In Search of Ancient Mysteries (1974 TV Movie) User Reviews

Nicely done, for what it is...much better than "Chariots of the Gods"

[InjunNose · 7/10 · 9 January 2010]

The "ancient astronauts" theory (or Paleo-SETI theory, as its proponents now prefer to call it) was not always dismissed out of hand. In their 1966 tome "Intelligent Life in the Universe", I.S. Shklovski and Carl Sagan--yes, Carl Sagan--accepted the possibility that extraterrestrials might have visited Earth thousands of years ago. It wasn't until Erich von Däniken came along with his vague, misleading bestseller "Chariots of the Gods?" that the concept (unfairly) lost all credibility. While the chances of finding proof of ancient extraterrestrial visitation are incredibly remote, some of von Däniken's contemporaries wrote about the subject much more thoughtfully and responsibly than he did. One of them was TV producer Alan Landsburg, who brought the German film based on von Däniken's "Chariots" to American television (in abbreviated form) as "In Search of Ancient Astronauts" in 1973. The following year, Landsburg himself authored a nice little book on Paleo-SETI, "In Search of Ancient Mysteries", and this one-hour telefilm was produced as a companion piece to the book. What sets Landsburg's work apart from pure junk like "Chariots"? He was an intelligent writer, for one thing. The theory might be essentially unprovable, but--unlike the film based on von Däniken's bestseller--"In Search of Ancient Mysteries" isn't filled with such revoltingly silly observations as, "This Mexican artifact looks like a modern mechanical space-claw". Secondly, Landsburg did American TV audiences a service by exposing them to the existence of the Gate of the Sun at Tiwanaku, Bolivia and Greece's Antikythera mechanism. Finally, the inclusion of Scottish astronomer Duncan Lunan's theory about the Epsilon Bootis probe endows this program with a sense of genuine wonder. (Lunan later recanted, but hey...I needn't remind you that we're dealing entirely with "maybes" in the world of Paleo-SETI.) Rod Serling's narration is perfect, writer/director Fred Warshofsky does an admirable job of getting Landsburg's ideas across, and Roger Wagner provides the best musical backdrop I've ever heard for a "specumentary" of this type. If you're interested in seeing "In Search of Ancient Mysteries", it can be found on YouTube.

Second Of Two Specials.

[AaronCapenBanner · 7/10 · 20 August 2013]

Nearly identical to its predecessor "In Search Of Ancient Astronauts", "In Search Of Ancient Mysteries" is again narrated by Rod Serling, who sounds as though he recorded it at the same time, since he doesn't miss a beat. Once again it focuses on mysterious visitors to Earth who may or may not be our ancestors, depending on what the viewer chooses to believe, since this(like its predecessor) presents its case in a clinical, matter-of-fact way that is interesting if a bit dry.

I remember seeing both these specials in school, and they served there purpose in peaking my interest in such matters.

This is also on the "In Search Of..." DVD set on the bonus disc,and led directly into the superior, Leonard Nimoy hosted series(Rod Serling having passed away.)

Very good

[dbborroughs · 7/10 · 3 October 2009]

TV documentary on the strange ancient anomalies found in statues, cave paintings and writings that suggest that the ancients may have been more sophisticated than we thought, or may have actually had contact with aliens or some unknown advanced civilization. I really like this program because its much more grounded in reality than other documentaries on the subject, speaking with scientists and scholars instead of just throwing out weird theories.Of course it does throw some odd things out there such as the Bermuda Triangle, but even then its handled reasonably rationally. If you have any interest in the subject of ancient history and the odd things that we often find you really should see this. (This was made by people who also made the Outer Space Connection, a very good look at the possibility of ancient visitations, this has footage that over laps.)

Above average TV documentary

[talentedmrwelles · 29 January 2001]

I first saw this program AGES ago when it aired on television and then a few years ago when I stumbled across a VHS copy on a bargain label and it was just as unsettling now as it was in childhood. It becomes more disturbing when you remember that one of the ancient Mayan predictions it explores is the date when "They" will return to "Earth Base One" is given as 24 December 2011. Not so very far away.

Not Quite As Good As the First

[Michael_Elliott · 3 August 2017]

In Search of Ancient Mysteries (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The second documentary film before Leonard Nimoy took over the "In Search Of..." series. This one here features narration by Rod Serling as he talks about various things on Earth that might mean that the early man were more intelligent than we thought. It also leads to the theory that perhaps alien lifeforms were also here.

Stuff like cave drawings, various land forms and carvings in various stones are just some of the topics discussed as the film asks whether aliens were once here. I must admit that I found this second film a lot less interesting than the first. On a technical level it was well- made for the time but I must say that I found it to be somewhat boring. The information given is pretty good and there are some interesting ideas brought up but on the whole this wasn't nearly as good as the first film or many of the episodes that would follow.