Best of Banned From TV

There is some footage that really stands out for me in this collection.

1) A hostage stand-off in Columbia. A teenager holds a woman at gunpoint on the sidewalk after a bungled robbery only to be shot in the head by a police sniper! Yes, you can clearly see the bullet's impact!

2) Another hostage stand-off this time in Arizona (the commentator gets it wrong and says it's in Mexico City. I saw it on 60 Minutes edited. They were doing a story on the police sniper.) The quality isn't all that great but you can still see the bullet impact and his wig fly off!

3) A stand-off in N.C. where a man refuses to come out of his house after a report that he threatened his father. He walks onto the porch with a shotgun then walks around to the side of the house where the SWAT team is hiding. He points his shotgun at them and gets cut down by a cop with an MP5. If you look real close you'll notice that the cop missed a few times!

4) A public execution in Guatemala. Two men are tied to posts and shot by a firing squad. They both survive the initial shooting. They are finished of with shots to the head! I think that the men on that firing squad needed more target practice since they appear to be such lousy shots!

5) A group of disgruntled government workers take over a government building with other employees as hostages in El Salvador. They are stormed by the police using tear gas and pepper spray. In one scene a man runs out of the building and is shot point blank in the upper chest by a cop with a shotgun! You can see the blood gush out onto the sidewalk!

6) A woman in is hit by a train at a crossing! OUCH!!! You won't ever see this one on TV!

I have a few gripes with this DVD which is why I only gave it 4 stars.

1) Where is the footage of former Pennsylvania treasurer Bud Dwyer who committed public suicide at a news conference? That was banned from TV! I saw the clip but it was stopped before he put the gun into his mouth.

2) The classic footage of a Viet Cong prisoner being shot in the head by the Saigon's police chief during the Tet offensive is not included. While it was not banned from TV, it is a classic clip!

3) Where is the footage of Vic Morrow being decapitated in the filming of The Twilight Zone? That was banned from TV!

4) The shark attack footage was poor. You can briefly see the shark in the water next to the swimmer but the camera jumps too much for a clear view.

5) The way the clips are organized is poor. Instead of having all the chase footage together they are spread out on the DVD. Same thing for the killing footage.

6) They included the Mardi Gra footage along with another footage at a beach party where women show their breasts. While technically this is banned from TV, the average buyer of this material is after the carnage footage. If I want to see topless women I'll buy the "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs.

If you have any interest in the dark side of human nature this DVD is for you!