Lost Empires (3 Volume Boxed Set)

Starring:Colin Firth, John Castle (II), Carmen du Sautoy, Beatie Edney, Pamela Stephenson, Gillian Bevan, Laurence Olivier, Francesca McGregor, Ken Kitson, Wanda Ventham, Ted Morris (II), Kenneth Nelson, Weston Gavin, Walter McMonagle, Mike Mosebury, Jane Venables, Joe Holmes, Alfred Marks, Jim Carter, Brenda Larenty
Director: Alan Grint
Studio: Goldhil Home Media
Product Type: DVD

Description

This extraordinary Masterpiece Theatre featured production based on the novel by JB Priestley, and featuring one of the last performances of Sir Laurence Olivier, takes you to the last days of Britain's innocence and the glamorous, magical world of the great music halls - which once brought entertainment to millions. In 1913, young Richard Herncastle, played by Colin Firth, escapes from a stuffy, provincial English background into the glitter and excitement of the theatre world. Funny, sad, and nostalgic, Lost Empires, follows Richard from his naïve, country upbringing to join his uncle Nick Ollanton, a famous music hall illusionist - known as the Indian Magician, Ganga Dun. The mystery of illusions, on and off the stage, is eventually shattered for Richard, whose dream of becoming a famous painter becomes sidetracked while he contends with men gone nearly insane, the lusts of countless women, and a murder that hangs over his head. As Lost Empires opens, looming on the horizon is World War I, which will destroy so much of Britain's tradition, including the great era of the Empire music hall. Soon the cinema will replace the eccentric and colorful performers whose home is the world of variety.

Customer Reviews:

you have got to be kidding!!!!!.......2007-04-23

this is a very good series, however i would not pay over $25 for it. this is not rare or even hard to find! go order it from your local video store it cost $30 from them. but profitering on an item that is not even the least bit difficult to obtain you have got to be kidding!!!!!

If I EVER get to see it .. I might just like it.......2007-02-16

Beware .. I ordered this item November 16, 2006 and I STILL do not have it.. the deadline keeps getting pushed up and I have to keep renewing my order. I am VERY disappointed. If you are planning to buy this for a loved one or a special date, don't bother. I would not be surprised if I don't have it by Fall this year.

Produced by a Tobacco company?..........2007-01-01

It must have been... Characters are CONSTANTLY smoking SOMETHING. Cigars, cigarettes, even a hookah at one point. It seems at times there's barely a moment when there isn't someone smoking in the scene.

However, that's my only complaint-- I thought the plot was unique, it was pretty well executed, and most of the acting is pretty good. I saw the whole thing in two days, 1/2 at a time and was quite engrossed. All in all quite good, but I felt I had to say something about the incessant and unnecessary infusion of tobacco in just about every scene...

Lost Empires 3volume boxed DVD.......2006-05-22

Item of good quality and sent to me securely and promptly.

Colin Firth's Big Television Break.......2006-03-10

Colin Firth's first memorable TV role - and doesn't he look young! This series links the beginning of the decline of the British Empire with beginning of the decline of the British Music Hall - the former with the First World war and the latter with the advent of cinema. The script is superb and Colin Firth and John Castle's performances are excellant. There is a cameo role in the first episode from Sir Laurence Olivier but it is obvious that his skill is in decline.
The main story is Colin's (Richard Herncastle's) coming of age - as he certainly learns about life in the music halls before he is shipped out to the horrors of the War. He loses his love but miraculously regains it in the trenches when fate decrees that she turns up to entertain the troops, Colin gets wounded and she saves him.
It is a wonderful story to get lost in on a cold winter's night and I greatly recommend it.

Average customer rating:

The Ingenuity of the Inca

NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Inca
Director: Michael Barnes
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

Science & Technology | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

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In Search of History - Lost City of the Incas (History Channel)
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NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Pyramid/Obelisk
Lost Treasures of the Ancient World: Mayans and Aztecs Ancient Lands of the Americas

ASIN: B000C8STPS
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Product Description

Nova's team of scientists look at how the Inca tribe survived in the Peruvian Andes 500 years ago.

System Requirements:

Running Time 60 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

The Ingenuity of the Inca.......2007-06-20

If the Incas didn't have wheels, then how did they erect huge walls? If they didn't have writing, how did they keep tabs on things? This documentary tries to answer that. Basically, those filmed try to set stones in a similar fashion and build an Incan bridge. The first project is speculative but the second project is actually done by the Incas' descendants.

