The title of the BBC documentary In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is extremely apt: this film literally retraces the famous conqueror's path over the course of his life and through his various conquests. Hosted by Michael Wood, the program is in the end less about Alexander himself than about the enduring appeal of his myth.

The 240-minute program is broken into four hour-long parts. Starting with the circumstances of Alexander's youth and rise to the Macedonian throne, Wood takes viewers to each place that Alexander lived in, passed through, or conquered. We get a tour of local ruins or battlefields associated with Alexander, and get a chance to meet the local people whose songs, stories, and legends (or even the names of their cities) evoke the legendary Alexander the Great. If nothing else, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great brings to life just how vast his empire really was, as the documentary takes us into a variety of countries: not just Greece, but also Turkey, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and India.

Wood states at the beginning that the purpose of this journey is to untangle the myths and facts about Alexander's life, and to a very limited extent, that's what we get. But for the most part, In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is really a glorified sight-seeing tour. Wood blithely assumes a familiarity with the basic facts about Alexander the Great, and provides absolutely no historical context; even viewers who are well-versed in history would have appreciated some reminders. Likewise, there's almost nothing of real interest unearthed in the course of the documentary. We learn about where Alexander went and the bare essentials of what he did and who he conquered, but by itself that's nothing more than a brief blurb in an encyclopedia.

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is also hampered by its very odd pacing. To be fair, the general chronological structure is well done, and consistently adhered to. It's when it comes to what aspects of Alexander's story to focus on, and which to summarize, that things get odd. We'll be breezing along in an overview of what Alexander was doing in a particular country, only to come to a screeching halt in order to hear a particular battle described in exhaustive detail, down to the individual movements of troops on the battlefield. There's rarely much of an explanation of why we should care about one of these battles; overall, the program is an odd mix of generalities and tiny details, with nothing to tie them together.

What were the social and cultural effects of his wars of conquest? How did he shape the history of the countries he added to his empire? These are the kinds of questions that would have made In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great informative, if it had tried to answer them... but it doesn't. Instead, we get a merry travelogue from Michael Wood, which is passably watchable, but certainly falls short of its potential.

The DVD

Video

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great appears in its original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The image quality for this 1998 production is acceptable, with a generally clean, natural-looking picture. It does have a rather soft look overall, but it's certainly watchable.

Audio

The 2.0 soundtrack here does the best it can with the varied demands of the film footage; some of the scenes are shot in crowded, noisy rooms or while bouncing along a road in the back of a truck, so understandably there's some variation in quality. For the most part, though, the sound is adequate: Michael Wood may occasionally be muffled-sounding or difficult to hear when he's speaking in front of the camera, but his voiceover work is fine.

Extras

There are no special features on this DVD.

Final thoughts

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is a modestly watchable documentary that, as its title suggests, retraces the path of the famous conqueror and provides a sketchy account of his life and accomplishments. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot of informative material in this four-hour program, so I'll suggest it just as a rental if you're particularly interested in the subject. Rent it.