25 years later and the reasons behind the Hungerford massacre are still unknown to all of us. And we'll never know what motivated Michael Ryan to randomly shoot dozens of people, his mother included, and then kill himself, so he took all the possible answers with him. This TV documentary goes right into not answering or trying to answer what can't be justified, instead it recreates through re-enactment with actors, some archive footage and the testimonies of surviving victims of that tragic August 19, 1987 when sixteen people were killed and many more were wounded by this complete stranger in a quite peaceful town that became an horror stage.
What this massacre, one of the first of its kind in Britain, caused: a revaluation on gun's control and the way they're re sold (since the shooter had a whole collection of handgun and machine guns as well), an even heavier control of violent films release already in its highest escalate with the nasty videos crusade (see the documentaries "Ban the Sadist Videos" which also features Ryan's case), "Rambo III" went on to be banned in some UK theaters, because it was well-known that "First Blood" was one of Ryan's favorite films. And thanks to this guy, The Smiths couldn't release 'Stop Me If You Think You Heard This One Before' as a vehicle to promote their "Strangeways, Here We Come" album because the song contained the memorable line "...and plan a mass murder". But that's almost another story.
The documentary takes us back to the places where it all happened with victims and eyewitnesses retelling all they could remember from that dramatic date. There's the moving story of the mother and daughter who faced the man, face to face and almost got themselves killed, practically saved by a miracle; or the narrative of the soldier on leave who followed the shooter trying to protect more and more people from danger, his detailed account was the most memorable. But again, the movie does not judge the murderer's acts or explain why it happened. Other sensationalist films might have fall for that but this doesn't. It's very objective, a little bit informative and we only get the information from people who were there and saw and heard everything unfolding like something extraordinary rather than get news coverage or the media's frenzy in covering this story (there's very few archive footage in here which might disappoint some viewers).
If you don't know much about the massacre, this is a good film about the issue, very well-made and it doesn't take much time to present everything it needs to be presented, 45 minutes is enough to show and inform about that horrible and unforgettable day. 8/10
What this massacre, one of the first of its kind in Britain, caused: a revaluation on gun's control and the way they're re sold (since the shooter had a whole collection of handgun and machine guns as well), an even heavier control of violent films release already in its highest escalate with the nasty videos crusade (see the documentaries "Ban the Sadist Videos" which also features Ryan's case), "Rambo III" went on to be banned in some UK theaters, because it was well-known that "First Blood" was one of Ryan's favorite films. And thanks to this guy, The Smiths couldn't release 'Stop Me If You Think You Heard This One Before' as a vehicle to promote their "Strangeways, Here We Come" album because the song contained the memorable line "...and plan a mass murder". But that's almost another story.
The documentary takes us back to the places where it all happened with victims and eyewitnesses retelling all they could remember from that dramatic date. There's the moving story of the mother and daughter who faced the man, face to face and almost got themselves killed, practically saved by a miracle; or the narrative of the soldier on leave who followed the shooter trying to protect more and more people from danger, his detailed account was the most memorable. But again, the movie does not judge the murderer's acts or explain why it happened. Other sensationalist films might have fall for that but this doesn't. It's very objective, a little bit informative and we only get the information from people who were there and saw and heard everything unfolding like something extraordinary rather than get news coverage or the media's frenzy in covering this story (there's very few archive footage in here which might disappoint some viewers).
If you don't know much about the massacre, this is a good film about the issue, very well-made and it doesn't take much time to present everything it needs to be presented, 45 minutes is enough to show and inform about that horrible and unforgettable day. 8/10
