Microcinema DVDs - Terry Jones Collection, The

2010-02-03 DVD Verdict
By Dave Ryan

You might think—as I did at first—that The Terry Jones Collection is probably a boxed set of Jones' very entertaining Medieval Lives and Barbarians series, given that these are Jones' most recent and most lauded documentary series. You would, however, be wrong. Alas.

But fear not—this is still a collection of Terry Jones documentaries; they're just a bit older. This two-disc set actually contains four Jones documentaries: Ancient Inventions, a three-part BBC series from 1998 (which aired on the Discovery Channel in the US), and three "History" documentaries from 2002-3: The Surprising History of Sex and Love, The Hidden History of Egypt, and The Hidden History of Rome. Even though these docs are a little old, the historical record hasn't changed much since then, so they're not made up of stale info.

You don't watch these documentaries for their academic rigor or their exhaustive research, though. You watch them to enjoy Jones' witty take on the subject matter. Who would have guessed that Terry Jones, the guy who spent years in drag playing a cockney harridan on Monty Python's Flying Circus, would turn out to be one of the best documentary hosts in the business? This is a field where you expect your hosts to be tweedy and distinguished—you know, like the Attenboroughs. Well, Jones is plenty distinguished (he's clearly an intelligent fellow), but is anything but tweedy. He keeps the narrative light, entertaining, and funny through all six of these hours. He approaches the subjects—and the experts therein—with a healthy dose of curiosity, and asks the types of questions that the average person would probably ask. Therefore, it's easy for an average viewer to relate to him and to the subject matter, making for an excellent informational experience. There is a slight bit of overlap in content here—especially between the "Sex and Love" episode of Ancient Inventions and The Surprising History of Sex and Love, but it doesn't feel like recycled material. For the most part, these documentaries are collections of interesting facts rather than historical narratives, which keeps them from getting too heavy. But that isn't to say they're without any informational value—they are actually quite interesting.

The video and sound quality are typical for late-'90s-era material. The Ancient Inventions episodes look a bit old; picture quality is a bit on the grainy side. The History episodes, which are newer, look better. All are presented in anamorphic widescreen. Sound is provided in the broadcast stereo mix. There are no extras included.

Terry Jones has definitely put a unique spin on the historical documentary in the past decade. While Medieval Lives and Barbarians are still the best of his work, these somewhat-hard-to-find (unless you spot one of their airings on Discovery) documentaries are also quality additions to his canon. They are well worth a look for fans of Jones' historical adventures.

2009-08-25 DVD Talk
By Jason Bailey

Several of the Monty Python alumni have, as they've gotten older, stumbled into about the least likely secondary profession imaginable: educators. Michael Palin got there first, with several acclaimed BBC travel series (Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle, etc.); John Cleese did a BBC mini-series called The Human Face and followed it up with TV documentaries on wine and soccer. But the leap from ribald comic to television documentary host makes the most sense for Terry Jones, a longtime history buff whose informative and humorous looks at ancient civilizations have been assembled for the new two-disc Terry Jones Collection.

The first disc collects the three shows of his 1998 Discovery Channel mini-series "Ancient Inventions". This jolly series puts forth the notion that many of our most ingenious and modern innovations were, at least in embryonic form, utilized by ancient civilizations. Each of the three episodes tackles a different area of modern life and technology, and our grinning, globe-trotting host travels to the regions in question and examines their "primitive" yet advanced tools.

Episode one, "War and Conflict," finds Jones examining such early weaponry as the boomerang ("the world's first guided missile"), the Molotov cocktail (the weapon of choice, he says, for "revolutionaries like me"), early guns and cannons, and even a flamethrower. He also touches on codes and communication, battlefield medicine, and scientific advances in warfare. Episode two, "Sex and Love," is expectedly cheekier (pardon the pun) than the other installments; there are plenty of laughs in Jones' eyebrow-raising examination of not only the obvious run-ups to the act of love (Egyptian make-up, the Kama sutra, early birth control and pregnancy tests) but unexpected innovations that came about as a result of sex (he notes that the first clock was invented "not to tell time, but to regulate the sex life of the emperor of China"). Episode three, "City Life," examines the first "cities" of the Middle East, India, Greece, and Central and South America, and how many of our modern conveniences (high rises, fire engines, concrete, banking, even toilet paper) were first used there. Again, Jones makes some unexpected connections; my favorite was the moment in which he muses, "The ancient Greeks apparently invented the hamburger."

