As a sports fan, I was interested in the subject matter regarding Balco and especially in the Barry Bonds part of the story. Unfortunately, Bonds refused all interview requests for the film.
Instead, We get endless interviews with Victor Conte, an obvious conman who originally founded a nutritional supplement company with legal products such as zinc and magnesium to increase athletic performance.
Conte heard of athletes using human growth hormones and invented a substance called "the clear" which could not be detected with standard drug doping tests.
Conte claims that he never gave Bonds steroids but only legal products. Marion Jones was stripped of her Olympic gold medals and spent some time im prison. Victor served a short term at afederal prison and life has turned out well for him.
The only likeable person is Tim Montgomery who at least shows some remorse for his actions.
The IRS "agent with a gun" actually staked out the Balco garbage dumpster in order to obtain evidence in the case. In the end, it all turned out to be a waste of time and money. Our criminal justice system is a joke.
Untold Hall of Shame
2023
Action / Biography / Crime / Documentary / Sport
Untold Hall of Shame
2023
Action / Biography / Crime / Documentary / Sport
Plot summary
Examine one of sports' biggest steroid scandals via interviews with the head of BALCO lab, athletes suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs and more.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
August 17, 2023 at 10:45 PM
Director
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1080p.WEB.x265Movie Reviews
A Doc for Sports Fans
Pretty rough. Confusing end game.
I think I'm just a little confused. Conte was bad guy. Users got stuff from the bad guy Conte. Conte is beloved for pushing athletes to their potential (with drugs.) Athletes get stripped of their accomplishments while Conte still exists in his own world. I feel like after watching this that I was trying to be convinced to like this guy for his "innovations." This is a very confusing documentary of which I'm already quite well-versed of the real story. I hope in the future that these Netflix documentaries can take a better stance on these atrocities (drug creator and peddler vs user.) Not really sure this is worth watching.
Turn down the music
Ever since the Untold series started there's been issues with the audio, with the music playing over interviews, some of the episodes in the first season were unwatchable because of it. Everyone is aware of it but the creators haven't changed the way the docs are produced. Same issues with this episode and the Johnny Manziel one; constant loud music playing over the interviews. It's as if they're afraid to let the documentary breathe and feel the need to fill every available second with noise.
Shame, because this is one of the more interesting stories. It's fascinating to hear people openly discuss doping and their intentions to win at all costs.