Customer Reviews

Pyramid

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are actually two versions of this film. One was shown on the Discovery Channel with about 5 minutes or so cut from it and with a different narrator and this one. Of the two, this one is a bit better. The DVD says it has a "making of" part and it does but this part is quite lacking. It is like they slapped it together.

Historical points. Overall they were quite good in their presentation but they made a few errors. One of which was saying "Egypt had no need of slaves." This is absolutely historically false. Egypt had slaves like every nation in the area. Their slaves, though, would not have built the pyramids or holy places. They were doing other tasks. Also their portrayal of the copper smithing is off. A book called "Technology in the Ancient World" does a better job of describing metal working/discovery in detail.

Outside of these minor points, the story is engaging. It follows the life of one man from anonymous villager to a foreman over a work gang on the great pyramid. Some of the shots are quite beautiful and the reconstructions are well made. The actors, overall, did a good job. They didn't overdo their roles nor look like stiffs. This is a great DVD for people who are casually interested in ancient Egypt or for classroom activities.

i don't know who wrote the review giving this show 1 star ... Watching it i was just pleased to see someone trying to visualise Ancient Egypt rather than go through the various (constantly repeated) mysterious , multi-million dollar book selling,... (atlantean) theories. It seemed to be based on the latest conventional archaeology and gave a broad view of how the workers would have lived and the pyramid erected. A visual treat set against a plethora of acedemic documentaries that abound in this field.

I've come to expect generally good fare from the BBC, and this was no exception. The visual richness of Egytian life and scenery along the Nile was unbelievably real - it looks like a film crew was transported back to 2400 BC to make this engrossing saga. The main character was marvelously genuine and real, as were the many supporting people. I appreciated that the answer to "Why were the pyramids built?" was artfully woven into the unfolding story, letting us glimpse something of the political and spiritual beliefs of these amazing people.

I highly recommend spending an hour 4,500 years in the past, watching the remaining Wonder of the World being built, and glimpsing the lives of those who accomplished this.

The BBC story of building the great pyramid as told by Nakht (a fictional conscript). It is beautifully told. This is a visually stunning reenactment of what it must have been like to have lived and worked at the time. We follow his story from the time he was a child being told that he owed everything to the king. Then the day he was conscripted and his journey to Gaze where he embarked on a journey through life. There is no space alien speculation or secret powers.

There is really no time for any in-depth Egyptology but the story will hold your attention and is worth re-watching.


Pyramid

I was asked to substitute teach in a math class, high school level, and the teacher left this DVD for me to show the class. I was hugely impressed, and the class was riveted. Why math? Because the geometry of the pyramids as related to astronomy was one of the emphases in this film.

The voice-over by (for crying out loud!)Omar Sharif was hugely impressive, and the narrative involving two young Egyptian brothers who take part in the building of the Great Pyramid made the "lesson" more personal and highly memorable.

I ordered it in time for Christmas to give as a gift to a grandson who loves to build complicated structures. Sadly, the first order was simply not fulfilled-- but that was a different seller. After two months I gave up and re-ordered, and this seller was swift. Excellent service.

(I have no idea why this review is tagged as coming from Emily's Buddy. That's not me.)

A treat to watch with the visual effects that make you feel part of the action. This is the story everyone should see that offers to explain how a civilization can marshall its resources to build an enormous structure. You go inside the levels of workers that labored for decades on the Great Pyramid and discover that very few were slaves. The fact is the Great Pyramid was the work of inventive Egyptian engineers and thousands of conscripts who made possible pharaoh Khufu's final resting place. This video's debunks many myths that have surrounded the building of the pyramids. It is a must see for families of all ages.

Building the Great Pyramid is great family educational entertainment made much more valuable by the extra "making of" feature! Although academics and museums participated in the creation of this video, it seemed to need more "footnotes," so to speak, to add to the credability as I watched. For me, Building the Great Pyramids was something meant to stimulate research rather than offer it.

Overall, this DVD has the quality you would expect from the BBC, and I do heartily recommend it.

I first checked this book out from the library when doing a second grade unit study on Ancient Egypt with my kids last year. They enjoyed it so much they watched it several more times on their own before I had to return it. Later in the year they asked me to check it out again. I did and they watched it over and over. They asked for it again today, over a year from the first time they saw it. The "drama" part of this docudrama really brought the methods used and the scale of work and sacrifice necessary to build the pyramid to life for my kids. I really enjoyed this movie as well. I highly recommend this video, especially for helping kids, who often find regular documentaries boring, understand just how amazing these structures are.

I was really disappointed in this fictional presentation about the construction of the pyramids. There was very little factual information at all, rather a sociological posturing that those who built them actually anticipated providing their contribution to the project. When they stated that "no slaves were used to construct the pyramids" I think that the meaning of the word slave has been substantially redefined from what it really means. Some workers were skilled and probably paid. Others were prisoners of war who were forced to do labor work here. The volume of people required is so great we cannot really imagine how many were required. There was very little content about the mechanics of construction, which is what I was expecting from the title of the DVD. I would save my money and buy something else.

This quasi technical docudrama shows without many details a theory of building the Great Cheops (Khufu) Pyramid and life in ancient Pharaonic Egypt at that time based on the newest archeological discoveries and derived conclusions. The process of building is both dramatized and illustrated by elaborate animation, but the detailed structure of the pyramid is not shown. A model and a few schematics are presented.
This elaborate, well made, and rich in the film set, costumes and props show is rather a story of a builder than of the detailed building process. It is on a quite low technical and scientific level, and watching it does not require much of knowledge or imagination. Maybe it was intended for children. "The Pyramids - Jewels of the Nile (Lost Treasures of the Ancient World)" show also on DVD seems to be superior.