1066: The Battle for Middle Earth (DVD)

To have 2 invaders trying to conquer England at the same time and it is real. Maybe some of my ancestors defended their country, while other ancestors from the North attacked. This gives a actual account of those events that occurred in 1066 including the battle of Hastings. Get a copy of middle earth and enjoy.

I am the sort of person who enjoys documentaries and pseudo documentaries so my expectations are not to expect fine art. I enjoyed this film because it attempted to show how ordinary Anglo-Saxons attempted to cope with the two invasions of 1006. The battle scenes are focused on the participants, not on the leaders. It is an attempt to show that the Bayeaux Tapestry shows the full horrors of war on the people.

A very good re-enactment of the events leading up to and including the battle of Hastings. While obviously made on a frugal budget you get the feel of what it must have been like. The battle at Stamford bridge and the forced marches were probably the most to blame for Harold's loss at Hastings,rather than the Normans,who had time to land and organise before the Saxon response.

I first got it because I couldn't resist seeing how they came up with the title. It is a lesson in History and language. Though most of the characters are fictional, the story is true.

B movie that is boring

Omg....the silly references to middle earth and the Norman orcs were just absurd. This series would also have been so much better without the ponderous and disingenuous narration of Ian Holm. The storyline could have carried itself without his additional comments. An interesting movie for those unfamiliar with the story or perhaps a sixth grade history class.

Very interesting movie about 1066 in England the Anglo Saxon invasion

Very little dramatization or character development. Interesting as a high school level documentary

This is a magnificent new take on what really happened, as told by the people who were there. The story weaves its way through three major themes: Crowhurst village/shire folk; Stamford Bridge near York, beyond the Derwent river and the last of the Vikingr; and Hastings hill in Sussex and conquest of Middle Earth (the land of men between heaven and hell), by the Orcs of Normandy. Does this sound awfully familiar? Yes, there really were shire folk, governed locally by a shire reeve (sheriff), and these Anglo-Saxon folk believed that Normans were Orcs (monsters), and there is a real Derwent river. So now you know part of the story.We're introduced to the "genteel" system of English warfare where the local militia is raised by a local Huscarl (captain) for the King's warband each spring after planting is done. Untrained farmers are recruited to fight raiders and such, for the summer fighting season, after which everyone goes home for the harvest. That is until the fateful spring of 1066, when everything changed, forever! Now these farmers are thrown against the most fierce pack of savage raiders in history, the Norse Vikingr (boatmen). But strangely, how could these brutes know that they would be the last of their kind and would herald the end of the Viking era? And at the hands of farmers fighting for their homeland! Then, by a cruel twist of fate, the remnant of these same victorious but exhausted farmers, is thrust against an invading force of Norman Orcs, far to the south, ruthless and determined to conquer at all costs! The Bayeaux tapestry of this historic event was commissioned by the Norman war-Duke William, now King of England. His version got in the history books. The people tell a slightly different story. For you sword and shield buffs, history gurus and lovers of battle and mayhem, you'll not be disappointed.

The writers suggest there is a lot of conjecture and speculation about the history of 1066 in England. A tapestry and some written evidence are all that really exists- so the story is a bit of a stretch at best! Factual or not it is an interesting account of might have happened leading up to the Battle of Hastings.It is a movie combing blood and guts, a bit of social history, and using that almost as a teaching vehicle about the years England dramatically changed forever, and with repercussions still evident with and from the conquest by the Normans; who by this account are a very brutish and unlikeable lot! Ironically, they were themselves descendants of Vikings. Normans were actually quite sophisticated too, but certainly not as indicated by this movie version of them.Entertaining, it is.. acting was OK but not great... it did come together very well and could have easily been a train wreck. As far as entertainment there is something for every type of audience; however, perhaps not enough in the movie as a whole, for everyone. My rating is abut 7 out of 10. Beware it is a mini series combined together- about 150 minutes to watch the whole thing.

The title is misleading but this DVD tells the story of the Normans' conquer of England in 1066..( Middle Earth is England between two bodies of water) The story is narrated by a sympathizer of Anglo Saxon England and the 3 episodes tell the of the battles that Harold's Army had to fight, first against the Invading Danes in the North and then against William's invading army in the South in Hastings. The Saxons army literally ran all the way across England. in the defense of their homeland. The third episode mostly tells the story of the awful aftermath as the victorious Normans burn and pillage the towns and villages in Southern England. There is the great battle at Hastings in Episode 2 that is surely memorable and the battle lin Episode 1 is also very well done.If you like English History, you will love this DVD.

Awesome, I wish it was available in blu ray though.

what the heck?