THE MOVIE

Presumably, anyone reading this review has at least heard of Dan Brown's best selling book The Da Vinci Code. For the unitiated, the main thrust of the story is that legendary artisan Leonardo Da Vinci was the one-time head of a secret society who coveted the true nature of the Holy Grail, one of religions most enduring ambiguities.

The novel's author, Brown, although creating a fictional account, claims to have based this story on his years of research into religion, secret societies and art. His narrative has two religious elements, The Catholic Church and Priory of Sion, and asserts that these two groups have allegedly warred for centuries to keep the nature and secrets of the grail under wraps.

Tony Robinson, probably best known as Baldrick from English comedy Blackadder, has gone on an academic pilgrimage to make up his own mind on the controversy surrouning the Grail legend. It's in The Real Da Vinci Code that he presents this quest.

In the course of his investigations, Robinson interviews Grail enthusiasts and academics alike, most of whom have written books about the hunt of the Grail. The noticeable thing about these sort of documentaries is a lack of input from Brown himself. This is no different really. Aside from a small grab from what looks to be the U.S Today Show, they were unable to get any comment. And there's the rub. Imagine for a second you are Dan Brown. You've written a work of fiction. You have so many people taking it seriously. Would you want to justify yourself? Probably not.

In the end though The Real Da Vinci Code is yet another in a long line of recent documentaries vowing to uncover the truth about this controversy. It is a companion piece to the book for those who're interested, but is another me-too TV special in an already crowded subset.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

The video on the disc is presented in the 16:9 friendly format of 1.78:1.

Among the varied sites of historical interest Robinson visits, there are a lot of very degraded and eroded ruins on display. The transfer brings them in their less than perfect condition, and does so cleanly and with significant detail. That's really the benefit of shooting on digital, the quality is great on DVD.

Some of the video is sourced from materials decades old, and are comparably and very understandably of lesser quality. Aside from that, it looks as though this solid transfer is the best it could possibly be.

Audio:

The audio on the disc is plain old Stereo, with little to spice it up. Treating very naturally the dialogue from Robinson and the host of interviewees, the audio is fairly pedestrian and without anything remarkable. That said, it treats it's subject with care, and relies enormously on it's clarity. It isn't completely dialogue based, and the music is suitably themed.

So while there's a lot of echo (as most of these interviews happen in expansive rooms), there is none of the other stuff DVD enthusiasts love (LFE, directionality, etc).

Not great, but not half bad either.

THE EXTRAS

None.

SUMMARY

Conspiracy theorists unite. Robinson takes us on a tour that by increments works through the facts, the myths and the beliefs surrounding The Da Vinci Code. It looks at the key figures and places in the book, and tests the verascity of the claims Brown makes. Robinson, easily the best component of the production, is a fitting guide to this documentary.

The existence of this documentary does not take anything away from the book, but warns people to be careful of what is fact from fiction. And while it takes the viewer around the world, it, like the book, should be seen as entertainment only.

This isn't the first one of this kind of special, but does things in an unconvential way.

The disc is tech savvy enough and maked for a good home for The Real Da Vinci Code on DVD.