The Nailbomber

The story is gripping and the plot was a golden opportunity for the show-makers. What was needed, was to exploit the reason for racial wars, go deep into their activities in Britain, to explain how they convince members to hate, and what was the modus operandi of a spy who infiltrated the BNP. But what we got was a half baked cause and effect POV from the spy and some other characters. Better sequencing, storytelling and character buildup would've made Manhunt: Nail Bomber as good as the Manhunt series. But this was bland and at times boring, with very few moments that pull you in. Disappointing.

The story is interesting, but the film does not expound enough on the racial environment at the time; nor the white supremacist movement, either then or now. There's plenty of film footage, primarily old news clips, but very little in depth analysis. For instance, not much in the way of the immediate aftermath, or the long term effects of these events.

It's not a very long film; but with that, it felt like further details were needed for some context. A more diverse range of credible interviewees would've helped. It's still worth watching, it's not terrible by any means.

Netflix can been quite hit or miss with It's documentaries and the stylistic presentation can quite often make or break a netflix documentary. As can how long it runs for. Be it 1 episode or 4 episodes.

The Nailbomber did a very good job at telling the story of a lone wolf bomber who let off multiple bombs in attacks that were racially motivated in London in a single solid episode.

My number one desire from a documentary is to get across as much interesting and relavent information as possible and The Nail Bomber certainly did that. I was only 9 or 10 at the time of the attacks and although I'm from the UK, I don't really recall the attacks. Also being from Northern Ireland, terrorism based around The Northern Irish troubles was far more prevalent in my mind and still is when I think back to the 90s. So it was very interesting (and saddening) to learn about other problems occurring in the same decade. The show had interesting interviews with victims and played insightful tape recordings of the perpetrator being interviewed. Unlike other Netflix documentaries (Son of sam). It doesn't mix and match the style of voice over vs interviews. Nor is the the documentary stretched out over many episodes. Someone could have tried that if they had the motivation or had been given the go ahead. Due to it being a multi bomb and court case story. Luckily they stayed with an hour and a bit single episode and it worked.

It's definitely a crime documentary to watch if this genre is your thing and it's better than other recent attempts by Netflix. A good solid 7/10. So give it a go.

What these people did, and their ilk, deserved nothing less than the death sentence. Despicable excuse for human beings.

But once has to ask. Why now? With tensions in the world reaching critical mass, why now choose to bring this story to the globe. Just something to think about.

Just boring, not important scenes. No USA forced drama but the harsh facts just don't seem interesting.

Could have been a lot better.