Beyond the Da Vinci Code (History Channel)

Starring:Beyond the Da Vinci Code
Studio: A&E Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
The Da Vinci Code has raised questions about religion, art, and faith across the globe. Now, take a 2000 year journey through time with THE HISTORY CHANNELÂ® to examine the surprising truths and controversial ideas set forth in Dan Brown's worldwide bestseller. Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene? Have their descendents been protected by a secret society from the Dark Ages all the way up to the present? Did the Church deliberately mislead its followers for two millennia? Was the whole truth brilliantly encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpieces? Drawing on the pages of Brown's bestseller, the Bible, and commentary from esteemed scholars from around the world, Beyond The Da Vinci Code investigates these questions--and more--in a close and balanced look at the foundations of Christianity. Radical, thought provoking and utterly compelling, THE HISTORY CHANNELÂ®'S original presentation Beyond The Da Vinci Code is a multifaceted analysis of the issues raised in The Da Vinci Code that gives viewers the opportunity to decide the truth for themselves.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Beyond the Da Vinci Code (History Channel)

Average customer rating:

Myth as "fact"
"tends to leave the answers up to the reader"
Not Balanced, Not Scholarly.
This movie was very helpful in finding the facts
Not worth the plastic it's stored on

Beyond the Da Vinci Code (History Channel)
Starring: Beyond the Da Vinci Code
Manufacturer: A&E Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

( B ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Da Vinci Code Decoded
Breaking the Da Vinci Code: Solves the 2000 Year Old Mystery
Da Vinci and the Code He Lived By (History Channel)
Unlocking DaVinci's Code: Mystery or Conspiracy?
ABC News Presents - Jesus Mary and DaVinci

ASIN: B0007XG02W
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Product Description

The Da Vinci Code has raised questions about religion, art, and faith across the globe. Now, take a 2000 year journey through time with THE HISTORY CHANNEL® to examine the surprising truths and controversial ideas set forth in Dan Brown's worldwide bestseller. Did Jesus marry Mary Magdalene? Have their descendents been protected by a secret society from the Dark Ages all the way up to the present? Did the Church deliberately mislead its followers for two millennia? Was the whole truth brilliantly encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's masterpieces? Drawing on the pages of Brown's bestseller, the Bible, and commentary from esteemed scholars from around the world, Beyond The Da Vinci Code investigates these questions--and more--in a close and balanced look at the foundations of Christianity. Radical, thought provoking and utterly compelling, THE HISTORY CHANNEL®'S original presentation Beyond The Da Vinci Code is a multifaceted analysis of the issues raised in The Da Vinci Code that gives viewers the opportunity to decide the truth for themselves.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Customer Reviews:

Myth as "fact".......2006-12-03

I saw this program on the History Channel, and while of its programming is generally objective and non-sensationalistic, the Da Vinci Code is not one of them. So-called scholars frequently refer to events "according to legend and myth" and the narrator tells us "if true" then treats such and such as if it were true. The basic facts are these: even in the Gnostic gospels, there is nothing that suggests that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, merely one or two references that suggest they may have been more than passing acquaintances, nothing more. One, claims believers in the myth, points to the alleged "envy" the Disciples felt in regard to Jesus supposed relationship to her. But it doesn't make any sense that they should be so if she was in fact his wife; a more plausible explanation would be the confusion the felt over what they saw as Jesus' unwarranted attention to what they saw as a "sinner."
There is also no reference anywhere to a child; the fact that believers of this myth assume that it is a female suggests that there is a political agenda fueling this. Furthermore, that believers in this myth also imagine themselves to be one of perhaps millions of "descendents" of Jesus lends itself to easy bemusement.
For a slightly more objective view, try the National Geographic video; it has a special feature in which each of the Da Vinci Code "proofs" are shown to fall into one of three categories: fraud, forgery, and wild imagination.

