Search - Empires: Queen Victoria's Empire on DVD

Definitely worth watching

K. Hague | 08/31/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a professor of Victorian literature, I think this film is quite good. It astutely captures the complexity of Queen Victoria, 19th-century Britain, and empire building. The level of detail is impressive, and it's incredibly informative."

Victoria and Her Times -- A Great Presentation!

Charles Barfield | Richmond, Virginia | 06/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the best DVD about the Victorian Age that I have ever seen! Part of the show presents the life of Victoria and Albert. Other parts focus on the economic, social, and military aspects of the British Empire.

I particularly enjoyed the following anecdote about civil rights in India.
The British allowed the Indians to keep their religion and most aspects of their native culture. However, they did forbid certain uncivilized practices. For example, they exterminated the cult of Kali which involved murdering people as sacrifices to the goddess of destruction.

But, best of all is the part of the video where an Indian "nativist" stands-up for civil rights. "It's wrong for all you British to come here and tell us what we can do in our religious practices. This is a Hindu funeral. We should run it our way.... Power to the people!" And the British officer replied, "Well, we have some customs of our own in England. We HANG men who burn living women!" You see, the native habit was to burn the widow on the husband's funeral pyre. Isn't it delicious? 21st century morality demands that we view all cultures and religions as equally valid. Imperialism was terrible, etc., etc., etc. But this DVD is honest enough to tell both sides of the story.

In my opinion, QUEEN VICTORIA'S EMPIRE gives the average educated person everything he needs to know about the British Empire in the 1800s."

A hit!

Samuel Ross | Dallas, TX | 01/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The Empires series is all over the place:

SUPERB:
Napoleon

GOOD:
Martin Luther
Islam
The Greeks

ALRIGHT:
The Medici
Peter&Paul
Japan
The Kingdom of David

SNORE-FEST:
Egypt
Rome

So I didn't know WHAT to expect from Queen Victoria. But I really enjoyed it. It's one of the best of the Empires series: The Crystal Palace, The Crimean War, Dr. Livingston, India, The Boer war, The Diamond mines etc. Very informative and entertaining.

One other thing: why is Donald Sutherland narrating this thing? Of all people, can they not get someone British?"

Quite informative - well narrated

C. Jones | Tallahassee, FL USA | 12/31/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We enjoyed learning the history of England during the long reign of Queen Victoria. I must have been exposed to some of this information in a college world history course but feel after viewing approximately 220 minutes of well narrated and presented material that it all makes sense now. The information is presented with photographs, drawings and re-enactments of major events in British history and included even the brutal events of India and Sudan with a straight forward approach. Donald Sutherland is a GREAT narrator - he was easily understood with just the right timbre and inflection to his voice. We plan to watch this again in about six months to gain even more understanding. A good sequel is "Edward the King" - miniseries by BBC. These two together will really help the viewer gain understanding of the events leading up to World War I. Five Stars for certain."