murderous brutality as for his chivalry." Saladin is contrasted from the outset for his "mercy towards the crusaders in contrast to the demonized caricature of popular modern-day Western myth." It seems that the intention of the DVD was to show Richard as more cruel than chivalrous and Saladin as more compassionate than cruel. The intent is therefore obvious and is carried throughout the movie that casts most blame for the crusades/bloodshed on westerners and the intolerance of Christianity. Richard, and westerners in general, compared far less favorably to the enlightened, more tolerant Muslims and Saladin. It was the Christian crusaders that intolerantly slaughtered the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the first crusade. It was Richard that slaughtered 6000 prisoners of war at Acre (as if over a delay in the negotiations for the true cross). Saladin is pictured as much more honourable and thoughtful. It was Saladin that showed the "moral superiority" of his religion by not slaughtering the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This was a not so veiled jab at the West's current political situation. It is quite possibe that Saladin only fairs less favorably to his own idealized reputation as a reluctant peaceful warrior. Both men sought power politically and both men coveted Jerusalem for religious and political reasons. It is quite obvious that the film did not set out to portray Richard as a brave chilvalrous man only wishing to please God. I think the DVD comes under fire more for its attempt at showing both men as political, religious products of their time than the men that we wish them to be--morally superior extentions of our own traditions.

Shame on PBS. This show was atrocious, inaccurate and misleading. It glorified Richard, degraded Saladin and distorted history.
Just a few examples: There was little about Richard's early life, the show repeatedly called him 'Richard of England'. His parents were French (Henry II was originally Count of Anjou, Eleanor of Aquitaine was formerly Queen of France); he was raised in Aquitaine, he barely spoke English. He was, in fact, Richard, Coeur de Lion.
- We are told that his father gave large sums of money to finance the Kingdom of Jerusalem -- he had to, it was part of Henry's penance for the murder of Thomas a Becket!!
- Richard was not a fair, generous or beloved king; he was a brutal warlord who used England only as a source of tax revenue to finance the Crusade.
- To suggest that the Christians in Jerusalem bravely and nobly set out to fight Saladin at Hattin is laughable. Do some research on Guy of Lusignan and Reginald of Chastillon to get the true story.
- To suggest that the Saladin's victory at Hattin was due to setting fire to the Christian camp (see the scenes of apparently burnt corpses) is simply outrageous.
- There were three kings who took the cross, recruited armies and set off for the Holy Land: Richard, Philip II of France and Frederick Barbarossa of Germany. Did either of the last two get more than 30 seconds?
- We are told that Richard left England and sped to the aid of Acre. No mention of the nine month stopover in Sicily and Cyprus.
- I turned off most of the second hour. Tuned back in just in time to hear that Richard left the Holy Land in 1192 and returned to England. Sounds like a pretty uneventful trip. That's because they glossed over the serious disputes and rivalries between Richard, Philip II and Leopold V of Austria after the fall of Acre. Was there any mention of the fact that Richard (due to storms in the Mediterranean) tried to return via Vienna, was arrested by Leopold's supporters and thrown in prison for over a year? The ransom virtually bankrupted England.
Watch the movie "Kingdom of Heaven". When Hollywood does a better job than PBS..... Also read the book "Warriors of God" by James Reston Jr.

This movie is a nice watch for anyone who would like to know more about the crusades. Its extremely well directed and provides the viewers with a clear analysis of the events that took place back then. However, I felt the movie was biased towards King Richard in certain ways. While his mission was shown of an entirely religous nature, for Saladin the viewer gets the impression that he was more concerned about maintaining his political status in the muslim world. The documentry does talk well about certain attributes of Saladin but misses out on the whole point of Saladin's efforts, i.e. Jerusalem is just as sacred for muslims as it has been for Jews and Christians.

This program is a far cry from the usually high quality scholarship you'd expect from PBS, I didn't even like the actors they cast for saladin and king richard, don't waste your time watching or buying this program other critics on this site have given references to other material on the subject which i plan to look into.

Any secondary school teaching the new National Curriculum MUST get this DVD. It is an outstanding resource for the medieval topic of Year 8 history. See the NSW Board of Studies for the task that it matches.

Empires: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin (Holy Warriors) is an excellent documentary which brings to the screen one of the most exciting periods in History: the era of the Crusades.
The amount of effort and research put into this project is evident and as a result the documentary helps transport the viewer to another time allowing one to lay eyes on knights and castles.
The acting is great as the cast have truly outdone themselves with their performances, which are outstanding to say the least! All the actors, without exceptions, give it their 100% and it really shows!
Very well written and very well presented, this (surprisingly) unbiased documentary is guaranteed to provide the viewer with important historical knowledge as well as a good dose of adrenaline.
In short, Empires: Richard the Lionheart & Saladin (Holy Warriors) is strongly recommended to all those with a soft spot for the Crusades. 5 Stars

What is the difference between reading about the 16th century Deformation (aka Protestant Reformation) and the Crusades from a "secular" library? There is no difference. Popular history today is written by retold by the victors. In the case of the Crusades in this trashy work, you get to see/hear only the dominant Muslim perspective of things.

This is a highly biased work against King Richard.

This work praises Saladin and extols him as generous, prayerful, virtuous, etc.

To hear all the biases and hatred of King Richard coming out from the mouths of stupid white men and women of today is astounding! Evil Islam has indeed won, not only then but now. The Europe of today has abandoned traditional Christianity for atheist secularism, to its own detriment, can't tell good from bad, right and wrong, anymore.

For every brief scene of King Richard praying, you see at least 3x or more of Saladin riding high as victor on his horse, praying or screaming allah here, allah there, and praying in scenes that are lenthened to heighten the effect that Saladin is "more holy" than Richard.

When Richard goes to rescue his fellow Christians, he is condemned.

When Saladin condemns his own Muslims at Acre, Saladin is praised for being tough and Richard condemned for being merciless.

When Saladin steals the true cross and refuses to trade it in exchange for the lives of his fellow Muslims, nothing is said about him. Instead, Richard is blamed for all the ills.

When Saladin resorts to poison and starvation to murder scores of Christians, he doesn't take the blame, but instead blames Christians for coming to settle in the Holy Land!

etc.

What a skewered sense of justice Muslims and this work have.

Note that the Muslim commentators in this DVD swell with tears in their eyes as they talk of bloody Saladin! They revere only blood, war, genocide, murder and all things evil. What has changed in Islam today? Nothing. They're a religion of war.

When Christians rise to defend Christians, Christians are condemned?
What irony.
Who stole the lands from Jews and Christians after the birth of Islam?

Somehow, it still eludes Muslims of today why the Crusades were even called for. For Muslims, they think that the whole world evolves around them.
It is not enough that they're colonial and expanisionist in nature, but they never see it that way, instead, they always blame everything on the West.

Enough said for now. Makes me angry just to have to sit through this crappy nonsense that claims to be a "documentary". This trashy piece of work doesn't do justice to King Richard's memory or to the Crusaders.



Read:

The Crusades: The World's Debate

I read the reviews on this DVD before purchasing it and they were stellar. However, I was enthralled with it until it reached the end; which in point of fact should have been the beginning. It ended... period... leaving me hanging. I went as far as to check out the rest of the cover to see if there wasn't yet another disc I forgot to play. I thought... man it can't have just ended now!

How pathetic.