The story of settling, founding, and shaping of The United States of America has been told in countless ways over the years. Students see movies in school; read about it in books, networks run specials every Fourth of July as we celebrate our nation’s independence, but what History has undertaken is a contemporary look at over 400 years of history on our continent and the major events that shaped the lives we lead today.

History’s America: The Story of Us is an engrossing look at what it takes to build a nation and while it treads familiar territory, it does so with the aid of modern technology like impressive, although not perfect, uses of CGI as it tells the story of our country.

The series starts in the years leading up to the founding of the original thirteen colonies and ends with the shaping of America at the turn of the 21st Century. The only problem with the series is with nearly 400 years to cover, a lot of important events are merely mentioned or glossed over to make room for even bigger ones.

The CGI is one of the most impressive, and disappointing things at the same time. While its nice to get a cinematic take on the battles of Lexington and Concord complete with Matrix-like effects of musket balls flying through the air in bullet-time, at some points it feels overdone, ditto to the use of slow motion in combination with the aforementioned. Nevertheless, this never detracts from the impressive selection of events that are focused upon and for once in a long while, the interviews from real Americans (Michael Douglass, Colin Powell, et. al.) actually provide some powerful insight and are melded into the program rather nicely.

Returning for a third season on History is Cities of the Underworld hosted by Don Wildman as there continues to be an abundance of deep, dark holes filled with secrets about civilizations’ past. The season premiere sees Don dive into the City of Blood aka London and seek out the demonic past of the city itself and the surrounding area.

The first thing you notice about the London is the massive amounts of devilish orgies taking place in the past, it seems everything and every secret society revolved around sexual exploits with multiple partners at once, leading to what many believe was devil worship and the construction of gateways to the underworld. When showing these gateways the program continues its use of computer-aided cross sections and 3D graphics.

In the typical fashion of the genre Wildman torridly runs around the city and countryside from location to location speaking with local experts and getting some hands on experience with the subject in focus. The most interesting, and shortened, section of the program is a look at the popular serial killers Sweeny Todd and Jack the Ripper, even going into the dank spaces of London’s putrid sewer system to offer theories on how Jack might have gotten around undetected from crime scene to crime scene.

While the subject matter is new, for the most part, the format is familiar to anyone who has seen an “on-the-job” show such as Dirty Jobs. What is really annoying is the constant use of the same sound effect and light bloom when transitioning between graphic cutaways and coming back to Don. The bloom and the “ting” sound repeat nearly 40-50 wipes throughout the entire 45 minute episode wears on your last nerve pretty fast. If you’re able to turn out this sound, the episode, and series, offers plenty of interesting information with upcoming episodes focused on Okinawa, Sicily, and Sin City itself, Las Vegas.

To anyone who viewed Jurassic Park III and witnessed the battle between the once-formidable Tyrannosaurus and the newly introduced Spinosaurus and thought, “There should really be a show about just dinosaurs fighting,” History has your answer in Jurassic Fight Club. While this Fight Club is soap and Tyler Durden-less, it does feature the most primal battles outside a video game.

The standard 42 minute program takes careful steps to setup the ensuing battle, and in the premiere episode a team of researchers on Madagascar discover the bones of a male Majungasaurus seemingly attacked and eaten by a female of the species. This leads researchers to extrapolate how this carnivore would have turned to cannibalism as the information is presented via CGI models in a life-action landscape. Future episodes will delve deep into the ocean, and then return to land with the final episode of the series focusing on the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The fight itself is contained within the last 10 minutes of the program with the other 30 being divided up between the discovery of the bones and a CSI-like research extravaganza to identify the killer and piece together the story. The first 20 minutes roll along great, with lots of background information on the dinosaur itself, but the steam runs out after that. The second act of the program is basically a summary of everything we’ve heard before, including numerous mentions of the same facts after every commercial break. You grow tired of hearing “65 million years ago…” from the narrator each time you return.

It doesn’t help as well that the same CGI clips are shown nearly all the time, including a trick to mirror the image to make it look like a new clip (especially when showing a Majungasaurus baby behind a tree). This is a shame because the production values are otherwise very high throughout the program, and the repeated clips themselves, while not Stan Winston/Jurassic Park awesome, do a serviceable job for the budget allowed.

With the amount of recapping available, you’re able to leave the room and return without missing much information, and you’ll quickly be back on track for the battle at the end. While the fight itself is narrated from pure speculation extrapolated from behaviors of current animals and dinosaur theory, it still provides an entertaining closing to the program and pulls no punches.

The History Channel, known for its specials, once again steps up and brings us into The Dark Ages, a time in human history filled with turmoil, death, and personal triumph in the face of the civilized world after the fall of Rome and the Western Roman Empire. Like the specials before it, the narrative is told through the use of reenactments, still paintings, historical retellings from academia, and use of computer graphics.

The term Dark Ages seems to be a misconception among scholars around the world, having picked up a rather harsh stigma because of the near universal suffering (at least in our eyes) after civilization fell into disarray. The world, as played out in countless literary texts over the years, has reverted back to an earlier lifestyle one filled with hardship, disease, but a common existence with only the will to survive to keep them going.

