The series originally aired during 1999-2000, but rebooted in a new, one-hour format for the Spike channel in 2006. All five episodes are from the 2006 season, and are narrated by actor Stacy Keach, who apparently has since left the show. Less prominently billed but putting in nearly equal airtime is the instantly recognizable voice of the late Don LaFonatine, Mr. Trailer Guy himself, who died this September. (The only way to say the name of this show is the way Don La Fontaine said it: "The WORLD's most A-a-a-MAZ-ZIING Videos!!!")

Stacy and Don assure us all the people captured forever on video in bone-crushing accidents fully recovered from their injuries, but I'm not sure I buy that. (In some cases the audience learns only that so-and-so "survived" but that seems pretty vague to me.) In none of the videos is there any mention that someone actually died, even though tornadoes, floods, and massive landslides are shown. In one episode, a large rescue helicopter crashes into a mountainside and begins rolling downhill, throwing passengers out of the vehicle and into its path, crushing them.

Nevertheless, most of the injuries captured on tape are of people willingly putting themselves in extremely dangerous situations to begin with: bungee jumpers, skydivers, motorcycle racers, and self-styled daredevils. Some of this footage is genuinely incredible. The first episode features a motorcycle racer nearly decapitated by an airborne bike. A martial artist with a flaming nunchaku act accidentally sets himself ablaze like a shish kabob yet, amazingly, has almost no scars to show for it. "Up next, a teenage daredevil tries to jump a house...and lands on his face!"

More jaw-dropping scenes include the destruction of a fireworks factory that also sets the adjacent town ablaze; the collapse of a multi-story building in downtown Manila; a semi-truck pulverized by an Amtrak train. There are police shoot-outs with insane, desperate criminals and spectacular crashes on icy freeways.

The show is graphic only rarely, but memorably (if that's the right term). At a rodeo, a hapless cowboy is scalped by a bull in an especially nauseating scene, while a street louger slams into a bale of hay and nearly dismembers his foot in the process. The show is tasteless in other, subtle ways. Look closely and you'll realize that the man who panics and falls off a Ferris wheel clearly is mentally challenged. Had he been an ordinary guy foolishly trying to show off to his girlfriend it would have been entertaining watching him drop to the ground like Wile E. Coyote, but in this case it's merely sad, not entertaining.

Video & Audio

The World's Most Amazing Videos: Volume One is presented in its original full frame format. Of course, the clips vary in quality but even on big screens they look just fine, though I did notice some artifacting in the transfer. The Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo is loud and attention-grabbing. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are included. There are no Extra Features.

Parting Thoughts

Shows like The World's Most Amazing Videos walk a very fine line between the spectacular and the crassly exploitative, between something entertaining and which merely encourages a kind of passive rubbernecking. For the most part this show treads on the side of caution while the undeniably amazing scenes are the kind of "You gotta see this!" stuff you'll want to show your friends. Recommended.

Film historian Stuart Galbraith IV's latest book, The Toho Studios Story, is on sale now.