The Conquerors (The History Channel)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: D     Episodes: B

 

 

The most prominent military man in Hollywood behind the scenes is former Marines Captain Dale Dye, who has been the top military advisor to more feature film productions than anyone else in the last 25 years.  Even if he did not be come the character actor/star former/fellow Marine drill Sergeant R. Lee Ermey did, there is no doubt of his influence and expertise.  Mr. Ermey did the underrated Mail Call series (reviewed elsewhere on this site) for the A&E Networks, so it is no surprise Mr. Dye would also be hired by the network to host a quality project.  The resulting The Conquerors does not disappoint.

 

Dye gets to narrate the usually amusing reenactments and read off of well-written documentary scripts on the following men who qualified as the greats that lived up to the title of the show:

 

1)     William The Conqueror

2)     General Howe: Conqueror Of New York

3)     Andrew Jackson: Conqueror Of Florida

4)     Cortez: Conqueror Of Mexico

5)     Fremont: Conqueror Of California

6)     El Cid

7)     Marshall Zhukov: Conqueror Of Berlin

8)     Sherman’s March To The Sea

9)     Cromwell: Conqueror Of Ireland

10)  King David

11)  Napoleon’s Greatest Victory

12)  Caesar: Conqueror Of Gaul

 

 

These fine programs run about 45 minutes each over three DVDs in this set, which means the stories have to be told directly and economically.  Of course, there is more to say about all these men and they have had several feature films made about each.  Even when the reenactments become unintentionally amusing, the shows stay solid all around and Dye makes for a great host.  It is a fine series worth your time.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is shot on professional NTSC analog video and looks about as good as it can in that format, with the usual color and detail limits.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some Pro Logic surrounds and the combination is just engaging enough to make this even more interesting than it already is beyond content.  That is good, because there are surprisingly no extras on any of the discs.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo