The folks out at the History Channel sent on another item for me to review for you guys, and so today we’ve got a look at The Real National Treasure. It’s a bit overwhelming, until you consider how underwhelming it is.

See, what The Real National Treasure is is basically one episode of Modern Marvels put on DVD. That episode is a special look at the Library of Congress. You’ll learn how it works, how items are stored, how it got started, and pretty much everything you ever wanted to know (or didn’t even know you didn’t know) about one of America’s greatest treasures of all time. I had no idea that stuff in the Library of Congress moves by conveyor belt, and that virtually none of it is accessible to individuals, but virtually all of it is made available to pretty much anyone over the age of sixteen by way of intermediaries.

That’s both the high point and the low point of The Real National Treasure. Basically, you’re paying full DVD prices for one episode of Modern Marvels. And as awesome as that particular episode of Modern Marvels actually is, it’s still a little slim to put on one DVD. Thankfully, you’ll also get a featurette called “The Library of Congress Experience”, which adds some extra value, but it’s still kind of a kick in the teeth to know you’re buying one episode of a show on a DVD.

And that’s the rub. It’s a fantastic episode. You’ll learn all sorts of amazing things about a building that might well be the most amazing thing in the United States. But could more have been done here? Sure it could. This could have been part of a great History Channel package about America’s great treasures: a bit on this, something on the Smithsonian, Fort Knox, the national park system even. Could’ve even packaged it in a big box set shaped like a treasure chest. But we’re not here to talk about what might have been, we’re here to talk about what is. And the plain and simple is, that this is good stuff, if a bit disappointing in terms of value.

The Screenhead Ten Scale hands The Real National Treasure a seven out of ten. It’s a terrific DVD, no mistake, but you’re mostly paying for the cover since you get one episode of Modern Marvels on the disc along with a second featurette.

Screenhead has a fantastic giveaway for kids this spring. SciQ: The Complete Box Set from Smithsonian Networks.

Reinventing the wheel … when pigs fly … the scoop on poop … and other zany adventures in scientific exploration come to DVD in SciQ: The Complete Box Set, available May 11, 2010 from Infinity Entertainment Group. 

From crime scene investigation to studying robotics to the behind-the-scenes world of Hollywood effects, get ready to experience alternative flight, playing with your food, unearthing bugs and seeing how far the human body can go. 

Teen hosts Paula, Andrew and Pemma compete against each other as they explore fascinating topics in science and technology in 13 cool episodes in a special four-disc collector’s set.

Screenhead has two copies of SciQ: The Complete Box Set to give away to the lucky winners who post their name. We will pick the winners Tuesday, May 11, 2010.

Screenhead Giveaway for Kids!

From the mighty to the minuscule, the cute and cuddly to the creepy-crawly, amazing adventures await budding young explorers with the Smithsonian Networks Kids Pack, available on DVD today from Infinity Entertainment Group.

My daughter loves exploring with Smithsonian. She learns so much about nature and animals.

Calling creature enthusiasts of all ages!  Come along as Smithsonian Networks takes you to Washington D.C.’s National Zoo to meet its newest animal babies, then brings you  home to find the wondrous inhabitants living in your own backyard.

Loose at the Zoo – Meet the babies at the National Zoo.  But it’s more than just monkey business for these irresistibly cute and cuddly kids … Even animals have chores!  Episodes include Baby New at the Zoo, Golden Lion Tamarins and Tiger Tales. 

Critter Quest!– No matter where you live, there are incredible creatures all around…you just need to know where to look for them.  Join host Peter Schriemer on a “backyard safari” in three episodes – Creepy Crawlers Everywhere, Season of Change and The Wild Side of D.C. – and discover all sorts of critters right outside your door.

Screenhead has four Smithsonian Networks Kids Pack to give away. Post your name and we will pick the winners Thursday, April 22, 2010.

I just love this stuff where you learn the truth about a legend or myth.  You pop in the DVD and you discover heroes both in history and on the big screen. 

You learn the truth behind three larger-than-life legends in The Real Story: Part 2.  I was intrigued because the documentarybreaks myths and challenges first-hand facts, classified files, meticulous re-creations and little-known back stories of The Untouchables, Indiana Jones and James Bond.

Indiana Jones — Not just Hollywood lore … a larger-than-life, kaleidoscopic hero inspired by the traits, passions, adventures and discoveries of real-life explorers, both heroic and villainous. 

