LTD Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 (edited) This was originally ment to be a reply in Egypt thread but I got way OT. There seems to be a ton of history buffs around so figured the forum could perhaps use a General random discussion about history - type of a thread.So yeah, general discussion aboout history and mediums delivering it to us is the name of the game. Where and how do you get your dose? Come bitch about Hitler and Stalin! Consult sagely and wise Axl hating GNR fans about finer undercurrents of cold war era Eastern Europe! Ask and give **good** Netflix recommendations etc. Stuff like that.I feel like modern historical documentaries are very narrow minded redneck crap. They can't talk about Ancient Egypt without comparing it to the United States, mentioning Christianity and UFO's. They just can't just talk about Egypt for what it was. A Civilization that formed on the banks of the Nile.This. Fucking this. Million times over.Most all history documets coming from States that I have ever come across are utterly horrible. They all seem to share this rather depressing point of departure. "History is boring and you don't wanna know about that stuff anyway. So! Here's some reality TV, Nostradamus and UFOs thrown in the mix. Not so boring now is it!!!" Too many establishments vomiting this shit out are stuck making history documents for people not interested about history. Where the sense in that is, I couldn't say. It is like making porn for eunuchs.Most of these ridiculous pseudo-history shows are perfectly ok with pretending they are not busy bullshitting living fuck out of their viewers. They are usually happily implying that...well, what they are saying and questions they are asking actually aren't complete out-of-thin-air bullshit dreamed up for sake of entertainment alone....And there is a valid reason to hate these shows. Thanks to Ancient Aliens type of shit, like half of the world now believes Nazca lines might well be a landing pad for aliens and whatnot.Much of American history production with focus on modern history is great though. Errol Morris' The Fog of War with Robert McNamara is easily among best modern history TV things I've ever come across anywhere.It is a very valuable and interesting thing to have person who has gone through so much shit while on such high vantage point to share his POV with all hinfdsight and insight some 40 years out of office have brought. Fog of War is Available on Netflix.While waiting for Futurama to start, there was this show called " Mystery of Viking Sword" on. I was stupid enough to expect they'd get things going by telling about viking culture,craftmanship, viking's approach to warrior society or what made vikings such good warriors in first place. Instead, what I got was "modern day sword expert" beating a fucking block of ice with a sword. To some 80's action flick music.Complete with poor man's Michael Bay action camera work. This was easily most retarded thing I've seen in TV in a good while; I ended up laughing way harder than Futurama could deliver later on. Edited August 8, 2013 by LTD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfuckinga Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Bump. I love history and going to historical sites. I'm really lucky to live in SC, there is TONS of stuff here, from Cowpens to Camden to Columbia to Charleston. Hell Charleston is one of the most historical cities on the east coast. I just find it incredible to walk through say Cowpens(any place applies really) and imagine who stood where I stood and walked where I am walking. Take Fort Moultrie for example. It was used from the Revolutionary War all the way up through WWII. Its huge, and its a lot of fun to walk through. You can even stand on the edge and look out into the harbor and see Fort Sumter, where the Civil War started. I fucking love Charleston. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 You're going to have a tough time getting the real deal by just watching historical documentaries. Read academically reviewed work (or textbooks) for your historical fix; plenty of it is very readable and not dry at all.Aye wfuckinga, I've only been to Charleston once, and I was mostly drunk for it, but I remember it being a very nice historical town. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 Surely The History Channel should be sued for false advertising. How can a television channel called 'History' not show any history. The whole channel is a complete misnomer!! Yet I remember when it was decent, about ten years ago. I remember it putting on a four-part documentary on Napoleon. Those were the days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 (edited) Erm... I'm sort of good at local history, (local to me); for example; Did you know that it is said tormented artist Vincent Van Gogh became warped living in Brixton. I didn't believe it until they put him on their money. Edited January 17, 2014 by Snake-Pit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luciusfunk Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The History Channel used to be awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnold layne Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The History Channel used to be awesome.Seriously. What happened?Rhetorical question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I watch A&E Shows on History Channel UK.History of Shipping Wars, Storage Wars... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I remember my fascination with the history of duck calls at one point.That and being millionaires and devout Christians and blowing stuff up and shooting ducks and stuff educational. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 You realise there is something wrong with America when their 'history docs' are Storage Wars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I really really want DieselDaisy and Georgy to start posting essays back and forth at each other in this thread. Some of the best reading on the forum when that happens. Dead. Fucking. Serious. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lithium Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I really really want DieselDaisy and Georgy to start posting essays back and forth at each other in this thread. Some of the best reading on the forum when that happens. Dead. Fucking. Serious.I was going to say that I agree until I saw the "Dead. Fucking. Serious." part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgy Zhukov Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I really really want DieselDaisy and Georgy to start posting essays back and forth at each other in this thread. Some of the best reading on the forum when that happens. Dead. Fucking. Serious.Not sure if serious...But yeah, I looked at the guide for the History Channel today. Six hours of UFO Files, one hour of Pawn Stars and about 9 hours of Counting Cars.I would even take that inaccurate documentary of The Roman Empire with that annoying southern guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfuckinga Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 History Channel today is a fuckin joke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snake-Pit Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 You realise there is something wrong with America when their 'history docs' are Storage Wars.I don't think you quite understand what's going on.The UK is messed up because our History (channel) is Storage Wars...You see, there's this thing, this network, called A&E, and UK doesn't have it that's why UK is messed up, using History Channel as A&E. