The Two Escobars

I too, as mentioned by some previous re-viewers, was intrigued with the subject matter. Being a huge football fan, always leads me to the path of such films, but twinning Andres Escobar's story with Pablo seemed to add an extra bit of intrigue for me. So I watched with fascination a world so far away from my own, now I don't really know much more about Pablo, other than the headlines. But this film seemed to make him out to be bit of a "Robin Hood" character. Maybe justified maybe not, but I suppose one of the best aspects of any docu-film is to inspire the viewer to find out more, which this film has. From a pure football prospective, it was a shame that some of the football commentary was "American" as they don't really get football, the one which stuck out was where they referred to the 2nd half and the "final half". I know I'm been picky, but hey that's what reviews are for? Overall if you're a football fan, you'll enjoy, if your interested in the drug world, again you'll enjoy, if your interested in what Colombia was like around that time, again you'll enjoy. So to the Zimbalist Brothers good job and looking forward to seeing your next movie.

One of the greatest documentaries I have ever seen. I liked the director's unbiased approach to telling this story. The poor people of Colombia didn't love Pablo because he was a drug dealer, they loved him because he was their savior. In the Americas Colombia has the third most number of Blacks behind U.S. and Brazil. In Colombia, just like U.S. and Brazil, the Blacks are predominantly poor and uneducated and governments do nothing but flood ghettos with drugs and welfare systems to barely keep people breathing. Pablo didn't flood the ghettos with drugs, he instead built schools, hospitals, houses and soccer fields. I am not praising Pablo for being a drug dealer, but let's not sit here and pretend that our leaders are not as corrupt as the leaders were in Colombia.

I am a very big football (soccer) fan, and I have always been intrigued by the story behind Andres Escobar's own goal and the chain of events that the event triggered.

At first when I saw the trailers and ads on ESPN I wasn't too sure about also including Pablo Escobar in the same documentary, but boy was I wrong. This is one of the most powerful documentaries I have ever watched, it should be of high interest to anybody, not only football fans, and football was just an excuse for ESPN to show it in my opinion.

The story of Colombia is an incredible story that needs to be told and shown to people who live in similar countries, Mexico should take note on the film and the violent history of the very rich nation which is Colombia.

I hope to watch it again as soon as it is released on Blu Ray, and I would highly encourage you to watch it and be moved by the incredible story behind Pablo Escobar and the people of Colombia. I did and it completely changed my perspective in the way I judged Pablo Escobar, though now I have a lot more questions on the topic, but I plan to do a little reading after today.

10 out 10

I don't know how the Zimbalist brothers managed to portray with such perfection the truth behind the last thirty years of Colombian history, they did an outstanding job. I really felt moved watching this documentary made for the ESPN series 30 for 30. It reflects all the pain and suffering mixed with the joy for the game of football (soccer)and the wonderful team of players we had at that time, the best ever. It shows the good and the evil, the yin and yang of human nature in the symbol of such wonderful man as was Andres Escobar and the ruthless evil figure of Pablo Escobar also shown to have a good side. This was captured in a very objective manner again a wonderful job by the Zimbalist brothers. Although being from Colombia, some of the stories told in the documentary were just gossip to me at the time but watching it, confirms all of it as true, a sad but true episode that we still carry to this day.

This fascinating documentary was made as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series and highlights the rise of soccer in Colombia in the 1980s. Naturally, the infusion of drug money helped build the teams and drug kingpin Pablo Escobar got behind the National team. The other Escobar in the story is Andrés Escobar, a middle class kid who grew up to be the captain of this team. Soccer fans take their sport VERY seriously and this film showcases that. There are quite a few shocking things that happen to the team as they made their way to the World Cup in the United States in 1994 that will make cringe. Directors Jeff & Michael Zimbalist use tons of old footage and seamlessly bounce from the war on drugs to the wars on the soccer fields. Now when you get me to care about soccer, you know you've done something right.