Product Details

• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Mantra Films
• DVD Release Date: April 2, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000639GZ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #184,901 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Real and it ain't Funny, July 20, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Leach (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Banned From Television, Uncensored! (DVD)

I am always the person who, when watching real life footage of intense situations, always wonders how the whole thing ultimately played out. The syndicated shows or news programs usually censor out the last moments of a situation, and for good reasons. If the footage is too graphic or disturbing, it is probably a good thing we don't see it on a program watched by children. That is where "Banned From Television Uncensored" comes in. This is like every police reality program aired on television except that here you see what happens after that guy pulls a gun on the police, or after an animal goes on a rampage. This DVD is not for the weak of heart, although there are several scenes that aren't extreme due to the circumstances or the limitations of the person filming them (the aftermath of a car crash is not shown up close, a shark attack merely shows some blood in the water, concert footage deals more with lewd behavior than anything else).

This fifty-four minute DVD contains twenty-five chapters with situations ranging from an undercover police video at a strip club to a shark attack on a student, from a collapsing tower at a Deep Purple concert in Chile to several scenes of police brutality in South America. The most gruesome scene involves a woman who, in a hurry to get wherever she needed to go, accidentally jogs into a speeding train. You can see from the video clip of the accident why she failed to stop in time, but it is still brutal to watch and highlights the reason your parents always told you to look both ways before crossing the street. When I read about this scene before purchasing the DVD, I knew exactly the footage I would see because one of those cable channels that always show various documentaries covered this train accident in a program some time ago. Of course, on cable the scene cut away right before impact. Here you see it from start to finish, and it is a powerful statement on how carelessness has the potential for tragic consequences.

Releasing footage like this for general consumption raises several ethical questions that have no easy answers. Should we watch real life violence that causes suffering and death to real people? Is it really any of our business to watch the last few seconds of an individual's life captured on film? Perhaps seeing the full consequences of a police standoff or the results from a car crash that should never have happened might teach a few lessons to some of the thicker headed souls among us. This is one of the weak arguments touted by the media because they need to justify their intrusive investigations into other people's misery. Even if showing a public execution (and there are three of them on this DVD) or a car crash due to reckless behavior does deter some people from harming others, there is absolutely no way to quantify how many people changed their behavior because of something they watched on television.

Another argument concerning DVD's like this hinge on whether this type of footage should serve as entertainment. I have watched several of the "Faces of Death" documentaries and now there is something called "Traces of Death" that is supposedly even more extreme. The presentation of those tapes falls under entertainment, as disgusting as that is. I'm unsure if the same can be said for "Banned From Television Uncensored." The narration for each scene is sedate and serious, but the marketing on the package does indicate this DVD is somehow cool because hey, it's entertaining to watch real people suffer! Well, I found nothing slightly amusing about anything on this DVD. Some people will watch this for entertainment, while others will watch out of curiosity. There are not any easy answers to justify watching this DVD, but if you're hooting and hollering over this footage you have a real problem.

If anything, the best purpose for the existence of this DVD is to show how thin the veneer of civilization really is, how close all of us are to living in a world of complete and utter anarchy. We like to think we're civilized people, but this disc clearly shows we have a long way to go. I do think America haters should watch the footage about police forces in Central and South America. Those that complain about police brutality in this nation really have little conception of how brutal and corrupt security services are in Brazil, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. Just watch the police footage on the DVD and compare the actions of American police with those in other countries. You'll thank your lucky stars you live in a country with constitutional limitations on police powers that are actually respected by a vast majority of police officers.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wow., July 9, 2004

By 

R. Rains "sky_blue_monkey" (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Banned From Television, Uncensored! (DVD)

All I can say is wow. This was the most extreme thing I've ever seen. If you're looking for the real thing, this is definitely it. I wasn't sure quite what to expect, and there were many times where I wanted to turn away just from extreme discomfort with the situation (and I thought I was pretty jaded) but I simply couldn't because it was like watching a train wreck (literally!). If you're looking for something extreme, look no further.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mix of Real TV and Traces of Death, May 10, 2003

By 

"madman-187" (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Banned From Television, Uncensored! (DVD)

This DVD is just what it says it is, all the stuff the censors won't and can't show on the news. I own all of the Traces of Death and Faces of Death DVDs, and this one compares prety good with them. The Shotgun suicide and the train obliteration are on the Traces DVDs as bonus footage. But man, oh man, that train smashing that poor, stupid, in-a-hurry lady! That footage stuck in my brain, and now I am extra careful when crossing the street or crossing the light rail tracks where I live. There's also a Mexican barbecue featured. You'll have to watch it to see what I mean. You also get to see just how brutal Central and South American police can be. And people always complain about our police! Just be glad you don't live in Brazil! The only drawback to this DVD is that it is only 54 minutes long. Other than that, it's cool. And I should know. I've seen so much gore on screen, I'm not fazed by anything anymore. But that train accident....