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieselDaisy Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The UK one is shit. The US one is shit. And they have the same stuff on, UFO shows etc. That is all we need to know. I actually have two-three history channel boxsets. One is this really iffy series on Rome which has an annoying presenter who keeps relating everything back to American history. So for example, Brutus is likened to Jefferson! It is also very populistic. Gladiatorial combat for example is likened to Tyson-Holyfield II. I hate documentaries where they try to be trendy and relate to popular culture and also have bits of drama in them (because they obviously think us too stupid to have the facts relayed to us without moving images of the events?).Older documentaries are superior. Granda's World At War and Ken Burns' Civil War are two excellent examples. There is also a superb Vietnam doc from the 1980s which ran into about eight episodes. You can find it on Youtube. Mind, I quite liked - well, 'liked' is the wrong word - Nazis: A Warning from History. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 I really really want DieselDaisy and Georgy to start posting essays back and forth at each other in this thread. Some of the best reading on the forum when that happens. Dead. Fucking. Serious. Not sure if serious...I guess this is what I get for almost never being serious, but yeah, I meant that. "Dead. Fucking. Serious." was supposed to put doubts to rest. Didn't work out that way, I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OmarBradley Posted January 17, 2014 Share Posted January 17, 2014 The UK one is shit. The US one is shit. And they have the same stuff on, UFO shows etc. That is all we need to know. I actually have two-three history channel boxsets. One is this really iffy series on Rome which has an annoying presenter who keeps relating everything back to American history. So for example, Brutus is likened to Jefferson! It is also very populistic. Gladiatorial combat for example is likened to Tyson-Holyfield II. I hate documentaries where they try to be trendy and relate to popular culture and also have bits of drama in them (because they obviously think us too stupid to have the facts relayed to us without moving images of the events?).Older documentaries are superior. Granda's World At War and Ken Burns' Civil War are two excellent examples. There is also a superb Vietnam doc from the 1980s which ran into about eight episodes. You can find it on Youtube. Mind, I quite liked - well, 'liked' is the wrong word - Nazis: A Warning from History. Yes, most Ken Burns documentaries are excellent. The Civil War one is on Netflix for those who are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) Yes, most Ken Burns documentaries are excellent. The Civil War one is on Netflix for those who are interested.This^^If people want to get better documentaries....Netflix is the way to go....some decent ones on Hulu Plus as well.The History Channel sold out years ago....most of the stuff on there nowadays is fluffed up "pseudo-history/science" designed for ratings. Edited January 18, 2014 by Kasanova King Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgy Zhukov Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 The UK one is shit. The US one is shit. And they have the same stuff on, UFO shows etc. That is all we need to know. I actually have two-three history channel boxsets. One is this really iffy series on Rome which has an annoying presenter who keeps relating everything back to American history. So for example, Brutus is likened to Jefferson! It is also very populistic. Gladiatorial combat for example is likened to Tyson-Holyfield II. I hate documentaries where they try to be trendy and relate to popular culture and also have bits of drama in them (because they obviously think us too stupid to have the facts relayed to us without moving images of the events?).Older documentaries are superior. Granda's World At War and Ken Burns' Civil War are two excellent examples. There is also a superb Vietnam doc from the 1980s which ran into about eight episodes. You can find it on Youtube. Mind, I quite liked - well, 'liked' is the wrong word - Nazis: A Warning from History. Lawrence Rees has some good stuff.The World At War remains to be the best documentary on The Second World War. Narrated by Laurence Olivier who gets really into it. Russia's War: Blood Upon the Snow by Richard Ovary is also great. The best English language documentary on the Eastern Front. Only thing better than that are the works of David GlantzI know what Rome documentary you are talking about, as I mentioned it in another post. Not only were the historians annoying, (they probably were told to talk like that) but even the reenactments were inaccurate. It is pure Hollywood. They were somewhat accurate until a point but when they start showing Marcus Aurelius, Constantine, Atilla and the Romans Soldiers were still dressed in Late Republic Garb with short Gladius swords and the huge rectangle shields when the real Roman army has changed entirely. They looked more like their auxillary unites than Legionaries. They didn't even use Legions anymore.But they did that because everyone has seen Gladiator so anying different will be confusing. And Ridley Scott didn't bother with accuracies because older audiences would remember Spartacus, The Fall of the Roman Empire and King of Kings.Fuck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfuckinga Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I did like the Presidents series the History Channel didhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSOE537LE4chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuxMKNtdEgThose ones. They're great for school, and I plan on using them when I start teaching.Can anyone recommend some decent docs on the Revolutionary War? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I did like the Presidents series the History Channel didhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSOE537LE4chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMuxMKNtdEg Those ones. They're great for school, and I plan on using them when I start teaching.Can anyone recommend some decent docs on the Revolutionary War?I haven't seen most of the president's series. In all fairness, I do enjoy a lot of the programs on the History Channel....but like others have said, a lot of it is way too "fluffed" up....but I guess that's what they felt they needed to do in order to remain competitive and get ratings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgy Zhukov Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 (edited) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Revolution_%28miniseries%29American Revolution Edited January 18, 2014 by Georgy Zhukov 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfuckinga Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Revolution_%28miniseries%29American RevolutionAppreciated. I'll look for it on DVD at the library.I enjoyed The Bible series they did as well. Did anyone happen to catch that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Nova Posted January 18, 2014 Share Posted January 18, 2014 I enjoyed The Bible series they did as well. Did anyone happen to catch that?I think I caught parts of one or two episodes....seemed ok. My best friend raved about it....I'll have to watch it sooner or later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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