Throughout the mini-series, our host is consistently engaging, funny, and genuinely excited about the subject matter. He also has plenty of opportunities for his cheerful good humor and occasional dry ad-libs, and directors Phil Grabsky and Daniel Percival have fun dressing him up in period duds to illustrate the stories being told; in one ingenious sequence, they do a series of cross-fades showing the host in steadily increasing amounts of armor, to show how battle garb was amended and perfected over time. The shows are also briskly paced, which helps things from getting too dry; in one wonderful scene, for example, they shoot his explanation of the "ultimate weapon" from three moving close-ups, and then intercut them. There are clever stylistic touches like that throughout; Jones and the filmmakers take great, and appreciated, pains to make sure these shows aren't just history lessons (even when it means going into some of the more stomach-churning details, like how women in Greece would cover themselves with the sweat of their favorite gladiators). Reenactments, related stock footage, computer animations, drawings, hieroglyphics, even models are used to impart information in the most dynamic way possible.

The second disc is comprised of three stand-alone programs; they have the same winsome tone and sense of fun, though these often find Jones interviewing and touring with historians and scholars (as opposed to "Ancient Inventions," which is strictly a one-man show). The first, "The Surprising History of Sex & Love," sounds like it would cover the same ground as the middle episode of the mini-series, but this one is less about technology and more of an examination of sexual mores through the ages; Jones (and his experts) discuss the origination of sexual morality in religion, the switch from early eroticism in Indian culture, Puritanism, odd sex laws, and more. But as with the previous special, it's full of great tossed-off tidbits and trivia; the highlight here is the amusing anecdote that Corn Flakes were originally developed to help reduce sex drive.

"The Hidden History of Egypt" begins with a booming voice-over and big music, before Jones interrupts and notes, "Look, quite honestly, this stuff isn't what interests me." The focus of this special (and the next) is not the tombs and pyramids, not how royalty died, but how common people lived. He examines the day-to-day life of an Egyptian commoner, checking out a typical Egyptian home, investigating their language and religion, and going so far as to sample the clothing, diet, and make-up of the day. "The Hidden History of Rome" takes on a similar approach and structure; its intro separates the haves and the have-nots, and taking on a typical citizen as his protagonist, Jones looks into how they lived their lives. The Roman special takes greater pains to examine the wealth divide (and how that impacted what was left behind by these cultures), even going so far as to pose an interesting question: "Was it worse to be a poor but free Roman, or a slave?" One enjoyable section has Jones and an expert on Roman cuisine shop for and prepare a Roman workman's lunch, while he has some fun checking out the old Roman baths. This final special comes to a stronger conclusion than the others; he thoughtfully summarizes the good and bad of the period.

Throughout the specials, the former Python proves an excellent host; his enthusiasm and good humor are infectious. Sometimes just hearing his Pythonesque readings gets a laugh; I giggled a bit at his description of "chopping it up into bits and moving it to the top of a cliff" (as you can see, it's not an inherently funny line, but something about the way he says it...). Jones is clearly having a good time playing with the props and gallivanting around in the funny costumes, but he also has a palpable love for the history and for sharing what he's learned. The specials aren't perfect--they drag in spots, some of the conclusions are a stretch, and there is some repeating of information (and footage) from one disc to the next--but all in all, they're nimble and fun, an enjoyable excursion that could have very easily been a chore to sit through.
The DVDs:

Each disc comes in a standard-width plastic case, with a cardboard slipcase housing the two individual cases. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.
Video:
Same goes for the anamorphic widescreen presentation, which sports fine contrast and good color saturation, though the image does get occasionally messy, with some grain and minor compression artifacts (particularly in the backgrounds of wide shots). There is also one noticeable glitch, early in "The Hidden History of Egypt", in which the picture stutters briefly and freeze-frames for a moment as Jones' audio continues. That's an isolated complaint, however; the overall image is quite acceptable, particularly for television programs that are as much as a decade old.
Audio:
The set comes with a subdued but completely appropriate 2.0 soundtrack. The mix is very good--Jones' narration and host segments, as well as the interviews, are crystal clear, and well-mixed with the (surprisingly good) musical score and occasional sound effects and ambient sound. This isn't the kind of material that cries out for a 5.1 remix, so the standard stereo sound proves more than adequate.
Final Thoughts:
The Terry Jones Collection should attract and please fans of the Python boys' solo work, as well as those who enjoy such offbeat historical works as the Cartoon History of the Universe books. The shows are certainly an acquired taste, but for receptive audiences, they are chock full of interesting facts and obscure information, and Jones' good-natured and frequently funny hosting is an excellent candy coating for this nutritional set.

