Customer Reviews

Crimes of the Century

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This DVD compiles fifteen of the most notorious criminals of the twentieth century, adding additional infamous cases. While very interesting, I felt much was missing. For instance, there was much more to the Jonestown Massacre and the Charles Manson cases than was covered. If you are looking for detailed information about these cases, I suggest you read the books that are out there. What this DVD gives you is an approximate thirty minute synopsis of the stories behind these men. There are plenty of graphic scenes and photographs of murders. The most disturbing of them, I found, were the concentration camp footage and shots of the Jonestown Massacre. In the Jonestown segment, they show an aerial shot of the bodies crowding the compound. Then there was a shot of a man lying next to his baby.
I was sorely disappointed with the Additional "Infamous" Cases, each of them mere two-minute briefings of cases such as Mark David Chapman (killer of John Lennon), O.J. Simpson (okay, we saw enough of him), Sam Sheppard (Was he innocent of killing his wife?), John Gotti, John Wayne Gacy, and Ted Bundy.
Yes, gangsters like Al Capone made history but so have the above. There were others tha I felt that should have been included, such as Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Alan Davis. This should have been a 2-CD set, as far as I'm concerned. Still, I would recommend this DVD because it gives the basics of how these men and one woman made headlines.

Not as good as Unsolved Mysteries. I may or may not watch it again.

Don't waste your time on this so called "fact" based video. This video is nothing but a bunch of pictures while you get to listen to a whole lot of off the wall opinions. After watching this you would have too believe that the government is responsible for every major crime to happen in this country this century.

Months ago I bought "Crimes of the Century", a very interesting 2 DVDs set, available here on Amazon. I was watching this very good DVD set the other day and, for the first time, noticed in the intro the mention of other documentaries from the same serie. I was intrigued, searched the Amazon database, and found this great and cheap DVD.

If, like me, you bought the 2 DVDs set you already know that this serie of documentaries is very "basic": a narrator telling us the facts of each cases, with no or little interviewed guests, and that most of the footage is in black-and-white. I really like these "old" type of documentaries, however some people won't like them. This DVD was done from a VHS and sometimes it shows, the quality of both the footage and sound is far from being perfect, but I like the "old school" feel of these documentaries, but I can see why some people might not like it.

The DVD is 3 hours long and 15 cases are featured:
1. Hitler and the Nazi Atrocities
2. The Jonestown Massacre
3. John F. Kennedy
4. Martin Luther King
5. Robert F. Kennedy
6. Al Capone
7. Meyer Lansky
8. Bugsy Siegel
9. John Dillinger
10. Bonnie and Clyde
11. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
12. The Lindberh Kidnapping
13. Charles Manson
14. Son of Sam
15. Oklahoma City Bombing

I think it's a very solid list. Each chapters are between 5 and 15 minutes long. 8 Chapters are unique to this DVD, the other 7 were already featured on the 2 DVDs set. The 8 chapters are the most interesting of the DVD and are a must have for fans of these documentaries. Overall this DVD is far from being perfect but if, like me, you have a huge passion for History, True Crime and anything about the Mafia then buy this rare and hard to find DVD, for less than 10$ it's a good deal, you won't regret it. :)