The Untouchables — How a small group of gritty, dogged law enforcers, led by Eliot Ness, brought down notorious Mafia boss Al Capone in 1930s Chicago.  The truth is told through interviews, footage, dramatic re-enactment and recently unsealed court files. 

James Bond — Uncover the facts behind the fantasy—the extraordinary people, events, gadgets and places that inspired the world’s most fêted, elusive and gallant action hero, Bond … James Bond. 

Screenhead has 4 copies of The Real Story Part 2 to give away. Post your name and we will pick the winners Tuesday, January 26, 2010.

A beloved and iconic figure in a multitude of cultures around the world … but do you know the true story behind this ubiquitous legend?  Find out in In Search of Santa Claus. 

Saint Nick, Father Christmas, Kris Kringle, Santa Claus … From Armenia (Gaghant Baba) to China (Dun Che Lao Ren), India (Ganesha) and Yugoslavia (Deda Mraz), this beloved and iconic symbol of holiday cheer is known by dozens of names.  But who was he really?  

Smithsonian Networks takes a revealing pop history look at the amazing transformation of a holy man into a treasured icon of Christmas joy.  

Screenhead has 4 copies of In Search of Santa Claus to give away this holiday season. Post your name and we will pick the winner Friday, December 18, 2009.

Leona P (37), Gabriel J. (95), Mike Kittle (112) and Gary Costanzo (129) are the winners.

They will be getting ready to track one of the world’s most legendary serpents, slithering onto DVD.  Guyana is to one of the world’s most legendary creatures, one that rarely encounters man, yet has gained the reputation of being a merciless killer … even of humans. But how much is fact and how much fiction? 

Djp (17), Jennifer (83), Roger Deming (90) and Miranda Allen (116) are our winners!!!

Documentary About the World’s Largest Creature

Dive down into the deep blue sea Down Under to learn what you didn’t know about Earth’s largest inhabitant in The Big Blue, spouting onto DVD July 21 from Infinity Entertainment Group. 

For years fishermen have known of a unique spot in the ocean off southern Australia, a place of amazing catches and a huge luminescent blue creature of the deep.  As much as 100 feet long, weighing up to 180 tons, with a heart the size of a Volkswagen and a tongue that weighs more than an elephant, the Blue Whale is a sight to behold. 

Join Smithsonian Networks as HD cameras capture the planet’s largest living creature having a feeding frenzy.  

Also includes the bonus feature Footprints on the Water: The Nan Hauser Story, which follows the personal quest and groundbreaking work of this American conservationist as she journeys to some of the last unspoiled places on earth on a mission to unravel new clues to the behavior of whales and dolphins.

Katy Y (41), John Jerris (48), Erma H (84) and Jennifer (89) are the winners!!

Pandas in the Wild is available on DVD July 21, 2009 – a wonderful nature documentary for the whole family to watch.

I found out that only about 1,600 Giant Pandas survive in the wild with 200 to 300 in China’s mist-shrouded Quinling Mountains, which extend for thousands of miles and where few people gain permission to enter. 

Smithsonian Networks professionally captures the panda in its natural habitat. And this is the first time ever! The pandas behave much different in the wild than you’ll ever see in a zoo. 

Pandas in the Wild captures the loving warmth between a mother panda and her newborn, the fierce competition among male pandas fighting for females as spring approaches and the harsh struggles pandas endure to survive the snow-buried winter. 

It’s a journey into a remote and exotic locale and an up-close look at the secret lives of these rare mammals-an intimate portrait of one of the world’s most treasured animals.

Smithsonian Networks captures the panda in its natural habitat for the first time, behaving in ways you won’t see at the zoo.

Get ready to track one of the world’s most legendary serpents in Wanted: Anaconda, slithering onto DVD July 21. 

Guyana is home to one of the world’s most legendary creatures, one that rarely encounters man, yet has gained the reputation of being a merciless killer … even of humans. But how much is fact and how much fiction? 

Located in jungles near water, an Anaconda can grow as big as a truck. These enormous snakes kill their prey by coiling their powerful bodies around their victims and squeezing until they suffocate or are crushed to death.  It then unhinges its jaw to swallow the victim whole … a scenario that has been portrayed in more than one Hollywood B-movie, helping give rise to the snake’s formidable reputation. 

Join Smithsonian Networks and a crew of wildlife photographers and biologists as they set out to discover the legendary monster, the biggest Anaconda in the world. 

Screenhead has 4 Smithsonian Wanted: Anaconda DVDs to give away.  Post your name and we will pick the winners Thursday, July 30, 2009.