Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids (2001)
Film:
DVD:

Directed by David de Vries
Written by N/A
Starring Peter Woodward

Features:

• Making of Featurette

Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: Rent It.

This series from the History Channel really has an excellent point. When the average joe thinks of Egypt...hell, who are we kidding? The average joe couldn't find Egypt on a map, much less think about it. So let's start over. When the educated joe thinks of Egypt, his mind normally lights on the Pyramids at Giza, or the Sphynx, or maybe even that godawful animated movie from DreamWorks. But there's a heckuva lot more going on. Or went on, rather, since most of the series covers ancient Egypt. But you don't think about the excavations at the Valley of the Kings, or giant graves that house boats at Abydos. And you've also never seen some of the stuff they show in here.

It's a sharp little series. Actor Peter Woodward is your host, and while at first he's cheesy and slightly annoying, by the second disc his presentation grows on you. But regardless, it's the information that's the star here, and there's plenty of that. It's done very well, demonstating everything from what it's like to crawl through a space the size of an air duct through the ruined depths of Valley of the Kings Site 5 (KV5) all the way to Woodward demonstrating the use of Egyptian makeup and wigs. Which is...moderately amusing, I must admit.

The drawbacks to the set is that you still have to deal with them as they aired, which means closing credits between episodes, and the "lead-in" which tells you what show you're about to see on each. These get old really darn quick. Also, the behind-the-scenes featurette has some amusing moments, but nothing worth writing home about.

Now, is this worth owning? Well, if you're a history teacher this would be great for pretty much any age group. If you're a history buff who just loves this stuff, then yes. Otherwise, it's definitely worth a rental.