Gangland: American Gangster DVD

• Additional Details
• Run Time: 46 Minutes

1970s Harlem deserved its reputations as the most dangerous place on Earth, and it was thanks in large part to these two ruthless criminal masterminds.

• Discover the rich and bloody history of gangs in America, from the Colonies to the present.
• THE HISTORY CHANNEL® ventures deep into uncharted regions of the criminal underworld.
• They were true kingpins and their war over Harlem nearly destroyed it.

GANGLAND boldly shines a light on the darkest corners of America, where criminals live by their own laws and brutality reigns. Literally billions of dollars, and tens of thousands of lives, pass through the vast gang network, which effectively forms a shadow economy rivaling a small nation's. Unprecedented access to the inner workings of America's most feared gangs, coupled with incisive historical analysis and conversations with law enforcement specialists, paints the most accurate and compelling portrait of GANGLAND on television. You can't get closer to the truth of America's gangs without getting "jumped-in!"

Hollywood has its version, but THE HISTORY CHANNEL® has the straight dope!

Frank Lucas and Leroy "Nicky" Barnes are two of the most notorious and lethal hoodlums to ever strut down a Harlem street. Currently the subjects of, respectively, a major motion picture starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, and a documentary feature, they were largely responsible for reducing 1970s Harlem to a heroin-fueled warzone.

AMERICAN GANGSTER takes on the story of these charismatic foes, known as "Superfly" (Lucas) and "Mr. Untouchable" (Barnes). With revealing interviews, archival material and new footage, this program tracks their rise from street punks to kingpins, their tutelage under the Italian Mob, their smuggling schemes (which famously involved the caskets of American soldiers from Vietnam), and their bloody rivalry. Along the way, viewers get to know two of the most fascinating and dangerous figures the public has ever known.

As notorious as they were, it was exceedingly difficult to bring Lucas and Barnes to justice. AMERICAN GANGSTER follows the frustrations of law enforcement and shows how the law had to be rewritten to finally get them behind bars. And once finally brought down, their lives continue to make for compelling viewing.

See how it really went down in GANGLAND: AMERICAN GANGSTER.