This video is worth the price of admission just to see the marvelous time lapse shot of a dead rat being reduced to a skeleton by maggots, or the brains of a mummy being drained through the nose by an Egyptologist after a few taps with an obsidian blade. A veritable celebration of death, this superb National Geographic production travels the world to discover how different cultures observe the afterlife, how mummies and skeletons have been preserved and what we can learn from them today. Narrated in droll fashion by Hot Lips--I mean Sally Kellerman--the video touches on cryonics, mummification, cremation, forensics and even takes viewers above the ozone layer to witness the latest in new age-y death rituals, such as having your bones scattered in the earth's outer atmosphere to reenter the world as shooting stars. From under sand dunes in China, from bogs in the UK, from caves in France, from under the ice cap in Greenland, and from mountaintops in Italy, bodies in this video turn up faster than dead teens in a horror flick. Parents will be glad to know, however, that most scenes are handled tastefully, my opening comments notwithstanding. There was just enough gross out value to keep my elementary school-age kids interested (the step by step reenactment of an Egyptian mummification ritual with an actual dead body is out of this world) without causing nightmares. If, as this video posits, the purpose of life is "to be remembered and nothing more," then perhaps we should all put aside the Mary Kay and Rogaine, and invest in a nice big vat of frankincense and myrrh for the millennium. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: I, J, H, C, P. (R. Ray)
Ancient Graves: Voices of the Dead
(1999) 60 min. $19.98. National Geographic Television/Warner Home Video (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. Vol. 14, Issue 3
Ancient Graves: Voices of the Dead
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As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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