Midway

The most unusual war of the 20th century took place in 1969. El Salvador and Honduras faced one another in a qualifying set for the 1970 World Cup. Tensions were already boiling over in the two countries over the issue of Salvadoran workers in Honduras. But soccer sometimes brings out the worst in people, and the games turned from friendly competition into a full-scale military invasion by El Salvador on its neighbor. Although the fighting lasted only four days, the combat damaged two nations already teetering on the brink of economic collapse. And it all started over a soccer game.

And you will find few war stories this potentially interesting in The Century of Warfare, an interminable series from the History Channel. A low-budget 1993 British production that relies on public domain footage, library music, and a monotonous British narrator with a soporific voice, this 26-episode series somehow manages to make one of the most inherently interesting subjects stunningly pedestrian and dull.

The 26 episodes were culled from over 13,000 hours of footage shot by the U.S., British, German and Japanese navies during World War II. Narrated by Leonard Graves and set to a score by Richard Rodgers, this program offered a remarkable look at the realities of naval warfare and the extraordinary challenges faced by the Allies. From U-boat "wolf packs" to the epic battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, every major naval engagement of World War II is captured in some of the most riveting combat footage ever shot.