Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Having heard a few good things about this film I was looking forward to viewing it. While very pleased with the cinematography qualities of the production I was disappointed with the poor writing. It's important to realize that this is not an objective view but rather a very professional production burdened with a bias in favor of Islam. Below are a few examples of that bias.In the first half of the film, while the narrator is explaining how Islam moved through the Middle East and across North Africa, scenes of men mounted on horses or camels are shown riding through desert. And when mention of force is made it is downplayed by noting how most of those conquered saw little change in their daily routine and were happy to have new rulers. Contrast this with later discussion of the first crusade where vivid scenes of fighting and death are shown along with narration explaining how horrible it was for the unsuspecting Muslims who were attacked in their peaceful towns and villages by the evil Christian soldiers from a Europe just emerging from the dark ages.In the Ottoman Empire section they discuss the military expansion of Islam. But unlike the first half of the film where they've downplayed the military aspects and refer to it as the Islamic expansion, now the military aspects cannot be ignored and it is referred to as the "Ottoman expansion." Again contrast this with the treatment of the Crusades where it is referred to as the Christian army (not European/French/Italian) even though the majority were mercenaries and Christian only because they were born in Europe.Discussions of the advancements and additions made by Muslim are numerous. The narrator waxes admiringly about how the Muslims were using paper when Europe was still using parchment. And how there were book stores with hundreds of books in Baghdad while a Christian church in Europe would have been fortunate to have had five parchment books. The fact that the Muslims captured the technology of making paper in their imperialistic conquests is mentioned only in passing. This would be exactly like discussing the Soviet and American space programs of the 50's and 60's while dismissing the contribution of German scientists to both programs.The narrator explains how the Muslims assembled the world's greatest library in Baghdad. No mention made of the great library of Royal Library of Alexandria in Egypt, which pre-dates Islam by some 800 years, and was plundered and ransacked by conquering Muslims. The fact is, much of what is claimed to be of Muslim discovery or creation was merely acquisition or assimilation.The film makes a glowing description of the Muslim Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem.. No mention is made of the fact that Temple Rock, the site of the Dome, is THE most important Jewish religious site. This would be the same as building a synagogue over the Kaaba in Mecca. The point here is that this is a major event in Jewish/Islamic history yet no mention is made of its significance in history or the modern world.There are more but I'll stop here. The preponderance of examples demands concluding that there is a decidedly pro-Islam bias pervading this film. Had the writing taken a more objective position this could have been a documentary worthy of appreciation by generations to come. Watch it for the photography but don't take the "historical facts" too seriously.

Every human with a bit of intelligence combined with objectivity will appreciate what was revealed by this documentary. Watch it and search for the rest if not satisfied. There are some things which are not mentioned in the documentary about Islamic civilization at all. For instance, it does not talk about stars named with Arabic names in the first observatory founded by Muslims. This documentary mostly only sketches the Islamic civilization and it does a very good job with that considering the existence of those ignorant people asking "Do Muslim's believe in God?". It is sad but definitely there are lots of people who will benefit a lot from even 10 minutes of this documentary. It was shocking for me to realize the pilgrims' visits which could be considered as a kind of globalization achieved peacefully so many years ago.

I loved every bit of this documentary, I was really eager to know the genesis and the expansion of Islam. I would recommend this movie/documentary for anyone who wants to have an insight on Islam. And i would also recommend it seeing on a big screen TV. Also the narration by Ben Kingsley is phenomenal.Not many people know that Kingsley is a Muslim ( born to an Indian Muslim Father and British Mom).In this present era, with everything thats been said on TV, this is a great eye-opener for the most beautiful religion of the world. For anyone and everyone to know the history and the truth , i highly recommend.

This is the first documentary that is fair to Islam and the Muslims. It is strongly recommended for anyone who lives in the West, particularly in the USA, and is skeptical of the propaganda that is constantly spread by the current U.S. administration and certain special-interest think tanks and groups.If you are curious about Islam, and one of those who listen with a critical ear, this is a movie for you to watch. It is a first rate production that describes the faith accurately and recounts history as it was. It is also well crafted, with a beautiful cinematography, an excellent narration and a stunning display of art and architecture. Yes, it is missing a few things, but I don't believe anyone could have done a better job in trying to recount 1400 years of history in two hours.