The special, premiering Sunday, March 4^th, starts with the fall of the Western Roman Empire after the city of Rome was sacked and a string of inept Emperors doomed the “Mother of the World” to death. A major point focused on by the programming is the rise of Christianity from a backroom, banned religion to the driving force of some of the world’s most powerful men, culminating with the battle against the Islamic movement who were bent on taking over territory in Europe after the fall of the Empire.

Surprisingly there is little focus on the most well known event of the Dark Ages, the Black Death (aka Bubonic Plague) that whipped out nearly 100 million people across the continent, that’s nearly 50% of the population in Europe. I did find it strange that the programmed did only touch on the plague’s ravages across the civilized world, but it was only a small part of the roughly 600 year span from the mid 5^th century to the beginning of the 11^th. The program ends with a looking at the daring and vicious raids by the Vikings into the British Isles and the rest of Europe taking treasure and murdering all that opposed them.

Writer/Director Christopher Cassel uses the same techniques employed in his excellent debut, Rome: Engineering and Empire, to bring the life of the early middle ages to the viewer. Some of the reenactments are regrettably low budget (and it shows) but the use of computer graphics presents the historical data like never before, something history books could never present in today’s society.

With the nomenclature’s place in popular culture The Dark Ages is an engaging experience showcasing the little known events that compose this dark time in history not related to the Bubonic Plague. While the material is not as exciting, or impressive as previous History Channel programs like Engineering and Empire or weekly series Digging for the Truth, there’s enough material here to truly appreciate Cassel‘s work and the drive to educate and entertain.

The Dark Ages premieres Sunday, March 4, at 9/8c on The History Channel.

The History Channel once again upholds its tradition of creating rewarding, interesting specials that both entertain and enlighten with Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower which explores the separatists movement away from the Church of England and subsequent settling of Plymouth Colony in North America.

Through the common use of narration, voice over from first party sources and interviews with historians Desperate Crossing begins with the movement away from the recently founded Church of England which saw the King denounce the Pope and place himself as the figurehead and leader of the church. Of course this wouldn’t sit well with everyone and a separatist movement was founded which ultimately lead to a group of different-thinking individuals boarding the Mayflower and setting sail for “the New World” where religious persecution couldn’t find them.

Anyone who progressed through elementary school is familiar with the story of the Pilgrims, their trek across the Atlantic Ocean and peace accord with the native peoples which ultimately led to the first Thanksgiving (or harvest festival as it was known back then). What they don’t necessarily teach you is the deep circumstances which lead the Pilgrims to leave England and the Netherlands to settle the virgin New England coast. What Desperate Crossing does in its three hour runtime is bring in several high profile, and historically accurate, characters for the viewer to follow through the trials and tribulations of the new colony.

What is equally impressive is the program’s runtime of 180 minutes never really feels that long as the pace in which the specials is produced serves up very little downtime and moves along briskly focusing on events and years of significance that helped to shape one of the fledgling colonies of what would become the United States.

The acting is generally good throughout sans some dramatic overacting by the actor portraying King James I, but as a period piece all of the pieces fit together into a believable setting that almost makes you forget you are watching a reenactment.

Two interesting points worth mentioning here are the insight from descendants of the Native Americans who meet and were entertained by the Englishmen at the first Thanksgiving and the fact that that event plays a very small roll in the special’s story. The focus of the program is on setting up the voyage, the reasons that lead up to such a voyage being attempted, and the first, deathly, year here in America which is quite refreshing for those who have seen and heard the story of Thanksgiving dozens of times.

Desperate Crossing: The Untold Story of the Mayflower premieres Sunday, November 19 at 8PM/7C on The History Channel. 

Washington The Warrior, premiering May 29^th on the History Channel, is a militaristic look at the United States most revered and beloved general who lead the country to independence against the British in the 1770’s. The special, fittingly debuting on Memorial Day, dives into the early days of Washington’s military career as a young Major delivering a diplomatic message to the French during the battle of the Ohio Valley all the way to his surrendering of his sword to the Continental Congress after the peace treaty with Britain was signed.

While the Revolutionary War has been examined by previous history programs, it is still very interesting to see Washington through historical eyes looking at the way he commanded his troops, often putting himself in the trenches and harms way in order to keep them together. The focus on his early life also provides a powerful perspective into the man whose early military life was filled with disrespect and overtly aggressive behavior that may, or may not, have lead to the death of French diplomatic company.

Also revealing is Washington’s motives for entering the side of the revolutionaries which mainly had to do with his purchase of sub-par goods from England. His keen business sense, passionate views, and great sense of responsibility and leadership helped this country be born.

The screener copy provided by The History Channel was missing some portions of the visual FX and CGI but the elements that were in place looked excellent with realistic weather effects and the fleshing out of the British and American armies to massive proportions. The battles and story elements, told via reenactments, look true to the style of the times, and the battleground effects such as blood squibs and simulated explosions look realistic as well.

