30 for 30 (TV Series) The Four Falls of Buffalo (2015) User Reviews

Time Gives Perspective

[christopher-cole83 · 9/10 · 27 December 2019]

I was just a kid of 6 years old when the Bills went to their first Super Bowl. We weren't living in Western New York yet, but it wasn't much longer until we moved there and I began following the Bills. Though I hadn't been a life-long fan, those three other Super Bowls hurt.

Time has a way of flipping the narrative though. As a fan of a team in which their greatest accomplishment is losing in four consecutive Super Bowls, that's what the haters always point to. Yet this documentary brings to the forefront an accomplishment that not even the Cowboys of the 90s did, nor did the Patriots of the 2000s do: they played in four consecutive Super Bowls. Considering that the game of football is a violent train wreck that happens four weeks in the pre-season, 16 weeks over the regular season, and for the best teams 3-4 more weeks in the post season, that's a lot of physical, emotional, and psychological strain that sports medicine and science is just beginning to understand. Even the victors of those Super Bowls against the Bills have to admit that what they accomplished is not likely to ever be repeated. Though the Bills didn't win, the greatness of those teams is now better understood.

What I particularly liked about this documentary though is the character that shone through of Scott Norwood. When people think of "character" and "Bills Super Bowl appearances" the first, and sometimes only thought, that comes to mind is Don Beebe chasing down Leon Lett in a blowout loss, and rightly so. Yet Scott Norwood, who should have never been put in a position to have the game on his foot, addressed the media and answered every question about it. I'm sure in that moment only Bill Buckner could truly understand how he felt. Yet 24 years later he was still being asked about it. Given how the other three Super Bowls went, and how victory in that first one was a 47 yard kick away, he wasn't crushed. Of course it haunts him, but he didn't wallow in agony. I think that, as much as anything else (if not more) revealed that those Bills teams had big egos to be sure, but a lot of character too.

This documentary didn't need to answer the question of why didn't they win. It showed that those were very special years that likely will never be repeated ever.

Guilt, Grudges and Growth in the Saga of Football's Ultimate Bridesmaids

[drqshadow-reviews · 7/10 · 20 September 2018]

Triumph and tragedy with the Buffalo Bills, four time conference champion and four time Super Bowl loser. Buffalo's story is one of perseverance, of epic highs and humbling lows, the forge of many a rich human character.

Starting quarterback Jim Kelly is a prime example, a hot-headed kid who joked at the city's expense before jilting them for a rival league after the draft. During his early years in the NFL he was a petulant prima donna, throwing teammates under the bus and running his mouth at press events. The adversity of four straight bitter pills changed him, though, steeled him, prepared him for what trials his life held in store after his career was through. Scott Norwood, whose errant kick spoiled the team's first championship try, lives every day with the guilt of that one defining misfire. He also wells up with pride in reliving the days immediately after the game, when the community taught him lessons in compassion and forgiveness.

These teams are rife with such stories, of morals wrenched from each player's deepest disappointment. It's a bittersweet tale - of course there's no Hollywood ending - but also a resonant lesson in humility, acceptance and personal growth.

We want Scott

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 21 September 2021]

The story of the great Buffalo Bills team of the 90s and their 4 Super Bowl appearances.

This is an interesting look at a successful era for a football team and an insightful look at the impact felt by they players at not quite achieving their ultimate ambition.

The narrative frames the team through 4 consecutive seasons that culminated in Super Bowl losses and the reaction of players like Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Don Beebe, Darryl Talley, Steve Tasker, Scott Norwood, Frank Reich, coach Marv Levy, and general manager Bill Polian.

For me it is a great insight into a brilliant team that is unfortunately associated with those high profile losses and the psychological affects on those involved. When you see the emotion felt by individuals years later during interviews you can only imagine how much someone like Norwood has beat himself up about a moment that involves the finest of margins.

It also captures the importance of the Bills to the fans and city of Buffalo and the mostly fantastic support given to the players during the tough moments. All the footage of crowds chanting Norwood's name made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I enjoyed the examples of fan mail read during one interview and the stories of fickle fans who left early during the great comeback against the Huston Oilers.

It also focuses on numerous media obsessions like the 'Bickering Bills', and the targeting of the Bills as a punchline for jokes associated with Super Bowl failure.

Despite the narrative it does a good job of reminding the viewer how successful the team was and what an incredible achievement it was to reach 4 consecutive Super Bowls regardless of the results. I am British and the closest thing to the Bills run I have witnessed in this country is Jimmy White reaching so many consecutive Snooker World Championship finals only to suffer defeat in every one.

It is filmed and edited fantastically well, using Niagara Falls beautifully as a visual metaphor for the team's story.

The Four Falls

[Michael_Elliott · 12 January 2016]

30 for 30: Four Falls of Buffalo (2015)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

It should go without saying but here's yet another very good entry in the ESPN series, which has yet to deliver a bad episode. Is it possible that one of the greatest NFL teams ever is also one of the biggest losers in history? That is a debate that many people get into to as this film takes a look at the Buffalo Bills who with quarterback Jim Kelly went to four straight Super Bowls but ended up losing each of them and becoming a punchline for everyone in the country.

