Ancient Olympics: Let the Games Begin
2004•NR•52m•Released
DocumentaryHistory
Come back with us to Ancient Greece, 2,500 Years ago to the original Olympic Games. The ancient Games, like our modern Olympics, included champions and cheaters, glory and scandals, bitter rivalries and contests of strength, speed and savage combat. Set in 448 BC when the pounding of horse's hooves and the brutal hand-to-hand combat could be heard and seen by the crowds that filled the Olympic stadium. This one-hour special event follows the glory and corruption of the arc of a single, five-day Olympiad. The competitions include chariot racing, running, jumping, discus, javelin and two man-to-man combat finals-boxing and pankration, a form of extreme fighting in which death was not uncommon. With the help of sports historians and great athletes such as George Chuvalo and Olympic medallists Donovan Bailey and Angela Schneider, viewers travel back to a very different life-in a very different world.
Director
Jane Armstrong
Writer
Herrie ten Cate, Allen J Abel
Languages
English
Studio
History
Cast
Fred Napoli
Host
George Chuvalo
Himself
Donovan Bailey
Himself
Angela Schneider
Herself
Recommended
6.7
Titanic: 20 Years Later with James Cameron
2017
7.1
What We Left Behind: Looking Back at Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
2018
6.2
Atlantis Rising
2017
7.3
Apollo: Missions to the Moon
2019
7.8
London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Isles of Wonder
2012
6.9
Mountain
2017
6.9
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
2019
7.5
The Seat
2025
7.3
Unknown: The Lost Pyramid
2023
7
Girl Rising
2013
7.2
180° South
2010
8.2
The Untold History Of The United States
2012
6.8
Looking for Richard
1996
6.4
Why We Fight: Prelude to War
1942
7.4
Above Majestic
2018
8
My Mom Jayne
2025
7.3
Red Army
2015
7.5
Neil Young: Heart of Gold
2006
6.4
The Captains
2011
6.9
Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett
2021
Similar Movies
La tanière
2008
8
Morra
1971
6
Pleasure Machines: The History of Pinball
1998
7.3
One Day in September
1999
6.7
Salute
2008
World Debut: From Outsiders to the Olympics
2021
7.1
The Dacians
1967
Die kalten Ringe
2021
8
FPS: First Person Shooter
2023
6.2
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Opening Ceremony: Harmony
2026
8
The Race to Dope
2016
Churandy: De Eindsprint
2022
8
Queens of Combat: Rome's Female Gladiators
2026
Powerplay - The Best Ice Hockey Team for the Olympics
2026
6.5
Sebastiane
1976
5.9
Julius Caesar
1970
8
Cœurs d'athlètes
2003
5.7
Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare
2006
10
The Lost Pharaoh: The Search for Akhenaten
1980
10
The Immortal City
1954