Most importantly, the two hour program is interesting and filled with information and anecdotes about Washington included the aforementioned early days of his career which have almost become a footnote in American History. While we tend to focus on the man as a founding father of our country, the experiences he used to gauge his decisions harkened back to his humble beginnings and extended through his entire preceding life.

Washington The Warrior premieres Memorial Day, May 29^th, on the History Channel. Check you local listings for starting time and channel.

The History Channel’s new special series 10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America is an insightful, interesting historical retelling of ten events in the history of the United States that fundamentally changed the country in social, cultural, and economic terms.

Each segment, whose topics range from the birth of Rock and Roll to the Battle of Antietam, is written and directed by a wheel of writers and directors who take an interesting look at each event. Each filmmaker employs the use of archived pictures (as well as reenactment photographs aged and doctored to appear as though they were taken in the time period in question), live-action reenactments, visits to the locations today, and interviews with esteemed professionals and historians to give insight on the events themselves and other effects.

For example the segment focusing on the 1848 gold rush to California provides an intertwining story of two groups of travelers in and their hunt for gold via archived letters from the era. This gives the program a more human aspect and more interesting than your standard history-fare because you relate to real people who lived through significant moment in history. The film doesn’t merely talk about the gold rush though, it also focuses on the impacts the rush had on the country as a whole. The mass exodus of families from the east to the west lead to the creation of the transcontinental railroad, the creation of the stock market in San Francisco, and the displacement of native Californians and Native Americans.

The Battle of Antietam segment is a powerful portrayal and reenactment of how warfare was during the mid-19th century. There’s a certain morbid curiosity to find out what happened at the battle, and a deep feeling of shame when you see how the Northern Army was mismanaged by General McClellan. The episode also takes a look at Abraham Lincoln, quite possibly the best President the United States has ever had.

Each of the ten episodes paints a picture in a similar way, relating to actual historical significant Americans while gaining a perspective from scholars and experts who have spent their life researching how the US was changed so dramatically. The stories and information they give is all in the correct context and it never becomes dull or boring as each of the filmmakers keeps a brisk pace, never lingering on one point too long but still presents an accurate picture for you to interpret.

The series does a great job of showing how each one of the featured events had a resounding impact on life as we know it today, and sometimes the stuff we take for granted.

10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America is highly recommended for any history buff or anyone aspiring to be a history buff. For those less familiar with some of these events, it provides enough information to impress your friends and family with your newly acquired knowledge.

10 Days That Unexpected Changed America debuts on The History Channel April 9 at 9PM/8c. Be sure to check your local listings for channel number and actual start time. Also, if you want to win some 10 Days swag, check out our contest where you can win a History Channel fleece and a Relic Watch.

Episodes featured in this series include:

Massacre at Mystic – The first time the English settlers engaged in the slaughter of Native Americans after years of relative peaceful coexistence.  Known as the Pequot War, this massacre in Mystic, Connecticut set the pattern of the taking of Indian land throughout the country. 

Shays’ Rebellion: America’s First Civil War – A violent protest against debt collection and taxation practices motivated George Washington to come out of retirement to help strengthen the fragile new nation.  This was the spark that led to the writing of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

The Homestead Strike – Harsh working conditions and long hours In Carnegie’s Homestead steel mill led to a union strike.  The battle fought between management and labor signaled an end to workers believing they had an ownership stake in their jobs, and widen the divide between management and labor.

Murder at the Fair:  The Assassination of William McKinley — Set against the backdrop of the 1901 World’s Fair and the dawning of the new century, the assassination of President William McKinley ushered in a new Progressive Era under the presidency of Teddy Roosevelt.

Gold Rush – The explosive effects of gold being discovered spurred tremendous financial and physical growth throughout the West.  For the first time in history, individuals – not kings or sultans – could have gold for the taking, spurring tens of thousands of immigrants to make the arduous journey West. 

Scopes:  The Battle Over America’s Soul — The sensational courtroom battle between two giants – three-time presidential candidate and populist William Jennings Bryan and big city criminal defense lawyer Clarence Darrow – over the teaching of evolution in a small Tennessee town.  The trial underscored a deep schism within the American psyche — religion versus science, church and state, elitism versus populism.

Einstein’s Letter – Albert Einstein’s letter to FDR that launched the development of the atomic bomb.  The result, known as the Manhattan Project, brought government and science together in a project to build the bomb and change the world forever. 

When America Was Rocked — Elvis Presley’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on September 9, 1956, signified a whole new culture that involved teenage independence, sexuality, race relations and a new form of music. 

Antietam – The bloodiest day in American history, both sides paid a terrible price during this Civil War battle that resulted in 23,000 casualties.  President Abraham Lincoln needed this victory to insure that no foreign country would support the Confederates, and issue the Emancipation Proclamation.

Freedom Summer — There was a time when trying to register to vote in Mississippi could get one killed.  When two white and one black Civil Rights workers went missing, national attention turned to the violence in Mississippi, which eventually led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.