| Reviews & Columns |
|
Reviews DVD TV on DVD Blu-ray 4K UHD International DVDs In Theaters Reviews by Studio Video Games Features Collector Series DVDs Easter Egg Database Interviews DVD Talk Radio Feature Articles Columns Anime Talk DVD Savant Horror DVDs The M.O.D. Squad Art House HD Talk Silent DVD
|
 DVD Talk Forum |
|
|
| Resources |
|
DVD Price Search Customer Service #'s RCE Info Links |
|
Columns
  
 
|
|
|
Exodus Decoded, The
A&E Video // Unrated // October 31, 2006
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Feature
James Cameron had invested a lot of time on making his feature film The Titanic. He was very hands on with the history of the ship. He even had been down in the ocean to check it out many times personally. He's back once again to host The History Channel event, The Exodus Decoded.
The show was written, directed, and also presented by a Simcha Jacobvici, who had pieced together a puzzle that apparently had been left out in plain sight. Simcha has taken a look at some evidence that has been left out in plain sight, yet had been long forgotten about as certain timelines didn't correspond with the evidence in most scholars minds. Mr. Jacobovici has taken considerate care in altering the timeline that has been accepted by most, and proving how this all fits together every single step of the way.
If you're not familiar with the Exodus, it includes stories from the bible such as the birth of Moses, the ten plagues (including the sea water turning into blood, locusts, frogs, the deaths of the first born in every household, etc), and the parting of the Red Sea.
Surprisingly enough, a lot of the evidence that is provided to us does seem to have that 'well of course it makes sense if you alter timelines to your advantage' feel to it, where we have to question if what we're seeing is just too coincidental. At the end of it all though, everything seems too coincidental not to be true. Now that this has been broadcasted and shown to the world, how serious will the evidence presented to us be taken? How will this affect the way people think about God? It probably won't make that much of a dent I'm sure, except for possibly in the community of archeologists, geologists, Egyptologists, and theologians who already base their beliefs on fact. For some people, this may prove the existence of God, as God never was to suspend nature for these miracles or plagues. Instead, God had just manipulated nature for these miracles. For others this may prove that God doesn't exist, as a scientific explanation for all of these occurrences may mean that there is no God because miracles aren't performed by normal (yet rare) occurrences of mother earth.
The Exodus Decoded isn't here to sway people one way or the other. It's a very factual documentary of revelations which does nothing more than set itself out to see if all of these events could have been explained scientifically, and to piece them all together during a similar timeline. The department of belief, and where you should be in that department, is left entirely up to the viewer without any sort of bias to push viewers one way or the other. That's just the way a documentary should be. All of this is presented with state-of-the-art CGI in order to help piece together everything right in front of the viewer's eyes. All of this puts together a wonderful presentation that has me pretty sold on the ideas that Mr. Jacobovici has brought forth to my attention, and you should certainly check out this History Channel title to see for yourself.
Video
This was presented in a 16:9 anamorphic picture that looks really good for a documentary. I was very surprised to see that it wasn't widescreen in a 4:3 format. I was even more surprised to find out the picture quality was pretty good itself as well! There's no noise on the screen, although every once in a while there are some very minor digital artifact 'blocking' going on. Other than that, there's no edge enhancement to complain of, and the black levels are looking very nice and clean while the colors are natural and retain a good level of contrast.
Audio
We have anamorphic picture but there's no 5.1 surround here. We have Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. It sounds very nice for a stereo track though, as Cameron and Jacobovici are in some virtual puzzle machine in this feature and their voices have a 'hallway effect' to them. This is brought out pretty nicely with just two channels, and the rest of the documentary doesn't really call for surround sound.
Extras
The only extra to mention is a History in the Making featurette that chronicles the making of The Exodus Decoded. It's very informative and gives a look at what went into making this feature for The History Channel.
Overall
I like documentaries very much. Call me a dork if you will. If there's one thing that I've come to judge pretty well, it's if a documentary is worth your time or not. The entire presentation of The Exodus Decoded was very modern and the pace of the feature kept the facts moving along enough where I was never getting bored. The hour and a half actually seemed to fly by, and by the time it was over I felt this feature did its job. I was sold on the ideas presented by Jacobovici and Cameron, and learned some of the rarities about nature in the process. It's amazing to learn what this earth is actually capable of, to be able to create something such as the plagues. I highly recommend this title to anyone who likes viewing documentaries or has any interest in seeing what may have caused some of the most well known stories of the bible to come to life.