Kelly along with Marv Levy, Andre Reed, Steve Tasker, Don Beebe, Frank Weich, Bill Belichick, Troy Aikman and various others are interviewed as we take a look at those four magical seasons where the team always played their worst game in their last. The documentary does a very good job at showing how great the team was but of course it's unable to answer why they could never close to the door. The film also has a touching sequence dealing with kicker Scott Norwood who ended up missing a 47 yard field goal in that first Super Bowl. He gets a lot of interview time here and it's great to see him being honest about his feelings on that day even after all these years. If anything this film certainly shows how people should lose with grace.

Fantastic, sad and inspirational all at once

[zhala-78720 · 10/10 · 9 February 2021]

Being Australian and not having really followed NFL when I was a young tacker, I was unaware of the bills story and the heartache they endured losing 4 Super Bowls. One of the greatest achievements of a sporting powerhouse coupled with so much disappointment this documentary raises some good questions about what greatness really is and how society looks at winning and losing. A true credit to the people of Buffalo... I won't say any more other than do yourself a favour and grab a bag of chips and a froffie and sit down for a couple hours and enjoy this filum

Great

[bgar-80932 · 8/10 · 21 February 2022]

I watched this on a whim and I'm really glad I did. I knew nothing of the story, had no idea Buffalo went to four straight Super Bowls and lost all 4. I was born in 1990 and this was not long after that. That'd be so heartbreaking as a sports fan. The fans were great throughout somehow. My team is the Rams and they've been through their own struggles. At some point they had a I believe 5 year stretch of the worst football in history. That said now after this recent year we've gotten 2 Super Bowls so it makes the struggles worth it. I digress. Great documentary, even if you just have passing interest.

A Great Sports Documentary

[tkdlifemagazine · 8/10 · 14 February 2024]

This is a great sports documentary. It takes a professional and personal look at the unbelievable reign (almost) of the AFC Championship Buffalo Bills of the 1990's. This team went to an unprecedented four (4) NFL Super Bowl Championships in a row and came up empty handed. This, in and of itself, is a compelling story. The thing that makes the documentary so good is that it looks very deeply at the human aspect of this story, and the human toll. The show uses interviews, past and present, and great documentary footage to tell this story. It reminds you that there is a lot more that what you see on the field during the course of a sporting event.

No big surprises!

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 15 February 2016]

"The Four Falls of Buffalo" has a problem many other installments of "30 for 30" don't have--just about everyone knows that the Buffalo Bills lost four straight Super Bowls. And, considering the title, there really is no element of surprise. Still, as they tell the story, the narration is such that it sounds a bit like they're trying to keep the audience on the edge of their collective seats! No, no matter what they do, the film ends exactly where the audience expects it...with Buffalo losing yet again.

So am I saying this is a bad film? No. It's well crafted, reasonably interesting despite being anticlimactic and there certainly worse ways to spend about 90 minutes of your life. And, on the positive side, the show doesn't completely whitewash the players...I do remember the season just before the Bills went to the first Super Bowl--and I remember that Jim Kelly was a bit of a jerk at that time (and the show acknowledges that several of the stars were NOT acting like team players).

VIEWS ON FILM review of Four Falls of Buffalo

[burlesonjesse5 · 7/10 · 21 February 2024]

Four Falls of Buffalo is a 30 for 30 documentary of anguish and lost yearning. For every moment of light at the end of the tunnel, there is the pain and disillusionment of the Buffalo Bills losing four Super Bowls in a row. "Four Falls", well it's a downer but at least it's straight-from-the-shoulder as the interviewees speak without argument. Former Bills QB Jim Kelly and former Bills wide receiver Don Beebe are the Greek choruses here. One looks a little downhearted, the other surprisingly cheerful.

Distributed by Disney+ and directed by Ken Rodgers (producer of Hard Knocks), Four Falls of Buffalo chronicles the Buffalo Bills teams of the 1990s and how they won so darn much but just couldn't lift that almighty, Lombardi Trophy. Rodgers gives the docu that distinct, NFL Films look (obviously) plus archive footage and sound offs from battered Bills brethren.

Watching "Four Falls", you kind of wonder why it was made. I mean why bring up the sad past of stuff like "wide right", the forgetting of one's helmet via Super Bowl XXVI, or getting 52 points put on you by those pesky Dallas Cowboys. Could it be a cry for help for bygone Bills players and lifelong, present Bills fans? Maybe. There's just so much somberness and affliction in the faces of dudes like former RB Thurman Thomas, former DE Bruce Smith, and former QB Kelly (mentioned earlier). They're obviously not celebrating anything over the course of "Four Falls" and its 102-minute, fly-by running time. Heck, it feels more like they're attending a repast after a funeral.

Gridiron grievances and America's Team aside, Four Falls of Buffalo is crispy edited, perfectly narrated by actor William Fichtner, sort of arcane, and anything but self-effacing. If you're a Bills fanatic it might turn you off, as the proceedings try to glorify 2nd place by polishing that last-gasp, cinematic poop. If you're a football enthusiast and don't root for the Bills (that would be me), then you might feel the opposite, bewitched by why an NFL team losing the big game over and over again heralds a partial quandary. Take these "falls".