The Age of Commercialism

Highly Overrated But Still Good

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Common! This nothing has with archeology, it's fake by fake. How you can trust anybody, who breaks in any place, trying to find "clue", oh yes, and suddenly he sees wings of angels or cross or labyrinth or stone in bull-corner or anything like this and knows where to go then? "See, it looks like skull - definitely skull of Mayan children or priests who hidden talking cross!" - "Oh, amazing! It's too small for coffin it must be arch of covenant!" - "Superb, thus sculpture looks like little box, it is clue pointing to this door!" Really funny. And what is surprising - they found nothing! Arch of covenant is hidden beyond wooden wall, so we leave it. Mayan talking cross is definitely hidden beyond stone block under water. Etc. And what this really annoying editing? I know spectators could have lower IQ but not all are stupid.

I have only been able to catch 2 episodes of Legend Quest. It is a well choreographed and edited show and makes a good travelogue with gorgeous scenery and a good history lecture of ancient legends. But I have a problem with the conclusions at the end.I was really upset when the host theorized that the spearhead that pierced Christ was secreted in Area 51. Though not admitted publicly, the spearhead recovered by General Patton was stored in the Fort Knox Gold Repository. The crown of King Stephan of Hungary was stored there as well but was better publicized, especially when President Carter decided to give it back to Hungary while the country was still under communist rule (which upset my Hungarian born wife to no end as she was afraid the communists would destroy it). It is logical to assume that many historical artifacts are stored at Fort Knox other than just tons of gold bullion. But don't try to sneak in there to look for it. You won't make more than 10 yards inside the fence before becoming history yourself.Another episode was on the Stone of Divinity (or something like that). The search and scenery were well presented but heavily edited. The scene of finding what appears to be the stone was strictly dramatics. The flooring with the trap door is less than 20 years old (no mildew or dry rot on the beams) so the caretakers of the Castle on Iona have known a black monolith of some sort has been down there a long time.Perhaps the best looking part of the show is Kinga Phillips. Though her biography shows her as being born in Poland, the name Kinga is Hungarian. That's the same name as my wife's Hungarian sister, and one of our nieces by her brother. She is a professional actress and not an archaeologist but works well with the host as well as being eye appealing.So, if the endings and findings were done more realistically (such as the Iona custodian telling them there's a big black rock in that small room under a trap door), I wouldn't groan so much.And as for Groom Lake Air Force Base (science-fictionally called Area 51), give me a break. You can see every building on Google Earth and read the runway markings. At best I think it's a decoy to keep UFO hunters busy and security personnel and procedures trained and practiced for real secret bases.Yet I still like the show but mostly for entertainment rather than historical accuracy.

Legend Quest is SyFy's attempt to create a modern Indiana Jones (with a bit if Dan Brown thrown in for good measure), and is about as historically accurate. Host Ashley Cowie certainly looks the part, right down to the 5 o'clock shadow and the shoulder bag (it's a satchel!) In a half an hour of television, this "archaeological explorer" (whatever that means) seeks to solve the great mysteries that have plagued historians and archaeologists for centuries. Along with him is Kinga Phillips, a buxom "field producer" who's sole purpose is to be a sounding board for Cowie's wild assumptions and theories. Some of his leaps of logic are laughable at best. "Hey, this two headed eagle has wings. The Ark of the Covenant had angels with wings. It must be a clue!". The show's structure is much like a treasure map. "Take 20 paces to the the south west". One clue leads to another and another. If it were that easy, they would have solved these centuries ago. Rubish.

I honestly thought this show had promise at first, but as I watched episode after episode, I realized it wasn't going anywhere. The main dude (I honestly didn't even bother to remember his name because I found him THAT non-interesting) puts clues randomly together. Give him a stick and he'll say to go left, right, into the temple, under the water, travel to 3 different countries, and there you go. He has his "idea" of where the legendary artifact may be. But he cannot make sure because of some stupid reason. It's either protected, not enough information, too dangerous, or something else.I have also done research on some of what he claimed was "history". Most of it is meaningless babble.