History Channel

Get even closer to the truth about America's gangs in Season Two of Gangland. Rarely seen footage and unique access to the lives of both former and current gang members provide a solid insight into why gangs exist, how they operate, their increasingly destructive methods, and the alarming rate at which they're spreading to suburban and rural areas. Delve deep into the rich and bloody history of gangs in America, from the long-stretching tradition of the Asian Triads, to the full-blown motorcycle gang war between the Outlaws and the Hells Angels, to the growing occurrence of girl gangsters, as this season of Gangland goes to the darkest corners of America to infiltrate some of the most dangerous terrain in the world. Other gangs featured in Season Two include the Maniac Latin Disciples, the Texas Syndicate, Los Angeles' 18th Street, and the Mongols.

While he has received the most attention, Oscar Shindler wasn't the only civilian hero to arise from World War II. The History Channel profiles the men and women that meant the difference between life and death in History Undercover: Diplomats for the Damned. As the Swiss Consul in Budapest, Carl Lutz helped save over 62,000 Jewish people from the concentration camps. Aristides de Sousa Mendes defied the Germans to write over 30,000 Visas allowing citizens safe passage to Portugal. Whether hiding people in their homes or falsifying documents, these crusaders made a tremendous impact on those around them. American Hiram Bingham and German George Ferdinand Duckitz are also remembered in this one-hour program. ~ Sarah Ing, All Movie Guide

By and large, the United States has escaped the accusation of war crimes having led the world to victory in two global battles. But, the History Channel reveals a dark chapter in the nation's past in History Undercover: Declassified - Human Experimentation. In 1996, secret U.S. military operations were discovered that presents a very different picture of national policy. Experiments with biological weapons and the testing of chemical warfare were only part of the story. Here, those that took part describe the Cold War projects in chilling detail. ~ Sarah Ing, All Movie Guide

Hollywood has delivered more than it's fair share of memorable movie villains throughout the years, and now viewers have the opportunity to learn more than ever before about their favorite silver-screen boogiemen in this documentary featuring interviews with Basic Instinct star Sharon Stone, Halloween director John Carpenter, and Star Wars director George Lucas. Spanning over 100 years of cinema, this collection of blood-curdling clips also features excerpts from the films of the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

"High above the ground, at speeds reaching thousands of miles per hour, fighter aircraft face off in some of the most intense battles in the history of warfare. THE HISTORY CHANNEL brings these battles to life in DOGFIGHTS, a riveting documentary series that follows the development of air combat from the planes of the First World War to showdowns between the most cutting-edge aircraft flown today.
The second season of this wildly popular series features first-hand accounts of the flying aces themselves, combined with rare archival footage and state-of-the-art CGI graphics. Each air battle is recreated in stunning detail, putting viewers in the cockpit, facing the enemy. From Fokker triplanes and SE5s dueling over Belgium and F86s and MiG-15s battling in the skies above North Korea to World War II s P-51 Mustang and the American F-15s that fought in Operation Desert Storm, DOGFIGHTS: THE COMPLETE SEASON 2 puts viewers right in the cockpit to relive 17 of modern history s greatest battles."

Each episode of MONSTERQUEST is a mini-expedition to a remote, far-flung corner of the world. Science and technology come together to give viewers a greater understanding of these mysterious monsters bones and key pieces of proof are analyzed and submitted to a battery of tests. Instead of relying on the cliché grainy archival footage usually associated with these monsters, the series goes on-location with high-tech gadgetry (special cameras, listening posts, even underwater lures) to further the quest for answers. While the monsters may not necessarily be real, each episode does feature real scientists.

In the aftermath of the April, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, rumors immediately began to circulate that Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh may not have acted alone in detonating the explosive device that killed 168 people and injured 800 more. While McVeigh claimed to have acted entirely alone, eyewitnesses claimed to have seen multiple accomplices at the scene of the attack, and the original indictment also listed Terry Nichols and "others unknown" as potential collaborators. To this day, conspiracy theorists claim that the tragedy was in fact the result of an elaborately staged, terrorist-sponsored attack that tied directly back to the Middle East, and that it was perhaps even tied in with the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, as well as the bombing of the Khobar Towers, the USS Cole, and, most chillingly, the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Despite the fact that McVeigh was convicted for the crime and executed in June of 2001, the fact-finding filmmakers at The History Channel challenge his claim of having acted alone in the Oklahoma City bombings and launch a comprehensive probe aimed at sorting fact from fiction, and determining once and for all whether he was solely to blame for the tragedy, or whether it was truly part of a more sinister global conspiracy. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Running contrary to the claims of those who believe that UFO sightings only date back to the 1940s, some theoreticians insist that extraterrestrials have existed among us for millennia - an idea allegedly underscored by a substantial amount of historical data. Witness, for example, the bizarre carvings on prehistoric sites that depict aliens - evidence that strikes many as not only convincing but definitive. As hosted by UFO authority Kenneth Arnold (author of the tome Fingerprints of the Gods), the History Channel documentary In Search of History: Ancient Aliens investigates these claims once and for all - touching on such subtopics as the universal design of skyscrapers around the world and the references to flying objects in countless ancient manuscripts and suggesting that humans may not be alone in the universe. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

In retrospect, the battle of Hamburger Hill qualifies, hands-down, as perhaps the single most brutal and visceral struggle of the Vietnam War. The event in question (a veritable suicide mission) witnessed a platoon of approximately twelve men attempting to take Hill 937 in the Ashau Valley - and sacrificing most of their lives to bands of Viet Cong soldiers who continually bombarded the invaders with a hailstorm of grenades and gunshots. In the process, the Viet Cong wiped out an estimated 70% of the platoon with a relatively small number of fighters. The History Channel documentary Declassified: Viet Cong revisits this pivotal event with a myriad of personal, intimate and revealing stories from both sides of the battle - and reveals how the United States Army made one of its most colossal mistakes in Ashau by employing strategies used in World War II that were utterly inappropriate, ill-advised and futile for Southeast Asia. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Modern Marvels: Video Games - Behind the Fun documents the history of modern video games and the culture that surrounds them. Starting with the creation of Pong, the program follows the numerous advancements made in the technology that goes into video game systems. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

In every major metropolis, skyscrapers loom above, taxis and vendors clamor at street level, and subways rumble below. But deeper beneath the hectic surface lie other, silent worlds, each with its own mysterious and fascinating history. CITIES OF THE UNDERWORLD peels away the layers of time--often literally hundreds of feet thick--to expose the incredible pasts lurking beneath some of the most populous cities on earth. Throughout the world, cities such as Paris, New York, Rome and Shanghai all harbor long-submerged networks that once served crucial functions, from eerie catacombs to clandestine hideouts and ancient aqueducts to underground societies. Now, THE HISTORY CHANNEL examines these mysterious realms, from the technological feats of their construction and the myths and lore that have cloaked these subterranean marvels for centuries. On DVD for the first time, experience all 13 episodes from the debut season of this top-rated series. Featuring rare location hi-definition footage, THE HISTORY CHANNEL shows a world filled with mysteries and secrets just below the ground we walk on.