Decoding the Past: Templar [DVD] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

No one is going to accuse the History Channel of being the definitive reference for historical content: the organization is rather a vehicle to provide basic, popular history to a wide audience of history-interested viewers. If you therefore can approach a series such as this one on the Knights Templar understanding the purpose and goals of the History Channel, then it is unlikely you'll end up disappointed. To the contrary, this introduction to the Knights Templar is brilliantly scripted, filmed, and acted, and the series can serve, not only as a great way to understand this medieval organization, but to be thoroughly entertained as you do.

Without trying to reproduce the content that is presented in this series, we can say that this set of four episodes will provide a thorough grounding to understand the Templars, and will do so in a manner that is detailed enough to easily allow the non-historian to segue from the show into additional derivative studies. Although there is a certain mystique about this group that has been fanned in recent years by some best-selling novels, the producers here attempt to stay a steady course through the topic without resorting to too much speculative ideas (although there are some reproduced here, particularly at the end of the series).

In addition to a very strong script, the location filming, along with superior quality video equipment, makes this more of an epic movie in its production values. There is not a moment when we think we are watching poor recreations or sub-standard video reels: this is truly state-of-the-art production quality (although, no, it is not high-definition), and the costumes, recreated scenes, and site locations make this production stand out from others. Be sure also to see the bonus footage, which shows some of the background in creating the series, also an excellent production itself.

Easy five stars for production, script, and meeting the objectives of learning about the Knights Templar. I'd be thoroughly surprised if you did not enjoy it as much as I did!

This documentary does a great job presenting the rise and fall of the Templar Knights. Everything from the theories of their origins, through their military role (especially their famous battles with Saladin), and their financial/banker roles are all nicely covered. Rumors and conspiracy theories are laid out but not presented as fact. The experts are not particularly exciting but they are not too dull. The problem with many history channel videos, with too much repetition following commercial breaks, is not at all bad with this one. So, if you want to learn about the Templar Knights, this is a good disk.

I have watched quite a few DVDs, and read a few articles and a book about The Knights Templar, so I was pleased to find that this DVD had some new material in it which I had not encountered before. While one 100 minute DVD is certainly not going to become the authoritative text on the subject, I thought this was about as comprehensive as it could be in the time allowed. There is a lot of material about The Crusades, a good bit about leaders of Templars such as Jacques DeMolay, and some delving into the intriguing aspects of treasure and lost holy relics. I felt there was good balance between the skeptical and the "we believe everything we hear" scholars of The Knights Templar. Overall, this is the best DVD I have seen on the subject, and I would reccommend it to anyone, but especially to those who are new to the subject.