30 for 30 (TV Series) Once Brothers (2010) User Reviews

Keep a Kleenex nearby for this one...

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 21 August 2012]

horribly sad ending DON'T show they doing CPR on the corpse!

I've seen quite a few of the films from the "30 for 30" series from ESPN and must say that "Once Brothers" might be the best film among them. However, I warn you that you might want to keep a Kleenex handy, as this is a pretty sad one.

The show is about the rise and fall of the Yugoslavian basketball program in the 1980s and 90s. It's hard to believe now, but at one point, they were among the best teams in the world--a real powerhouse. In fact, the team was so good that the NBA took notice--and drafted some of the top Yugoslavian players--including Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc and Drazen Petrovic. The story then becomes more interesting when the Iron Curtain falls--and Yugoslavia starts to disintegrate due to ethnic and religious divisions that have been simmering for centuries. Once friends, Divac and Petrovic would not even talk after that, though they had been best friends. Divac had offended Petrovic and the gulf between them was enormous. Then, the story takes an even darker turn.

If you want drama, then this is for you! Just don't expect a happy ending--which makes sense, as well over 100,000 died during the civil war in Yugoslavia. A sad, horrible time...and a really gripping show.

"the political situation in a hysterically accurate way"

[woodandy81 · 10/10 · 4 August 2014]

MICHAEL WINTERS -- How can anybody take your review seriously with that kind of atrocious spelling! It is, however, in keeping with your general lack of knowledge of this period. Having had the pleasure of spending time interviewing Dino Radja during his time with the Celtics, and learning more about the political climate, as well as Vlade's outlook, I'm happy to conclude that you are wrong on all fronts. By all accounts, Divac was remorseful both at the time, and in the aftermath, and I'm not buying into your bluster about laying hard fouls on Drazen. The rest of the Croatian players - Kukoc in particular - have nothing to gain by attaching their name to the documentary if they felt it was disingenuous. Kudos to ESPN for looking outside of the usual headlines in this - and other - 30 for 30's.

Very emotional story

[nishanth02 · 9/10 · 30 March 2014]

I learned a lot in this movie, not only about the lives of Drazen Petrovic and Vlade Divac, but also of the political situation in the nation formerly known as Yugoslavia. I have always known who Drazen Petrovic was, but never to this extent. He has a work ethic that is comparable to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant and he is arguably the best European player of all time in terms of talent.

I especially love how the production crew went to Vlade Divac's hometown and involved other players from the Yugoslavia team, including Toni Kukoc. Their path and successes in the NBA is the icing on the cake. A must watch for any NBA fan or a fan of sports in general.

Another Sad, Haunting Tale

[ccthemovieman-1 · 10/10 · 24 January 2011]

This was another sad-but-memorable episode in this series, a haunting one about the friendship and alienation between two great pro basketball players from Eastern Europe. Vlade Divic tells the story of he and his former best friend Drazen Petrovic, and what happened to that friendship. It's really sad.

Yes, it's only told from Divac's side, but he comes across as an honest man. Maybe I'm naive, but I believed him.

I don't want to give anything else away but this episode will tug at your heartstrings. It's a shame politics divides so many people.

It's a bleak tale, but absolutely riveting.

One of the best sports docs ever!

[minister_of_silly_walks · 10/10 · 31 March 2019]

"Once Brothers" tells the emotional and tragic story of the relationship between two of the best Yugoslavian basketball legends of all time - Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic. It focuses on their years together in the youth and senior national squad, their vastly different NBA paths and the rift that broke up a friendship based upon the love of the game. A gripping doc, not just focusing on the athletic accomplishment of the protagonists but also on the memory of one of the lost basketball dynasties of the 90's and the poster-boys of the demise of Yugoslavian state and sports.

Great

[jway-65757 · 10/10 · 23 June 2020]

Very emotional. Good representation of European Basketball, and two of the greatest to ever play in the NBA

Best player ever

[john070 · 10/10 · 5 May 2020]

Drazen was a role model, the best player ever due to talent and excessive training. Its style of basketball was extra fine. Its achievements in Europe are unbreakable. Should he live a few more years, he would take one or two NBA titles for sure. Unfortunately he was tragically unlucky. The documentary conveys to some extent who Drazen was.

inaccurate and deceitful

[mmmwinttters · 2/10 · 11 July 2014]

The biggest problem of this film is that is completely one-sided. While Vlade Divac is very much alive, Drazen Petrvic is very much dead, so we hear only one side of the coin. Divac, who appears as a friendly, jovial guy was indeed someone who mocked Petrovic's country and did throw the Croatian flag to the ground, and in a Lakers/Nets game did foul Petrovic in anger. So, now, 20 years later it's easy going down memory lane without admitting any guilt. Is he pretending to wonder what happened or is this a genuine blindness to one's own appalling behavior. Furthermore, the film doesn't present the political situation in a hysterically accurate way. The violence and breakup of Yugoslavia where masterminded by Serbia's Slobodan Milosevic in his quest for greater Serbia. Divac never acknowledges that...he simply regrets the war. If he was truly a great man, he would have apologized for his behavior and admitted shame for the behavior of his country.

