30 for 30 (TV Series) The Life and Trials of Oscar Pistorius: Part 1 (2020) User Reviews

Interesting but disappointing

[coreygrip · 6/10 · 30 June 2021]

When I was a freshman in high school, this story took over the news for months and I remember this case vividly. While I did not remember the initial ruling, I assumed he would be guilty. I learned a great amount about Oscar Pistorius, the history of violence against women in South Africa, and the warning signs that eventually led to the tragic murder. For a documentary of this nature going back to the beginning and looking at the buildup to the trial is important for context and perspective, but none the less the production team needed to give more footage in the moment. I felt that the documentary was more focused on his athletic accomplishments, overcoming adversity, and the many relationships he had throughout his life. While these points are part of his life it overshadowed the most important part of the documentary in the trial. From a production standpoint, many of his life events could have been skipped over or condensed. For example, his childhood and teenage years took up too much time rather than focusing more on his violent tendencies and personality. Those things were talked about, but not as in depth as it should have been. It felt like the trial part of the documentary was more about footage of international news reporters giving updates before, during and after the trial rather than the actual trial itself.

Will It Ever End?

[DocuFan2021 · 25 January 2021]

This show is surprisingly bad for such a great series. Twice the length it needs to be, anyone wanting to learn about the crime & evidence won't find a clear picture here, it jumps all over the place and wanders off down tons of rabbit holes (on & on) without presenting a cohesive story or making any point - then abruptly ends. Disappointing.

Terrible message about apartheid and domestic violence

[habren · 2/10 · 24 November 2020]

A nuanced profile would have been very reasonable. But the woman he shot is hardly mentioned. They try to justify his actions by saying how apartheid is a terrible thing that happened to white people and that's why his response of shooting blindly into the bathroom was understandable. It seems as if this film is financed by the Pistorius marketing team.

As a resume video to get back into the grace of sponsors, it's not bad. But as a documentary it is a waste of a lot of time (over 5 hours).

Horrible bias

[jamiev2121 · 1/10 · 28 April 2021]

The title should have been 'In Defense of Oscar Pistorius" it was so one sided it was shameful and honestly should be removed from espn's 30 for 30 collection. It glorified his athletic accomplishments and hardly even mentioned any evidence against him at all. It's difficult to even explain how one sided and unfair this documentary was. I feel horrible for anyone who knew the young lady he murdered that watched this sad excuse for a documentary. Worst 30 for 30 ever!

Drags...

[sedonasheri · 1/10 · 29 December 2020]

I barely got through the first one ... it's in need of some serous editing. So much useless filler. The story just stops time and again as they cut to useless commentary. I'm an avid 30 for 30 fan and have honestly never seen a bad one until now. Will not watch anymore of this and in fact am aggravated I wasted an evening watching... hoping and assuming it would get better, that the story would start to move forward again, but no, just a waste of time. I think I'll check out the documentary about him on amazon instead.

Obviously a defence case

[lonebjorkmann · 2/10 · 9 August 2021]

Great commentary and fair filming, but the case is being made for the defence the whole way. Yes I would like it, if I for some reason believed him to be innocent before watching. As a neutral viewer it was an apparent defence case for Pistorious. I watched until halfway E3, which was more than generous, then had enough of this brainwash special of the day 😂 I don't know how much was paid to generate this obvious ad campaign for Pistorious but it didn't sway me.