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

A tough watch.

[MUFCOK · 9/10 · 26 May 2016]

'Hillsborough is an in-depth, moving account of Britain's worst sporting disaster, in which 96 men, women and children were killed, hundreds injured and thousands traumatised. Beginning with that fateful day, 15 April 1989, the film details the horror of the tragedy, told through the experiences of those directly involved: fans, survivors, family members and police officers. Many speak publicly for the first time. It captures the horror of the crush on the terraces, revealing the prejudices held by the police towards football fans. It exposes the police commanders' abject failure in leadership as the tragedy unfolded, and their deceit and determination to deflect responsibility for their failures in crowd management onto those who survived. The documentary exposes the lack of dignity shown to bereaved families as they arrived in Sheffield to identify their loved ones laid out in body bags on a gymnasium floor. It considers the impact of the orchestrated vilification of fans in the media and, as a consequence, their public condemnation. By interviewing those involved, it recounts the 27-year campaign for justice fought on behalf of the 96 who died.' That is the summary already on IMDb, I couldn't have worded it better myself so it made sense to copy and paste it.

I believe that the majority of this TV show was created several years ago and aired in other countries, however it was not licenced to be shown in the UK due to the ongoing Hillsborough inquest. Now that inquest is over and justice has been served, the TV show has had extra footage added to it and was broadcast on the BBC in the UK. I had seen snippets of the show on Youtube so when I heard a full feature length, two hour show was to be broadcast, I ensured that I sat down to watch it in full.

I was quite clued up on Hillsborough before watching this, I had a pretty strong knowledge on the day's events and the cover-up which followed the day for almost 30 years. My girlfriend however has much less of an understanding and watching this documentary certainly educated her and gave her a much stronger idea of the whole story. The show is structured well, it covers a little on pre Hillsborough, previous games with crowd trouble and the appointment of Duckinfield only months earlier. We then see the day unfold told through supporters who were there, Police officers and journalists. After that, we see stories from family members of the victims, they tell us about the day and the weeks after and the atrocious support that was offered by the police. The final quarter which has been added on for the UK broadcast shows us the court trial and the fight for justice, a fitting and rewarding end to such a harrowing programme.

We are shown plenty of footage from the tragic day, from the original broadcast to CCTV footage. Thankfully the very graphic images are shown but are distorted as I fear they would have been too upsetting. A lot of the footage we are shown though is very upsetting and hard-hitting.

The documentary is well put together and is told in a clear, chronological order making it very easy to follow all events easily. The interviews that also narrate the show are harrowing and uneasy to listen to at times. The sense of warranted anger and aggression in these people voices is very upsetting. I'm not a fan of the re-enactment, nothing specifically about this documentary, just in general. I can see the benefit of it I just feel it takes some of the authenticity away from the subject matter with poor acting. From the very start it is clear that this documentary is aimed at the Police and Government for their cover-up attempt. I found myself getting more and more annoyed and gobsmacked the more the show went on. The more we find out about the cover-up attempt the more shocking it is, it really is astonishing that it took this long for the truth to come out and for justice to be served.

I would have liked to have seen more of when the families finally received their justice; this part of the documentary didn't feel long enough to me. After the upset and general horribleness which filled up the majority of the documentary, it would have felt a little nicer to be able to see more of what it actually meant to them to finally get what they have been fighting over 27 years for.

Overall, Hillsborough is a very tough watch and if you are to view it then please be aware of the disturbing and distressing scenes. I have a huge amount of respect for the families and friends of the victims who continually fought and fought for justice all these years. I cannot even comprehend the trauma they went through, it is a sickening thought. Hillsborough changed football forever, it saw an end to the 'dark days of football', sadly it shouldn't have needed something as tragic as this to happen for those days to be left behind. That day was completely preventable, it should never have happened; warning signs were there from years gone past and the handling of the situation on the day lead to the deaths of 96 innocent people. How very, very sad.

9/10

Harrowing Documentary That Severely Criticizes the Establishment for its Indifference towards Human Beings

[l_rawjalaurence · 9/10 · 20 May 2016]

On 15 April 1989, ninety-six Liverpool fans perished at Hillsborough, the home of Sheffield Wednesday Football Club, in Britain's worst sporting disaster. Most of them were crushed to death as they were herded into a pen like cattle at the Leppings Lane end of the ground. The police not only lacked direction, but they completely lost control and eventually proved helpless to avert the catastrophe.

Most of the basic facts of the case are well known, especially in light of the recent court judgment. Daniel Gordon's documentary tells the story of the disaster itself, plus the twenty-seven year campaign waged by the victims' families to clear the football fans of any wrongdoing on that fateful day.

The stories of what happened are heart-breaking: of families saying goodbye to their loved ones on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and never seeing them alive again. The police were brutally insensitive in the way they dealt with the bereaved - having laid out the corpses in a gymnasium next to Hillsborough, they forced the families to identify the dead, and subsequently interviewed them, asking leading questions such as - "was your son/daughter/father drunk when they arrived at the ground?" Yet the overriding impression of HILLSBOROUGH was one of sheer horror at the way the Establishment - the police, the judiciary system, as well as successive governments - closed ranks to deny the victims' families justice for so many years after the disaster occurred. The South Yorkshire Police force, led by David Duckenfield, were entirely to blame for their appalling crowd management on that fateful day; yet they sought to shift blame on to the fans by claiming that the fans were both drunk and violent in their behavior. Statements given by individual officers were deliberately tampered with, and sometimes completely rewritten; while senior officers and high-ranking legal eagles repeatedly claimed that there was no new evidence to show that the police were culpable in any way.

Due to the efforts of Professor Phil Scraton and his fellow panelists (appointed in 2010 to re-examine the case), all these claims turned out to be false. The incriminating evidence was brought to light; and finally, in April 2016, the fans were exonerated.

Yet we were left wondering whether the South Yorkshire Police and other Establishment organizations be punished for their willful attempts to pervert the course of justice. In light of the Establishment's behavior over the last twenty-seven years, it seems that no one still wants to take responsibility for the suffering caused to the victims' families.

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.

Excellent Documentary.

[stevecaswell-01749 · 8/10 · 10 May 2016]

My first review and I will keep it brief!

This is an excellent, moving documentary giving what I believe to be a true reflection of the horror of that fateful day. With contributions from all sides, some extremely moving and others very graphic in detail, particularly the accounts of the PC's who were trying vainly to cope and their damning condemnation of their superiors handling of the situation.

The stories of those awaiting news of loved ones are very moving and the way they, and indeed the victims were treated in the immediate aftermath was shocking and something I had not been aware of previously.

Both upsetting, yet strangely uplifting (the unyielding strength in the families fight for justice) make this a "must watch".

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.