Product Details

• Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, 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: 4
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: A&E Home Video
• DVD Release Date: February 27, 2007
• Run Time: 564 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000KJU1GO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,680 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The monuments of the ancient world are virtually brought back to life in Lost Worlds, a fantastic History Channel series that combines historical expertise and computer-generated imagery to restore ancient structures to their original condition. Just as the packaging promises, this riveting 13-part series allows viewers to "explore the past rebuilt in stunning detail," following a format as richly educational as it is visually impressive. The 50-minute episodes are loosely grouped by historical epoch, beginning with the Christian emphasis of disc 1, with episodes focusing on "The Knights Templar" (showing the virtual reconstruction of the city of Tortosa), "Jesus' Jerusalem" (focusing on Herod's temple Mount, the Via Dolorosa, and other places where Jesus traveled), and "The First Christians," in which the cities of Tarsus and Ephesus are studied and rebuilt, along with the mysterious cave dwellings of Cappadocia, where some of the earliest Christian churches were built. Disc 2 moves to ancient Greece and Egypt, where new theories connect the remains of a Cretan temple to the lost city of Atlantis; "Ramses' Egyptian Empire" shows us brilliant revivals of the temples of Karnak and Abu Simbel; and "Athens: Ancient Supercity" focuses on 5th-century B.C. Greek structures like the Parthenon and the Senate.

Disc 3 jumps forward to the architectural mysteries of World War II, uncovering the top-secret, high-security structures built in the United States to support the development and construction of the atom bomb; "Hitler's Supercity" of Germania, the Fuhrer's Greco-Roman dream that never came to pass, yet remains evident in the massive structures of the Third Reich; and "Churchill's Secret Bunkers" beneath the streets of London, a fascinating network of underground tunnels used as an allied command center impervious to German bombing raids. Disc 4 focuses on the enigmatic histories of Europe, with episodes on "The Real Dracula" (rebuilding the remote Romanian castle of the notorious "Vlad the Impaler"); "Braveheart's Scotland" demonstrates how 13th-century Scottish culture was far more sophisticated than its depiction in Mel Gibson's popular Oscar®-winning film Braveheart; and "The Pagans" offers an in-depth history of the British Isles, where the pagan people built astonishing, spiritually vital structures like Stonehenge. A bonus episode--the series pilot--focuses on Palenque, the magnificent Mayan temple-city that rises from the jungle of Chiapas, Mexico.

In each of these episodes, historians, architects, and engineers are consulted as on-screen guides to our fascinating journeys to the past. The result is a detailed narrative that combines social, religious, political, and technological aspects of history, until the magic moment arrives when all of this information is used (along with detailed CGI imagery) to unveil these important structures in their pristine form--in many cases more colorful and architecturally impressive than anyone could imagine. All of this makes Lost Worlds a richly rewarding experience, essentially the next best thing to owning a time machine. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description

The history of human civilization parallels the history of its cities. From Athens under the rule of Pericles to the Jerusalem that Jesus knew, the great cities of the past defined the eras in which they were built and shaped the minds of countless generations. These places embodied the knowledge and beliefs of entire societies within their walls—and yet due to the vagaries of history, these worlds are lost to us, buried beneath the ruins of time and memory.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooool, October 25, 2007

By 

quartz123 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Worlds (History Channel) (DVD)

Pretty cheap for 9 hours of running time. The animations are very cool, lots of good footage of old castles in the knights templer episode, very interesting historical story's like the real dracula, hitlers supercity , amazingly huge constructions displayed in many of the episodes in great detail, Three thumbs up.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN AMAZING GLIMPSE INTO HISTORY, January 3, 2008

By 

Jack Levic (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Worlds (History Channel) (DVD)

I agree with the previous reviewer that LOST WORLDS gives you a great value for your money. I bought the series based on that review and was pleased I did. If you are a history buff, LOST WORLDS is a must for your DVD collection. I was particularly fascinated by the World War II era stories - HITLER'S SUPERCITY and SECRET CITIES OF THE A-BOMB. Historians take us on a journey of secret and forgotten cities of recent history. Computer images recreate what the cities looked liked. The series is fun, entertaining and visually stunning. A+++

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars LOST WORLDS DVD BOXED SET, November 20, 2008

By 

El lloron (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Worlds (History Channel) (DVD)

These documentaries contain an element of speculation, and employ a degree of imagination. Having said that if they are viewed with an open mind and appreciated for what they are intended to be, (not entirely based on fact, but making reasonable, educated assumptions as to what might have been) then these documentaries are very enjoyable in their own right. How seriously the viewer takes what is being said is an indication of how well informed or feeble minded he or she is. In other words how much you choose to believe is entirely up to you. If you are a well informed discerning viewer you will take what you see with a grain of salt and fill in the blanks for yourself. Nothing is set in stone. The viewer is merely presented with reasonable assumptions, possibilites and probabilites. The computer generated reconstructions are well done and make visualization a pleasurable experience. Well worth viewing.