Product Details

• Directors: Acorn Media
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Acorn Media
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 52 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 1569382069
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,753 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite interesting, but too short to go into a lot of detail, July 24, 2004

By 

Daniel Jolley "darkgenius" (Shelby, North Carolina USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Legends of the Isles - Part 1: Holy Grail, Part 2: Stonehenge [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Holy Grail and Stonehenge are two of the most enduring historical mysteries of the British Isles and of human existence altogether. Each of these fascinating subjects gets some 26 minutes in this two-episode video - this is not enough time, of course, but it is time well-spent.

The Holy Grail video begins by recounting the legendary story of the Holy Grail in Britain. This begins, of course, with the legendary arrival of Joseph of Arimathea in Britain 30 years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. A noble pre-Arthurian knight was entrusted with the guardianship of the Grail, enjoying the bounteous supplies it miraculously created for him. In time, though, the guardian neglected his duty for the enticement of a woman. The Grail was no longer a magical horn of plenty, the land withered, and the keeper was left to suffer from a painful wound without cure or the release of death. This man became known as the Fisher King. Hope still remained in the prophecy of a noble knight who would come, ask the Fisher King a certain question, and remove the curse. We are then told the story of the knight Perceval. When he finds the Fisher King, his pride and arrogance, along with the knightly code of silence, prevents him from asking the pivotal question, and his Quest fails. Only after many years of anger and frustration does Perceval repent and regain the innocence needed for rediscovering the Grail and releasing the Fisher King from his fate. Forget the searches of Thomas Malory's knights of the Round Table, as they are not really mentioned here.

The video then turns to the historical and literary records of the Grail, beginning in the 12th century with the unfinished writings of Chrétien de Troyes. Many writings are ignored, such as the work of Wolfram von Eschenbach, but this is presumably due to their non-British origins. The story of the Nanteos Cup is mentioned as one possible explanation of the Grail's actual existence. Of course, over the centuries, many different stories of the Grail have been told. Finally, the video takes a deeper look at the story and points out its origins in the Celtic legends that predated Christianity, showing how Christianity, the Grail, and historical events such as the plague and the Crusades all helped to define one another in the Middle Ages. I would have liked a more detailed investigation of the Grail legend, but this video is quite interesting as it is.

The second episode looks at the origins of Stonehenge, but it first spends a good bit of time looking at the other ancient monuments and burial chambers scattered in the thousands across the region. It gives voice to several historical explanations for the stones of Stonehenge - as a monument to slain kings, the handiwork of Merlin, a temple for the Druids, etc. Some of these stories are disproved by the actual age of the monument. Stonehenge has stood for some five thousand years, dating back to the end of the Stone Age itself and easily predating such groups as the Druids. The configuration of the stones is then explored, showing that it functioned as a celestial observatory and temple but acknowledging that its true significance is lost in the mists of time. Finally, it looks at the stones themselves and a building process that would have taken a number of decades. With stones weighing as much as 50 tons and standing 16 feet tall having to be transported 24 miles, it is all but impossible to say how and why such a massive historical monument was built during an era in which nothing but the crudest of tools existed.

All in all, this is an interesting pair of videos; it's just a shame that more time was not allotted for the rich historical mysteries being examined here.

3.0 out of 5 stars Fact or Fiction?, July 8, 2008

By 

Joseph Adams "brother" (Superior, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Legends of the Isles - Part 1: Holy Grail, Part 2: Stonehenge [VHS] (VHS Tape)

That's what's examined here. There is evidence a real life grail Jesus drank from in The Last Supper survived history, I bought one online. My ancestor's built Stonehenge, it's still there. A Druid is simply a priest of a specific denomination. Knights in metal plate armour are shown here, even though it was little protection against even a single might as well be wooden sword or sharp dagger, let alone a spear or horse lance even in a joust. So the knights got a reputation for being brave wearing plate armour to defend their kings. Full plate armour with helmets and shields appeared in Europe about the year 400 A.D., and much the same recipe is used to make today's metal armour, though it is much better right here right now in plain clothes.