30 for 30: Soccer Stories (TV Series) Hillsborough (2014) User Reviews

Incredibly eye-opening and moving

[heleena · 10/10 · 29 September 2015]

I first heard about this incident during a sixth form law class on psychiatric harm. I never read too much into the disaster. I learned about it further when my Dad told me he had been there. Still 4 years later and I am only watching a documentary about it now.

Unbelievable tragedy and corruption, and we only gather the icing of evidence in this documentary. Yet it leaves you gob-smacked and aching for the loved ones. Had my dad not been a Nottingham forest fan, he would have been in the exact spot the tragedy occurred.

Although this documentary pays little tribute to the 96 lost, it pays a greater tribute to the ones fighting for justice to this day. It gives family members a way to overcome years of fighting for justice by giving their story. One can't even comprehend the trauma those involved have had to deal with, so to see that there are people with power still fighting for them leaves you with hope.

As a future lawyer, this was a magnificently narrated documentary on the corruption those with power can obtain. 26 years worth of corruption and still counting.

Less about the deaths of the 96 and more about the powers that be trying to sweep it all under the rug.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 26 December 2014]

The football tragedy at Hillsborough was only barely discussed here in the United States. Sadly, we heard the headlines that 'hooligans' were responsible for this stampede that killed 96 people--but not the real story. Here, "30 for 30: Soccer Stories" explains not only what happened but the incredible efforts by some to deliberately project an inaccurate account of what really occurred.

In the 1989 FA Cup semi-finals between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, fans from Liverpool began a stampede which ultimately killed 96 people. At the time, as I mentioned above, this was blamed on 'hooligans'-- even before any real investigation occurred. In fact, many factors contributed to the stampede--such as an inadequate police presence, ineptitude by the police organizers, forcing all the Liverpool fans through one tiny set of turnstiles (thus creating a HUGE choke point) and more. But, for the longest time, hooligans and folks without tickets forcing there way in were both promoted as THE causes--even though neither had any serious impact on the stampede. Much of the film chronicles the efforts by families of the dead to get to the truth...which FINALLY happened in 2012!!! All in all, a very sad and compelling film--one which begs the viewer to wonder WHY...why the deliberate attempts to misrepresent the tragedy.

Harrowing. Long, painful journey for survivors of a disaster.

[ben_andreas91 · 9/10 · 18 July 2016]

The last two to three decades have had an influx of impressions, recordings; audio and video. Whatever constantly happens around the world can today be transmitted and stored as documentation of history. But few go to the depths of awakening all your senses as this story does.

What makes this documentary harrowing is not just the story of the deaths. I had heard of Hillsborough before, but it was no more than a tragic event I had superficial knowledge about. It was when the images of the desperate people trapped in a cage-like enclosure the hair on my arm stood up. It was when the camera zoomed in on people's faces screaming in anguish, asking why nothing was being done. It was when the bodies of victims were piled up, pressed up against the fence - that was when I realized the true extent of the tragedy.

Obviously seeing something for yourself will always stimulate you more than hearing about it. But 30 for 30 also gave a podium to the survivors, victims and relatives to voice their opinion. Through them, and by help of archive footage and original video, a story of lies and incompetence is exposed in a long process for justice.

If you want to gain more insight into the disaster this documentary is highly recommended. I do, as previously stated, not claim to have read a lot about Hillsborough before watching this film. But the way it is made has everything to make it a gripping narrative into the loss of life and the power of institutions.

Very detailed documentary about the tragedy and the injustice surrounding it

[guisreis · 8/10 · 12 July 2022]

Very detailed documentary, with a lot of information and footage about (and prior) the tragedy of Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, in the match between Liverpool and Notts Forest in 1989 FA Cup, resulting in 96 deaths and hundreds of injured people. It is plenty of testimonies of survivors, relatives of victims, and policemen who were there (many of them helped in trying to save the victims, although the commands were not in favor of it). It is very impressive, despite somewhat sluggish, how they narrate all the elements in the administration of the match and in the police enforcement there that led to the overcrowding and crashing of people in the stadium. There is a very sharp criticism about the shame of the judgement that accused the victims, and the fans of Liverpool, of being the responsible for the tragedy, linking the catastrophe to the level of alcohol in the blood of the dead and to crime and hooliganism. Even worse: there is the discussion of the distortion by authorities of testimonies of policemen that were working in the match in that day and told the truth about what they saw and what did happen. This was eventually converted into the book "Hillsborough: The Truth" by Professor Scruton. Both the institutionalized injustice (biased evidences and upside-down courts) against the victims and the irresponsibility of the press in the first moment were addressed in the movie. Indeed, the waves of investigations om the incident (be them serious or not) through the decades after it have been quite detailed too in the documentary. An encompassing documentary for the 96.

The Tragedy Was Just the Start

[Michael_Elliott · 6 August 2016]

30 for 30: Hillsborough (2014)

**** (out of 4)

Excellent documentary that takes a look at the 1989 Hillsborough tragedy that ended with 96 soccer fans dead. The documentary uses interview accounts from those who were there as well as footage of the event to show what happened. What could have been as worse as the deaths was the cover-up done by the government and the families attempts to reach justice.

I had heard about this tragic event but never really got the full story of what happened so there's no question that there was some great bits of information here. It's rather amazing that the actual tragedy only took up about forty-five minutes of running time and the rest of the picture took a look at the cover-up and the fight for justice. It's hard to believe that in 1989 such a thing would have happened over a tragedy like this.

The interviews are extremely well-done and there's no question that the documentary gives you a clear idea of what happened that day and why it went so tragically wrong. This was made twenty-five years after the event and it's just shocking that all of the fighting is still happening.