Television viewers over the past few years have seen an impressive surge in the production quality of many shows. A generation ago, shows were stiff and unrealistic. Historical specials were extremely low budget and featured reenactments filled with poor costuming, unrealistic locations, no special effects, and bad acting. However, in recent years, this has all changed.
In my opinion, the History Channel and Discovery Channel are at the forefront of high quality television specials with great production value. The investments made in creating these shows have certainly paid off and the result is a more cinematic experience, that both informs and entertains.
Take, for example, Discovery Channel’s latest historical special - a two-hour look at the construction of the Great Wall of China. Titled, Behind the Great Wall, the documentary educates the viewer on the culture of 16th century China and discusses the socio-economic and political climate that necessitated the construction. But the film doesn’t merely focus on reciting historical fact. It gives the story a human touch by introducing us to the key players in this real-life drama. We learn about their families, their homes, their lifestyles, and personal ambitions. We learn of the personal sacrifice it took to complete this engineering feat.
But the viewer isn’t forced to listen to a stuffy historian talk about these facts. We are taken to 16th century China through powerful reenactments that are as authentic as anything in a big-budget blockbuster. Armies on horseback. Hand-to-hand combat. Cannon blasts. It’s all packed into this very educational and entertaining documentary. I came away from the film with a whole new wealth of knowledge about Chinese history, but felt that I still wanted to know more. In the end, the film was more about the people than the wall itself and was somewhat anticlimatic. I was eager to know more about the features behind the wall that gave the Chinese army such great advantages over their enemies. In all, Behind the Great Wall is another fine example of the great programming on right now at Discovery Channel. You can catch this special again on February 2 at 6/5pm central.
Bottom Line: 3 out of 5 stars
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