Angkor, Land of the Gods: 01 Empire Rising

First of two documentaries that look at the empire of Angkor, the Kings who ruled it, and their achievements.

This is the first of a two part series on Angkor which focuses both on the empire itself and on the building works that were undertaken there (the second part will be shown next week).

The first part covers the rise to power of the Hindu King who came to be known as Suriyavarman II. He probably started as a military leader in an outlying province, but eventually overthrew his uncle to become King.

It was Suriyavarman who commissioned the Angkor Wat temple, which is still to this day the largest religious structure on earth, and it was eventually used as his tomb.

The film is hosted by Yul Kwon and has interviews with many experts working at Angkor and some very useful computer graphics which show what the monument would have looked like in its heyday.

Although a decidedly popular presentation, and more blood and gore than really necessary, it still manages to convey a lot of interesting information about the temple and the king who built it.