"tends to leave the answers up to the reader".......2006-11-19

Towards the end of this documentary the narrator states, "In the final analysis, Dan Brown's book seems to raise many questions, but tends to leave the answers up to the reader." That pretty much sums up this DVD as well. I bought this in a special offer pack with the movie and I am glad I did because, watching this documentary first, I became familiar with symbols, places, and ideas that I probably would not have been able to follow watching the movie having never read the novel. I did not come away from this documentary thinking the creators are on the side of the conspirators as some reviewers here think. It explains the side of the conspiracy but it also knocks down a lot of their evidence, i.e. that the SP on the window of the Rosslyn Chapel stands for Saint Peter, not the Priory of Scion, that the Rose line is not what conspiracy theorists claim it is, etc. Representatives from Opus Dei also defend their group in this DVD.

As with the film, there is no information on Sara (Mary Magdelene and Jesus's alleged daughter). Isn't she the one supposedly carrying the bloodline? Isn't she really more important than Mary Magdelene? Perhaps there is no information that exists on her but those on the side of the conspiracy seem to know she had children and thus continued the bloodline. How do they know this?

What I did not like about this DVD is how repetitive it is. The same footage and quotes over and over again. I got so sick of seeing the actor playing Jesus putting his hand on the actress portraying Mary Magdelene's pregnant belly I began just looking away every time it was shown. This documentary could have been just an hour long and been much more interesting and effective in explaining the sides of the Da Vinci Code controversy.

Not Balanced, Not Scholarly. .......2006-07-22

This DVD presents the appearance of being unbiased because it presents counterevidence to the Da Vinci Code from the Medieval and post-Medieval eras. However, readers of the Da Vinci Code and viewers of this DVD are most interested in PRE-MEDIEVAL history, most especially the life of Jesus and the first centuries after his death. Unfortunately, the pre-Medieval facts and historical theories considered in this DVD are those which are most congenial to the revisionist historical accounts of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar, and The Da Vinci Code. The pre-Medieval historical facts most condemning of the revisionist position are not mentioned.

Thus, so far as pre-Medieval history goes, this DVD misses major facts and strongly supportable theories, as if Gandhi's name were left out of India's independence, or Hitler's name out of the causes of WWII. The following four points [1]-[4] regarding pre-Medieval history should suffice to encourage viewers to do more homework in order to supplement the woefully weak and one-sided pre-Medieval "evidence" presented in this DVD, which pretends to support both revisionist and non-revisionist explanations equally.

[1] The Council of Nicea:
Timothy Freke states in the DVD interview that not agreeing with the conclusion of the Council of Nicea (325CE) probably meant death, but Constantine's 313CE Edict of Milan guaranteeing freedom of religion to all faiths was still in effect. Christianity did not become a state religion until Theodosius in 392, and even then pagans and heretics practiced their faiths with a relative impunity. (Certainly, persecutions against non-Christians did pick up speed from the 400s.) The post-Constantine / post-Nicea pagan emperor Julian even suppressed Christianity for a time in the mid 300s. However, the DVD strongly suggests a monolithic Christianity brutally enforced from Nicea onward, through the death penalty.
> All the historical records which we have of this council (misspelled as the Council of "Mycea" in the DVD scene selection!) indicate that the Council basically covered the questions of the Arian heresy, the celebration of Passover, and the status of believers who had lapsed in their faith due to the persecution of Christians immediately previous to Constantine. The primary sources documenting the Council include the writings of Athanasius, who was himself banished for a time while the Arians took the upper hand with the emperors. If the emperors were so set on destroying the works of their enemies, as the DVD suggests, they would have had the chance with Athanasius.
> The Da Vinci Code claims that it was a very close vote at the Council whether or not the divinity of Jesus was to be recognized, but all members present, including the Arians, acknowledged the divinity of Jesus. Further, it was not a close vote, but the Athanasian party (whose leader Athanasius was soon to be banished by the Arians) won by a vote of 300 to 2.
> As to the question of Christians believing in the divinity of Jesus, even pagan authors such as Pliny the Younger (late first century) and Lucian of Samosata (mid second century) record that the Christians worshiped Jesus as a god. Voices presented in the DVD strongly suggest that Jesus was not considered divine until Nicea (325CE).