Friendship: It Takes Years to Build and Seconds to Ruin

[Michael_Elliott · 4 November 2010]

30 for 30: Once Brothers (2010)

**** (out of 4)

Here we have yet another incredibly strong entry in ESPN's 30 FOR 30 series. This one here takes a look at the friendship between Vlade Divac and Drazen Petrovic as the two quickly rose to fame playing for the Yugoslovian National Team. They would eventually win a silver medal during the Olympics and both men would find their way to the NBA but their friendship would crumble after a war broke out in their country. During a national game Divac ended up doing something that would haunt him for the rest of his life and Petrovic would end up getting killed in a car wreck before the two could make up. It's funny but I've become a major fan of this series and most often the ones I'm worried about end up being some of the best episodes. That's certainly the case here because ONCE BROTHERS is a heartbreaking look at what war can do to someone and it also shows how precious moments can be lost in the matter of seconds and how one could end up going through life regretting something and not being able to make up with that one person close to you. The story of these two men was a very interesting one but the most fascinating stuff deals with the war and how it ripped them apart. Not only do you see the bloody battle that was going on in the country but you also realize what it could do to people living thousands of miles away. I thought the film did a wonderful job at showing the struggles the men were going through and this includes pressure put on them by their friends. Divac would end up having a very long career in the NBA but his friend would be killed just as he was starting to show his talent. The twists and turns in their story is something you'd laugh at or call unbelievable if you saw it in a movie but the final moments of this thing are incredibly touching even if they might have been set up. Either way, ONCE BROTHERS says a lot about friendship and, as Divac put it, the years it takes to build a friendship and the seconds it takes to destroy it.

Interesting, engaging and moving with great warmth and honesty from all those involved (but Divac in particular)

[bob the moo · 6 February 2012]

Within sports there will always be stories – the season where the team came back from nowhere to win the title, the season where the team didn't lose a single game and so on, and to a certain degree these stories are captured forever in the stats. However within any season or match there will always be specifics and it is these that are the things people tell each other about in pubs and often this oral history is the main way these stories remain. This is why i have enjoyed many of these ESPN film because they do a good job of looking at the smaller stories behind the sports. With Once Brothers the film offered me the appeal of knowing the people involved but yet not knowing the story.

It was the mid-90's when I started playing and watching basketball and I such I of course came to know the names of the European players such as Vlade Divac, Toni Kukoc and others because they were excellent players, however by the time they entered my sphere of knowledge, the story of this film had happened already. And so it was I watched the film without knowing what happened to Drazen Petrovic or, at one point, quite what story I was being told. For the first half of the film we are filled in on the history of the young Yugoslavian team and how some of the stars from there came to the NBA. The story starts to focus on Divac (who has been our presenter and narrator) and his friend Petrovic, showing the early NBA careers of both – with Petrovic in particular capable of more than Portland was offering him.

When the war breaks out the film then follows the fracturing between Divac and the rest of the team – in particular the death of the friendship with Petrovic and the importance of one interaction with a flag after a European match. This thread is followed until the tragic end to the story. The telling is really good throughout and the focus on Divac is a strength because he has a great warmth and is natural in front of camera – he may or may not be incredibly wealthy but he certainly doesn't come over like a spoilt sports star. His narration and his honesty makes the film compelling and, in addition to the details, it is quite moving. The presentation does add some stuff that the facts don't need – for example the sad music played over war footage felt like it was overegging it for no reason. Mostly though it is bang on the money; it shows some great footage from the Nets with Petrovic showing his quality against Michael Jordan and it makes the civil war in Yugoslavia easy to understand. The access to the players and the families is good and it really puts a human face on the story and it is sad that the two men never had a chance to come together having be torn apart by arbitrary political lines on a map.

Well presented, engaging, moving and informative; this is a great film that tells a sports story I never knew – it benefits greatly from the warm honesty of Divac as presenter and subject.

Journey back from dreams

[chaos-rampant · 17 February 2016]

I saw this at a friend's house last week, prompted by memories of these people. It's a touching story about a common dream, the journey of unexpected adventure that takes you from a small Yugoslav city to the place of dreams, and how that dream was marred and grew sour when their country was torn apart, another common dream that was broken up.

If journeys are not so much about where you finally end up but the transition from one life to the next, if looking back at the things that made the heart grow fond we find not attaining some goal as much as measuring yourself up against it and riding towards it, inhabiting all this sense of moving along, this is purely about a journey.

It captured me by way of a sense I'm deeply attuned to; that the world is full of possible lives to explore, directly or vicariously through a camera, that there is no telling how these lives will pan out and the thrill all in setting out to see.