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Banned from Television (1998) (V) More at IMDbPro »

17 out of 20 people found the following comment useful :-
better than most "Banned...", 7 December 2005

Author: David Langston (digupdom_fandango) from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I've seen many of these shocking videos. It bothers me, but sometimes it is so incredible that I want to keep watching. There's a breed of us out there. The best ones are narrated- as is this one. And it's not all death. Where as "Faces of Death" and it's spin offs are people who die brutally on tape. "Banned from television" has a similar edge but is a tad more mild. Most of it is people who barely survive or easily survive something very dangerous. Possibly a spoiler: At the end of this video is a woman who gets hit by a train. It is the most gruesome image I have ever seen! A woman who has a name, -most likely- hopes for the future, plans for the holidays, a family at home, etc. She was in a hurry but I wonder why she didn't stop. Even from a normal cam corder recording, one can hear the train coming here. Even though her view was obstructed, she should have had better patience. (She couldn't wait for that train to just pass now could she). It is very sad. Life is fragile. Look both ways. And if you screen this, don't say you weren't warned.

8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
Amusing Ourselves to Death, 14 January 2008
Author: CryFi from Lansingburgh, New York, USA

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I was mistakenly sent this, and figured I'd give it a watch to see what it was about.

A man with a knife on a toddler is shot in the face by a policeman. Terry Rosland threatens to blow himself up in his car if he can't see his family - and he nearly does (the car is toast); he later commits suicide by drugs. Protesters in South Korea throw firebombs and shoot flamethrowers at construction workers. In El Salvador police fire at veterans holding hostages. A truck with a stolen lawnmower is struck by a big rig during a police chase. In Utah, police gun down a man who opens fire on them after he exits his car following a chase. The same happens in California, the twists being that he has no pants and loads his rifle from his trunk while police watch, and commits suicide. Why didn't police tackle him before he loaded it? In Spain, a bull strips a man's pants and underwear off to the cheers of the crowd. Another bull is stabbed by the crowd, who surround the ring behind a metal fence. They then intentionally release it into the city streets! It gores one man and nearly kills a woman. Apart from the cruelty to animals, talk about your Darwin Awards candidates! Students are attacked by a shark. An elephant attacks its trainer and another man at a circus, then others while it escapes, fired on by police, and ultimately killed by them. Elephants are notoriously mistreated. Shades of Electrocuting an Elephant (1903). Plus ça change. In a Floridian strip club, some apparently real sex occurs. Probably not the safest sex! In Vegas, a corrupt cop is caught bargaining with a prostitute and actually receives a BJ in footage that is partly censored, contrary to the video box's claim. She apparently is allowed to leave. A 2 Live Crew concert results in public indecency charges because of some wet rump shaking in g-strings, where one of the rappers pulls the string aside. At another, audience members engage in an onstage orgy. At both, the music is shut off by someone. In Chile, Deep Purple fans overburden a light tower, which collapses and sparks. In Australia a cameraman is struck by a 280Z during a road rally. In Florida, a series of stock car crashes eventually hit a paramedic. A storm in Poland topples a chimney on a crowd, killing a woman. In Chechnya, two Muslim rapists are publicly executed by relatives of the victim. In Brazil, shoppers are shot, and the robbers then shot by police, who then decide to execute one of them. In New Mexico, a hot air balloon flies into power lines; it catches fire and the basket plummets. In Brazil, police beat a captive, and on another occasion beat two men at a checkpoint and then shoot at their car. In Russia, thugs beat a businessman; police only belatedly stop them when they begin choking him with a wire. At a Californian pool hall, gangs fight, one man being shot to death after being beaten. At a Floridian drug dealer's home, some intruders commit murders. In Guatemala, rapist/murders are publicly executed, over objections by the Pope (who had no problem with the ones in Chechnya?). In Mexico, a rapist/murder suspect is beaten and set on fire by vigilantes. In Illinois, a crowd ignores the bells at a train station, and the last of them crossing gets hit and thrown at the camera by a train.

This lacks any credits, beyond captions identifying the location of footage. There are previews from Banned from Television II and III afterwards.

What does this video say about the world? It's a cruel place, that humans make crueler, perhaps. That people can be incredibly stupid, or morbidly curious. "Here it is again, in slow motion"

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