[2] The Gnostics: The DVD presents this group as being a major feature of the Council of Nicea, but there is no evidence whatsoever that this was the case. Further, the revisionist thesis presented in the DVD presents the Gnostics as close to the teachings of the historical Jesus, but the DVD fails to note that for the Gnostics, all matter is evil and all spirit is good. This radical dualism led the Gnostics toward Docetism and denying the humanity of Jesus. This central humanity-denying tenet of historical Gnosticism is completely opposite to the revisionist thesis argued for in the DVD, which claims that Jesus was considered much more human by pre-Nicene Christian groups (especially the Gnostics).

[3] The Nag Hammadi Library: The DVD presents its discovery as a radically new window into Gnostic doctrine, a treasury of previously unknown knowledge perhaps deviously hidden by church authorities. But the basic points of Gnostic doctrine have been available for the educated since their inception, preserved for pre-Nag Hammadi research by the writings of Christian, Neo-Platonic, and Pagan contemporaries.

[4] The Gospel of Philip: The only statement given is by revisionist Margaret Starbird. She correctly notes that the text states that Jesus kisses Mary Magdalene, but the tone set by the DVD is that this is strong evidence for a romantic relationship between them. The DVD does not provide the context available in The Gospel of Philip itself, nor even in the New Testament. Not only do several of the letters of Paul encourage believers to greet each other with a holy kiss, but the Gospel of Philip (58:34-59:4) states: "For this reason we all kiss one another. We receive conception from the grace which is in one another." The fact that Gnostic texts use sexual imagery in metaphorical and spiritualized senses is also not mentioned. In other words, the fact that Jesus kisses Mary is presented in the DVD only in our contemporary cultural context, where a kiss is more likely to be interpreted as romantic or erotic.

This movie was very helpful in finding the facts.......2006-06-28

This movie was very helpful in finding the facts. yet, it also provided information about the fiction. Both sides were fairly represented while also letting the viewer know when real factual evidence was available and when it wasn't. Not all of my questions were answered, but that is just history for you....all the questions that could be answered were in this movie, and those left unanswered showed both sides to the story.....i would recommend this movie for those who are confused about the davinci code or who just want to learn a few things regarding the da vinci code.

Not worth the plastic it's stored on.......2006-05-29

To be honest, I've never been that impressed by the kind of programmes the History Channel puts out - too much emphasis on entertainment and not enpough on decent research, historical accuracy, etc. So it was no big surprise to find this programme seriously "skewed", as a previous reviewer put it.

This is a thoroughly lacklustre product which suffers from the same shortcomings that I already mentioned.

So rather than waste my time and yours reviewing something that isn't worth watching in the first place I just want to direct your attention to "The Real Da Vinci Code" released in May this year (2006).
It still isn't the definitive investigation - you'd need more than a couple of hours to cover all the relevant topics, but it has this offering seriously outclassed in every department- even as straight forward entertainment!

Average customer rating:

Beyond The Da Vinci Code

Manufacturer: A&E Television Networks
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

The History Channel
Color, Approx. 100 Minutes

ASIN: B000K22BL4

Product Description

Is it the greatest story ever told - or the greatest story ever sold? A best-selling novel sparks a debate that could change Christianity forever. Were Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and co-leaders of their movement? Was Mary Magdalene, herself, the Holy Grail - the vessel said to hold Jesus's blood--and mother of his descendants? Did the early Church know this "truth" and deliberately mislead followers? Is there a secret, ancient society, the Priory of Sion, which still protects this bloodline? Have some of the most illustrious names in art and science been members? These are some of the questions that Dan Brown's best-selling novel The Da Vinci Code raises. We examine both sides of the story--the conventional view of Christianity and the "alternate history" proposed by Brown--so that viewers can decide.

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