77 Minutes

This documentary truly does cover a terrible tragedy however it's unfortunate that the victims of this had to be used by a terrible production and director. It's constantly misrepresenting itself as a way to put focus on the victims and the human life and tragedy, opposed to glorifying the shooter, however the director seems to mainly focus on the police response and his unhappiness with it. I came away from this not knowing who the victims are as people but just victims, in no way did I get to know the community, who these victims were or anything like that as it didn't serve the narrative of police incompetence the director was so trying to push. Yes the response time was far to long but it's also important to understand several factors. 1.This was the largest massacre but a lone shooter in U.S history the time it occured. So of course the police weren't equipped with firepower or adequate response. 2. The police didn't go in all guns blazing or shooting immediately. This is because the McDonalds had tinted windows which made visibility inside difficult and they didn't know how many shooters there were. They didn't know if this was a lone shooter or several people. 3. This was the 1980s where they didn't have the technology to fully be able to understand the situation in short time or to more quickly communicate with several departments. This director tried to make this a hit piece on the police who were involved. Instead or objectively asking questions and allowing the answers and facts of what happened paint the real story he tried to push his own. If you're interested in this massacre do research it, research the victims and who they were. Do not watch this. I was so appalled by how horribly this documentary was done I created an account just to leave this review. Prior to watching this documentary I always wondered how a true crime documentary could be poorly reviewed. I always thought "How can you give 3 stars to a massacre". But the way this was handled, the disrespect to the victims of this case was just sad.

Terrible tragedy turned even more so by attempting to lead the viewer into a story of police negligence. At a time when mass shootings are unheard of, apparently the reactionary force is supposed to have the power of today's technological advances, experience, and tactics. In the meantime dedicates close to zero minutes looking into the perpetrators circumstances. Also introducing a racial undertone just takes the cake. The filmmaker begins with a journey from the apartment the shooter lived in, half a block to the site, in a Hispanic community. Then surprisingly, Hispanics that live in the community that frequent the local McDonald's establishment are caught up in the incident. And the viewer should take that as evidence of a hate crime. The worst thing about this film is it distracts from the horrific loss of life and trys to draw attention to these social issues. That is a sheer waste of the lives lost. The filmmaker demonstrates he doesn't care about the cost of life and is more interested in trying to show a lack of police competence through an arrogant repetitive, and failed, line of questioning, to anyone that will allow him to ask it. Ooo do you think lives could have been saved if the police reacted faster, he asks. Yet the wife admits he makes statements like "society has had its chance" and "he's going to hunt people", the day before the incident. But little to no follow up on failing to recognize the signs, which coincidentally, are similar to ones exhibited by shooters to date. This is sheer hubris on full display. Disgusting!

This film is ridiculous...the police are not to blame for what happened here! The director with his accusatory questioning is out of line...police put themselves out there everyday. And who authorized putting the footage of the dead victims for all to see...very disrespectful in my mind. And there is not one mention of the shooter being to blame, with mental health and guns being major factors. This directory missed the mark on this film..I think he should be ashamed of this work.

Charlie Minn inserted himself as much as possible in this film. His ego and his clearly biased opinions ruined it for me. He has one agenda and that was to blame the police but gave no blame to the shooter. Heartbreaking footage of the deceased kids, baby and adults.

This isn't an insightful and informative documentary looking at the background and the lead up to the shooting - I still don't know what the shooters name was. This is set up purely to blame the police. The arguement for blaming the police isn't even effective communicated to the viewer. The director seems to enjoy being in many of the shots, and feels like he's looking for his 15 minutes of fame. The only saving grace is the likeability of the interviewees.

The “director” absolutely ruined this doc. This went from a “don’t blame the shooter” let’s blame the police attack. The video footage was gruesome and my heart breaks for all the victims and their families. The police that were involved in this terrible tragedy were traumatized as well. This happened in the 80s. It was a different world then. They obviously were affected by this greatly. All this “director” wanted to do was make a name for himself and blame them and cause controversy. This whole documentary is a farce and a slap in the face to everyone that was there that day.

Could have been a much more effective documentary had the director chose to lay out the timeline in a way that flowed consistently instead of wasting so much time immersing his personal feelings and obvious opinions. His interviews are cringy and not in the way of "hard hitting journalism." It could have been a great, informative and meaningful doc, but the director missed the opportunity to make it so.

Very interesting. Interview with the victims my heart goes out to those who survived and those that died. The line of questioning from the host was bad. His line of questioning was inconsiderate and blaming everyone but the one who did the act.

I wanted to feel bad for the victims and hate the killer but I was too busy hating the director and cringing hearing his interviews. Listening to him was more brutal than seeing the crime scene footage.

This documentary was one of the most transparent films I have seen. Many reviewers had issues with the gore, however, the fact that it was so graphic made me feel sadness, anger, basically every emotion on the book. Message revived. You don’t appreciate the gravity unless you get to see behind the scenes. I commend him for his effort and dedication in giving light in this issue that is never talked about. I never knew about it until I saw this documentary. Additionally, I highly commend the director for not mentioning suspects name during the whole film. Saying his name once, gives the individual infamy. Reason for my 4 star instead of 5: the questions towards the police. I believe resources and awareness were lacking. How do you prepare for an event that you have no experience in? We don’t learn unless mistakes are made. If I see it happening again now, that’s a different story. Documentaries are usually forgettable. This one, I will never forget.