Gangland – Season Five (2009 – 2010/History Channel/A&E DVD Set)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: D     Episodes: B-

 

 

Quietly, the documentary series Gangland has logged five seasons and is one of the more successful shows on The History Channel.  Though some may consider the show exploitive, it takes the same no-nonsense approach to reporting the activities of criminal organizations A&E series have been doing with the same good journalistic approach since the network’s debut so many years ago.  Season Five has pieces on the following organizations:

 

Klan Of Killers (Imperial Klans Of America as KKK derivative)

Machete Slaughter (Trinitaros/Latino Gang)

Blood River (Barrio Aztec/Mexican Gang in Texas)

Hustle Or Die (The 4CHs/African American Chicago Gang)

Gangsta Killers (Top 6/Hatian-originated Gang in South Florida)

The Death Head (50 Years of Hell’s Angels in the U.S.)

Circle Of Death (Aryan Circle/separatist Gang in Texas)

Dog Fights (Fresno Bulldogs in California)

Evil Breed (The Breed/Philadelphia Bike Gang)

Hunt & Kill (Brown Pride/Hispanic Gang in Nashville, Tennessee)

Deadly Blast (Tango Blast/ Hispanic Gang in Houston, Texas)

 

 

Though it may be hard for some to deal with, many of these are new gangs and reflect the declining conditions in the country today that are laying the groundwork for such violent organizations, but each show is more about the facts and has interviews with everyone on all sides of the activities and incidents related to all involved.  Smart and informative, you will not see the mainstream news cover this because they fear glorifying any of the organizations above is free advertising, but a show like this tells us important in-the-know information and makes you aware of the realities going on.  With so many such groups around, if you might join one, one wonders how one chooses one over another, save political stances.

 

Gangland is well done enough and worth seeing at least once.

 

The letterboxed 1.78 X 1 image on each episode can be soft, with some good shots, more than a few older analog videotape clips and that is typical of any such documentary show, but it is a shame that this is not anamorphically enhanced.  However, it is very watchable throughout.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has some moments of monophonic sound as expected from the older footage, but is usually nicely recorded and edited, including the new interviews.  There are no extras.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo