Customer Reviews

Iran the Forgotten Glory: An Awe-inspiring Journey into the Majesty and Splendour of Ancient Persia

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

 

 

There are so few DVDs about the pre-Islamic history of IRAN! Alas!
Being so the situation, you'll love these two short documentaries, lovely made, no question at all!

If you love the PRE-ISLAMIC PERSIAN history and art, as I do, you will love this DVD set! It was very expensive when I bought it here in AMAZON. It cost, a month ago, almost US$ 50 dollars! Now, the price has been reduced. Absolutely worth having for a student of history or archaeology of the Ancient Near and Middle East, or for any fan of history.

There are subtiles in Spanish only, and the voice of the narrators can be heard in English,Spanish and Persian.
The voice in Spanish was not very pleasant. But the English narrator's voice is very pleasant.
The music of the background is mostly Persian. Just beautiful!

The explanations about Cyrus and the whole of the Achaemenidae is short but quite nice.
And the short passages about Zarathustra and his religion and symbols are just wonderful.

I really love Persia. It was a tragedy for them to have been mixed with a foreign culture and a religion so different from the sweet and gentle teachings of Zarathushtra or even sweeter, the (for some people)"strange" teachings of Mani.
Persia has been the source and HOME of those two Men of Light: Zaradash (or Zardush) and Mani, who were the founders of two world religions: Zarathushtranism and Manichaeism, and they were (in their original form) the most gentle systems of religious ideas that have ever existed.

The only way to learn about a thing or a fact in this life is going directly to the SOURCE and experience it by yourself. There is no more important authority than our own soul and our own judgement.
Few people dare to dig deep enough into the past of these two great men!

Like the shiny stars in the sky, Ancient Persia is gone forever, but its light still shines even now, in our dark times......

Filmmaker Makan Karandish clearly explains the key role that the province of Fars played in the rise and fall of the Iranian nation under the Achaemenid dynasty and the rebirth of this nation under the Sassanid dynasty. The first DVD, about the Achaemenids and ancient locations such as Pasargadae and Persepolis, complements well other DVD productions about the Persians and these two major locations. Think for example about "Persepolis Rediscovering the Lost Capital of the Persian Empire" by Kultur, "Engineering an Empire" by The History Channel, and "Secrets of Archaeology" by Koch Vision. The second DVD, about the less known Sassanids, is probably of greater interest to those who have already watched the other DVD productions mentioned above. The rise and fall of the Sassanids is rarely covered elsewhere. In summary, the DVD set under review is a nice addition for anyone who is interested in better understanding the Iranians and their glorious past.

This documentary is well presented and tells the history of Iran in an easy to follow way. I recommend this documentary to those who are interested in classical studies, particularly Greek as this documentary touches on the Persian culture parodying that of the Greeks.

There are many documentaries that articulate Greek culture and have underpinnings of them being the superior culture while subtly putting down the Persians. This documentary offers an insight into the other side.

bj

These disks give a great introduction to the ancient Persian empires. The first disk covers the history prior to Alexander the Great sacking Persepolis and the second covers the epochs following. Some of the material on the first disk can be found in other sources (like Persepolis: Re-Discovering the Ancient Persian Capital of Modern Day Iran and a bit in The True Story of Alexander the Great (History Channel)) but I have never seen or heard the material in the second half. The introduction to Zoroaster and the fire cults is a fascinating and mostly neglected topic.

The English presentation is very well narrated and the video/cinematography is excellent throughout.

On the down side, the entire history is a bit stilted toward the ancient Persians always being the friendly beloved leaders (like every conquered land welcomed the Persian empire with open arms) and Alexander and his army are the invading infidels. While I found it refreshing to hear Alexander called "of Macedonia" instead of "the Great", and it is undoubtedly true that he is/was loathed for his destruction, the documentary could have been a bit more balanced. Another potential complaint is that there are no English subtitles available.

Despite a couple weaknesses, this box gives a great view of a part of ancient history that is not typically taught in the west.

This is definitely a great step for a young independent film maker to embark on a project of this caliber. This project has been done with much care and wisdom. I enjoyed the interviews and majestic shots of Persepolis and the decent background music. I truely reccomend this work to History lovers and enthusiasts of Persian Empire. 5 Stars...

Wow, what a snoozer this one was. I picked this up thinking that it would fill a gap in my DVD history collection but it's so dry that I couldn't stay awake. This show has a narrator that you never see and the visuals consist of ruins without a single soul in sight. They do have some historians who talk for a while on camera, but most of the time you are listening to narration while watching an empty landscape. The information might be interesting, but it's probably more exciting to watch paint dry.

I received it much more quickly than anounced by Amazon. I am very happy. The documentary is fully recommandable: it has a so much information inside. For those who want to have a clear view of the persian hitory, it is the best documentary so far.

The only weak point is the subtitle. It has no english subtitle nor persian subtitle.

Fascinated by the (unfortunately) little-known cultures of ancient Persia/ present-day Iran, I was excited to find a film in English that gave visual insight into this little (and misunderstood) land. However, I was sorely disappointed by IRAN: THE FORGOTTEN GLORY. This film was poorly edited, poorly narrated, and of low quality. I do not recommend this film, there are better, more factually accurate films out there on the market.

Rumor has it, that this film was produced/ financially sponsored by the current regime ruling the Islamic Republic of Iran. I am not sure if such rumors are true but, I wouldn't be surprised considered the skewed angle this documentary takes.

..... TO THE MAGNIFICENT ..... PERSIAN CULTURE .... somewhat opaqued by western HISTORIANS .....

ANCIENT HISTORY INTEREST ... has become a fast growing activity & OCCUPATION in my country ( COLOMBIA ) ... thanks to the excellent job done by reknown historian & narrator DIANA URIBE ...who's weekly radio show is broadcasted every sunday on [...] radio station ... appealing to thousands of history interested audiences ... which led to a succesful publication of two best-seller publications accompained of 5 audio c.ds each : HISTORY OF CIVILIZATIONS (2008)& HISTORY OF THE INDEPENDENCIES (2009)... consequently ...this special HISTORIC RELEASES are as valuable as any source of research... that I surely declare a must HAVE collectible.

The first disc of the two is interesting but the second falls a little flat. I knew nothing of the early history of Iran so I can't say if it's glossed over or not. It was given as a gift and well thats how I dealt with it. The English narrative is well done. But it seems to be just a small drop in the bucket of years of history. The video isn't that well shot is my main complaint. I think the PBS program of a few years back was better done, but thts just my opinion , cheers :)