Nieces and Nephews, I know you haven’t been living under a rock. I know you know about the “historical documentary” series about advanced beings visiting our ancient ancestors and giving them access to technology far beyond their level of comprehension so they can do things like stack rocks or draw on the walls of caves better. I’m of course talking about Ancient Aliens. Can you believe this show has been around for ten years now?
Well, almost ten years. Let me qualify that.
See, according to the internet, Ancient Aliens debuted in 2009. Our friends at Lionsgate have bestowed upon us a 10th Anniversary Gift Set… which either means they’re planning ahead because the anniversary is next year or someone can’t do the math. Perhaps they were going by some ancient Sumerian calendar and we’ve somehow fit ten years into nine? I don’t know the answer to these questions and realistically speaking Ancient Aliens: The 10th Anniversary Gift Set won’t give you the answer, either. But it’ll be a hell of a lot of fun anyway.
Just because legally I’m required to explain the premise of the show, I will. Each hour-long episode (except for the first season, which has two-hour episodes) tackles a premise that purports to prove that we’d been visited in ancient times by aliens and how they may have influenced our day to day lives. Early episodes are the more plausible ones, presenting possible Biblical UFO sightings, while the further they get into the series and run out of ideas that haven’t been expanded upon is when we start to get into ideas like aliens interfering in the Civil War or NASA’s hiding of “The Truth.”
I’m a fan of the show, I’ll admit. I see this show as the current generation’s equivalent of …In Search Of or Sightings. I would include Unsolved Mysteries in this, but that show is far too highbrow compared to the previous mentions. I see it as very similar to being a WWE fan who’s not eight years old; You know it’s all baloney, but it’s fun and you can follow down the rabbit hole with the presenters to a certain extent. I also see it as a bizarre travelogue and historical guide. Say what you will, but if you remove the batcrap crazy alien parts, it’s pretty well informed about different cultures and different religious belief systems.
Of course, that’s not saying this show is for everyone. It’s a bunch of talking heads drinking their own Kool-Aid and believing every word, publishing books through small press operations or DIY overnight websites who will fight to the death with anyone disagreeing that cavemen were involved in the Nuclear Alien Wars.
The box set itself is expansive, covering the first ten seasons. The discs themselves are the same discs released as individual seasons, meaning there is an obscene number of trailers for television shows long gone. Thankfully you can skip ’em and get to the episodes pretty quickly. The episodes themselves look great for a standard definition documentary series and really show a level of polish that gives the show some credibility. The set itself lacks special features, but you could argue that the show itself is one big supplement of itself. I fail to see why a commentary track from George Noory would help here anyway.
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- …back of the paper sleeve inserts.
But the big nasty of this set? The packaging. The discs are housed in a cheap box with cheaper folded paper inserts with cutouts for the discs to sit in. When the set arrived at my house most of the discs had become unseated and a few had visible scratches on the back. Thankfully, playback wasn’t affected. Admittedly, it’s a budget set with budget packaging, but be warned if you’re going to pick this one up that maybe you should keep an empty spindle for the discs if you’re worried about damage.
Ancient Aliens 10th Anniversary Overall
This set is a solid entry point for the series and would be great for Sunday afternoon boredom watching. I don’t know if it’s clinically safe to binge watch large chunks, but hey, Uncle Manhammer isn’t going to tell you how to live your life. This isn’t a comprehensive box set though since the show is on its 13th season… so to get the full picture you’re a few releases shy. But this should do you for a long time.
The Ancient Aliens 10th Anniversary Gift Set DVD is out now and will provide a lot of entertainment for the price, you can pick it up here.
