Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Vision Video
• DVD Release Date: August 31, 2005
• Run Time: 52 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: B000BK7XIG
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #96,268 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Is the famous story really true? Did young David actually slay the giant Goliath with a slingshot? Did giants actually walk the earth? Find out in Footsteps of Goliath. The filmmakers themselves pieced together clues from the Lands of the Bible and brought them together in the most complete view on the giant Goliath ever presented.

The documentary takes us from the glorious temple of the Pharaohs to mysterious tombs of mythical kings, from the dark vaults of the world’s greatest museums to the shores of the Dead Sea, from remote digs to the very place where David met his giant opponent.

Approached from the perspective of professional scientists and archaeologists, Footsteps of Goliath includes the re-enactment of the famous duel between David and Goliath. The story in the Bible contains an incredible amount of detail on Goliath which allowed the filmmakers to reconstruct the giant warrior. This reconstruction has received much praise for its accuracy and credibility from the scientists participating in this documentary.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Archaeological search for the most famous giant in the Bible!!!, June 20, 2008

By 

Deepak K. Singh "DKS" (Delhi, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Footsteps of Goliath (DVD)

Since man's earliest history, tales of giants have been part of legend and myth. Mighty warriors of superhuman size had to be overcome as part of a holy quest. This literary motif can be found all over the world, in numerous cultures. Perhaps the most famous of all mythological giants in world literature is the biblical Goliath slain by a shepherd boy who was to be king.

This documentary sets out to investigate the truth about the giant Goliath from the Bible. The filmmakers themselves pieced together clues from the Lands of the Bible and brought them together in the most complete view on the giant Goliath ever presented. The documentary takes us from the glorious temple of the Pharaohs to mysterious tombs of mythical kings, from the dark vaults of the world's greatest museums to the shores of the Dead Sea, from remote digs to the very place where David met his giant opponent.

Until recently the story of David and the Philistine warrior Goliath was seen merely by many as a parable, not as a historical report. Nevertheless, by piecing together archaeological evidence from Jordan, Israel, Syria and Egypt, we can now identify the Footsteps of Goliath.

This documentary ties all pieces of evidence together to make Goliath live again. Biblical anthropologists present their findings on "Goliath," believed to be a man of exceptional height coming from a tribe known as the Rephaim, a people who took refuge among the Philistines and were involved in a number of construction projects in and around Jerusalem. The Rephaim are pictured in many hieroglyphics as being tall (at least six to seven feet) and often having six fingers on each hand. Goliath's scriptural height of "six cubits and a spam" (approximately 10 ½ feet) is a bit of an exaggeration in the opinion of scholars interviewed here, but the account of the battle may otherwise be considered largely accurate.

Goliath is often compared with other from stories like Ruebezahl and Jack and the Beanstalk. There is even little or no evidence that he even existed. But a closer look at the biblical story makes clear that Goliath deserves a place in history. His weaponry and the type of battle fit with the cultural world of the Philistines. But that is only circumstantial evidence.

Professor Vladimir Berginer has no doubts: the battle between David and Goliath is a historical event. Goliath was a real giant with a height of no less than three metres. As a neurologist, Professor Berginer believes a height like this is certainly possible due to a disease called `acromegaly'. It's a form of giant growth caused by a tumour on the pituitary gland. Berginer is convinced Goliath also suffered from this disease. However, few scholars are prepared to believe this theory.

In fact, the Bible says Goliath belonged to a race of giants: the Rephaim. High up on the mountainous plains of the Golan Heights we visit the ancient stone circles of Gilgal Rephaim, a 5000 year old monument, similar to England's Stonehenge. Could this huge monument be the work of giants? After all, it lies in the land of Bashan, the land of giants.

In ancient times, not only the authors of the Bible believed that giants roamed their lands. Many ancient people wrote about giants or engraved them on seals and temple walls. One example is found in the famous Abu Simbel Temple of Ramesses II in Egypt. But ancient texts from Syria and Egypt also suggest giants really existed.

In the late 1980's a group of British archaeologists might have uncovered skeletal evidence for giants in Jordan. At the site of Tel es-Sa'idiyeh, archaeologist Jonathan Tubb and a team from the British Museum unearthed the remains of some extremely tall people. Are these skeletons evidence that giants really lived in the Land of the Bible?

Finally, the production turns to ancient texts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls where we discover disagreement about Goliath's height. While the Bible states that Goliath's height was six cubits and a span, the other ancient texts disagree. The Septuagint, the Dead Sea Scrolls and Josephus all agree that Goliath was merely four cubits and a span, which lowers his height to a more manageable seven feet or so. This, the filmmakers agree, is his true height. While this does not make him a giant, a claim the Bible never makes of Goliath, it does make him a very tall individual in a day when the average height was significantly less than it is today. The ancient skeletons and the earliest versions of the Bible now reveal the truth about Goliath.

Footsteps of Goliath also includes the re-enactment of the famous duel between David and Goliath based on an incredible amount of detail in the Bible on Goliath which allowed the filmmakers to reconstruct the giant warrior. This reconstruction has received much praise for its accuracy and credibility from the scientists participating in this documentary. This is a documentary which any student of the Bible would find interesting and is sure to be a popular addition to general religious collections.