2009-07-10 Synergy Magazine

The Terry Jones collection is a real joy. Jones bring his pythonesque style of humour to history, social customs and technology in a way which is both extremely amusing and informative. While many of the Monty Python team have made documentaries, Jones docos are unique in that they have a rather nice bite. Jones is clearly not enamored with religious conservatism and throws his lot in the workers rather than the establishment so offers a breath of fresh air in a field where so many reserve their opinions. He is honest, sarcastic, informative and above all, entertaining. There is a lot to like in his presentation; he combines globetrotting to original sites with re-creations and animations of early technology to great effect. He also documents ancient technology from many different cultures, including Aztec, Indian and Chinese, avoiding the western bias still found in many documentaries on these subjects. The first disc brings together the three programs which made up the 1998 Discovery Channel miniseries Ancient Inventions. Jones wants us to truly appreciate that there is “nothing new under the sun” so examines a bewildering range of so-called modern technological advances showing how their precedents are to be located in ancient ingenuity. He takes three different areas of life: war, love and the city and examines the various inventions related to the subjects. Episode one is on War and Conflict and examines all manner of ancient weaponry, including the Boomerang (which he proves was not invented in Australia ! Shock horror !), the Molotov cocktail, guns, cannons and a very early flamethrower. He also discusses the byproducts of war and how they gave birth to medical advances and new forms of communication. Episode two is on Love and Sex and preempts some of the material covered in the individual program on the subject found on disc two. Jones has a particular beef with moral puritans and sexual suppression and so when dealing with sex is especially amusing. He uncovers all sorts of interesting inventions which were made due to pressure of love (and lust). The first clock, for example, was developed by a Buddhist monk in China to assist the emperor regular his sexual activities to the sacred astrological timetable which was the foundation of his lineage. Then there are the first herbal forms of birth control, day after pills, abortion potions and even pregnancy tests! Episode three is on City Life and examines the development of the concept of the city from the Middle East to India, Greece and Central America to modern times. Jones then considers the various technologies which make city life possible ranging from high rise buildings (Roman structures even got to eight stories) to fire engines, fast-food to toilets! The second disc offers three individual programs, The Surprising History of Rome, The Surprising History of Egypt and The Surprising History of Love and Sex. The programs on Rome and Egypt offer a very different view than we normally receive of these great civilizations. Rather than focusing on the great edifices and architecture of Rome and Egypt or on the upper classes and royalty, Jones presents the lives of the working class. We get a fascinating view of what they wore, how they worked, what they eat and what their lives were like. These are illustrated by excellent archaeology and history but also by Jones trying on their clothes and eating their foods, even offering us ancient recipes! This is hands-on archaeology which is engaging, entertaining and extremely informative. The Surprising History of Sex and
Love is a real gem. In many ways here Jones shows his hand more than in any of the others. He offers a clear and honest history of views of sexuality, from the sex positive views of ancient pagan cultures to the sexual suppression forged by
militarism and Christianity. Along the way we are treated to everything from a history of syphilis to the laws regulating prostitution. Some of the most amusing aspects of the program come from the strange trivia Jones presents about cultural attitudes to sex and morality. It is a surprising adult program yet presented in such a way that it is not only informative but amusing. Jones has the ability to discuss the most sensitive of subjects in a subtle way which is both inoffensive and at the same time damn funny. This is a superb series of documentaries; they balance humour and wit with a highly informative script. The
presentation offers lots of onsite explorations, occasional experts, reenactments, animations, models and experiments to keep the subjects explored as interesting as possible. When you combine Jones humour and fast paced presentation you have a highly successful set of documentaries.

2009-01-28 Daily Mail

Fascinating

2009-01-28 Radio Times

Highly enjoyable

2009-01-28 The Sunday Telegraph

Jones makes history jolly.

2009-01-28 Evening Standard
By Victor Lewis-Smith

Jones’s enthusiasm and humor ensured that this lesson was never a drag….just the sort of mensch who can bring a difficult subject to life.