Netflix pick for 1/12/15 – ‘ESPN Films 30 for 30: July 17, 1994’

From the director behind the great Robert Evans’ documentary “The Kid Stays in the Picture” comes one of these awesome little sports documentaries that ESPN has commissioned in recent years, and this one in particular stands out among the rest because of its interesting and unique style, and this little 30 minute documentary is called “July 17, 1994.”

What makes this short film different from the rest is the approach to telling the events of that fateful day, which is to say that the whole thing is just news clips and previously unreleased media footage of all of these different events that happened all in the same day. Not only did golfing legend Arnold Palmer play his last round of pro golf that day, not only was it the start of the 1994 World Cup in Chicago, not only did that day feature an NBA Finals game between the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets as well as a ticker tape parade in NYC celebrating the New York Rangers’ Stanley Cup win, but more weirdly and memorably and infamously, that was the day O.J. Simpson sat in the back of a white Ford Bronco and engaged in an hours long low-speed police pursuit through the highways of Los Angeles, fresh off the accusations of his alleged murdering of his wife and her friend.

And with the way the footage bounces back and forth between all of these different events, we get the sense that July 17, 1994 was absolutely not like any other day, as a ton of sports-related stories were all converging into one long, intense span of time, starting innocently enough but then ending with weirdness and the bizarre sense that this day would be remembered forever, which it is, especially thanks to this most excellent compilation of footage making for an amazing story of an incredible day.

And this thing is SHORT, so go ahead and check out “July 17, 1994” here on the Netflix Instant and enjoy!