Personally, I prefer documentaries about ancient peoples more than about their structures. Whereas ancient Egyptian paintings really grab my attention, I can look at Maccu Pichu (sp?) and be bored visually. This work shows a bit of modern, indigenous Peruvians. In fact, they seemed to be proud to try to discover the ways of the ancients. They showed women carrying babies trying to pull stones with the menfolk; you'd never see a woman with a non-weaned child in a Western construction site. I think the presence of the white academics and the indigenous Peruvians is meant to show something multiracial and coalitional. They show both groups eating cooked guinea pig and I'm almost sure it's shown just to amuse and possibly gross out viewers in industrialized countries.

The work isn't sappy, but it will impress the viewer about how amazing human ingenuity is. People of the past had high infant mortality and low life expectancies, but that didn't stop them from erecting things that can last for centuries.

If your children like the film and Saturday cartoon "Emperor's New Groove," then you may want to let them view this documentary.

Average customer rating:

NOVA - Secrets of Lost Empires Set
Starring: Art Malik
Manufacturer: WGBH Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

WGBH Boston | Television | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000C8STR6
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Description

Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to five archaeological sites where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Stonehenge watches a band of experts move, raise and cap a structure like the mysterious Stonehenge-- armed with Stone Age tools. Inca explores magnificent mountainside citadels-- and marvels as villagers create a 150-foot suspension bridge using nothing but grass. Obelisk faces the challenge of quarrying, chiseling, hauling and mounting an obelisk--- using stones, ropes, logs and dirt. Colosseum tries out two possible designs for the canopy that once covered the Colosseum-- one of them borrowed from ancient ships. Pyramid joins the race to erect an 18-foot stone pyramid in three weeks-- while testing out some clever construction theories.

Lost Treasures of the Ancient World Series 3 - Empires in the Americas

Average customer rating:

Aztecs and Incas Together

Lost Treasures of the Ancient World Series 3 - Empires in the Americas
Starring: Lost Treasures
Manufacturer: Kultur Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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In Search of History - Lost City of the Incas (History Channel)

ASIN: B000CQQIYO
Release Date: 2006-01-31

Description

This fascinating program highlights the amazing parallels between the two great American societies of the Aztecs and the Incas - two nations doomed to violent destruction. With magnificent animated re-creations of mysterious lost cities such as Tenochtitlán and Machu Picchu, these are stories of two wealthy, sun-worshipping civilizations that both fell prey to the Spanish conquistadors of the sixteenth century. Features superb 3D graphics, State-of-the-art computer generated animation, all new location footage, and expert commentary and analyses.

Customer Reviews:

Aztecs and Incas Together.......2007-01-30

I've seen many works on the Aztecs and the Incas recently, so this may skew my ideas on this work. Based on the title, I was hoping that the documentary would discuss cultures in what is now Anglo America, but it doesn't. In fairness, works may speak of Aztecs and Mayas simultaneously, but Aztecs and Incas are usually spoken of separately. The work also compares the two cultures. It seems like the Incas were a bit more democratic than the Aztecs. Whereas the Aztecs were disappointed by Moctezuma II, the Incan people stood by their emperor.

The work stands out from others in that astrology is discussed. They state that stars were seen as holy and only certain classes were allowed to study them.

The work has modern people dressed as Natives and Spaniards. However, I wouldn't classify these as cheesy reenactments. The characters stand there; they don't pretend to do anything. This series may stand out for its 3D recollections of Native architecture.

The work does state that the Spanish were ruthless and zealous in ways that the French, British, and Dutch weren't in their colonial dominations. Still, at one point, they say, "The Spanish studied Aztec culture and customs, writing more about them than any foreign culture had been discussed before." Other works say the Aztecs had their own writings, called codices, that the Spanish destroyed in order to dominate them. Much more could have been known about Aztecs if the Spanish hadn't been so merciless. So I do think the work, in this instance, let these conquerors off the hook.

This work is made by Brits and possibly for Brits. The interviewees pronounce words that end with "-a" as if they ended with "-er." They measure things using the metric system, rather than the good-ole, old-school American way. In fact, if you don't understand thick European accents, you might want to avoid seeing this work.

NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Stonehenge and Colosseum

Average customer rating:

NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Stonehenge and Colosseum
Starring: Nova
Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston
ProductGroup: DVD
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Barbarians (History Channel)

ASIN: B000C8STQW
Release Date: 2006-02-28

Product Description

Uncover the secrets of ancient civilizations as NOVA journeys to an archaeological site where teams of experts use traditional techniques to test their hypotheses. Watch a band of experts move, raise, and cap a structure like the mysterious Stonehenge-- armed with Stone Age tools.

System Requirements:

Running Time 60 Mins.

Format: DVD MOVIE

NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Pyramid/Obelisk

Average customer rating:

NOVA: Secrets of Lost Empires - Pyramid/Obelisk
Starring: Nova
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ASIN: B000C8STQM
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