James Cameron had invested a lot of time on making his feature film The Titanic. He was very hands on with the history of the ship. He even had been down in the ocean to check it out many times personally. He's back once again to host The History Channel event, The Exodus Decoded.
The show was written, directed, and also presented by a Simcha Jacobvici, who had pieced together a puzzle that apparently had been left out in plain sight. Simcha has taken a look at some evidence that has been left out in plain sight, yet had been long forgotten about as certain timelines didn't correspond with the evidence in most scholars minds. Mr. Jacobovici has taken considerate care in altering the timeline that has been accepted by most, and proving how this all fits together every single step of the way.
If you're not familiar with the Exodus, it includes stories from the bible such as the birth of Moses, the ten plagues (including the sea water turning into blood, locusts, frogs, the deaths of the first born in every household, etc), and the parting of the Red Sea.
Surprisingly enough, a lot of the evidence that is provided to us does seem to have that 'well of course it makes sense if you alter timelines to your advantage' feel to it, where we have to question if what we're seeing is just too coincidental. At the end of it all though, everything seems too coincidental not to be true. Now that this has been broadcasted and shown to the world, how serious will the evidence presented to us be taken? How will this affect the way people think about God? It probably won't make that much of a dent I'm sure, except for possibly in the community of archeologists, geologists, Egyptologists, and theologians who already base their beliefs on fact. For some people, this may prove the existence of God, as God never was to suspend nature for these miracles or plagues. Instead, God had just manipulated nature for these miracles. For others this may prove that God doesn't exist, as a scientific explanation for all of these occurrences may mean that there is no God because miracles aren't performed by normal (yet rare) occurrences of mother earth.
The Exodus Decoded isn't here to sway people one way or the other. It's a very factual documentary of revelations which does nothing more than set itself out to see if all of these events could have been explained scientifically, and to piece them all together during a similar timeline. The department of belief, and where you should be in that department, is left entirely up to the viewer without any sort of bias to push viewers one way or the other. That's just the way a documentary should be. All of this is presented with state-of-the-art CGI in order to help piece together everything right in front of the viewer's eyes. All of this puts together a wonderful presentation that has me pretty sold on the ideas that Mr. Jacobovici has brought forth to my attention, and you should certainly check out this History Channel title to see for yourself.
Video
This was presented in a 16:9 anamorphic picture that looks really good for a documentary. I was very surprised to see that it wasn't widescreen in a 4:3 format. I was even more surprised to find out the picture quality was pretty good itself as well! There's no noise on the screen, although every once in a while there are some very minor digital artifact 'blocking' going on. Other than that, there's no edge enhancement to complain of, and the black levels are looking very nice and clean while the colors are natural and retain a good level of contrast.
Audio
We have anamorphic picture but there's no 5.1 surround here. We have Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. It sounds very nice for a stereo track though, as Cameron and Jacobovici are in some virtual puzzle machine in this feature and their voices have a 'hallway effect' to them. This is brought out pretty nicely with just two channels, and the rest of the documentary doesn't really call for surround sound.
Extras
The only extra to mention is a History in the Making featurette that chronicles the making of The Exodus Decoded. It's very informative and gives a look at what went into making this feature for The History Channel.
Overall
I like documentaries very much. Call me a dork if you will. If there's one thing that I've come to judge pretty well, it's if a documentary is worth your time or not. The entire presentation of The Exodus Decoded was very modern and the pace of the feature kept the facts moving along enough where I was never getting bored. The hour and a half actually seemed to fly by, and by the time it was over I felt this feature did its job. I was sold on the ideas presented by Jacobovici and Cameron, and learned some of the rarities about nature in the process. It's amazing to learn what this earth is actually capable of, to be able to create something such as the plagues. I highly recommend this title to anyone who likes viewing documentaries or has any interest in seeing what may have caused some of the most well known stories of the bible to come to life.
-About the Author- Michael Zupan is primarily a film guy, but has a variety of places where you can enjoy his work otherwise. Check Bytesizeimpressions.com for video game op-ed pieces and podcasts, and be sure to check out the sister site, Byte-Size Cinema, linked up top. This writer also contributes significantly to in-print magazines such as Minecraft Explorer and Fortnite Explorer!
|
| Popular Reviews |
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Sponsored Links |
|
|
| Release List | Reviews | Shop | Newsletter | Forum | DVD Giveaways | Blu-Ray | Advertise |
|
Copyright 2024 DVDTalk.com All Rights Reserved. Legal Info, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use,
Manage Preferences,
Your Privacy Choices 
| |||||||