The Stardust Disaster

jonny68 · 12-02-2006 11:39PM

Very harrowing indeed,i remember the stardust myself i was only young at the time but we used to live quite near to it and that nite in particular my mother who used to be a member of civil defence was at the scene with others as bodies were carried out,she said it was seriously disturbing and something she would never forget,here's to justice for the families of those who perished.

Silverfish · 12-02-2006 11:39PM

Very hard to watch. Had tears in my eyes for most of it and I don't cry easily.

When I have kids, I will probably never let them out of the house. Now I realise why every time I went to a nightclub down home when I was younger my dad would arrive at about 11 to pick me up and wait for me outside, him and my mum were forever in nightclubs in the 70's, but after Stardust they stayed fairly local.

Thanks dad.

JDxtra · 12-02-2006 11:39PM

Lodgepole wrote:

Disapointing overall. Hopefully the second part will have more of an impact. I don't think it did the tragedy justice.

Compared to either of bloody sunday films from a couple of years ago, I was let down by the production.

Agree, disappointing effort. A few shots of locked exits didn't really set the scene enough for the impending tradegy.

Rockee · 12-02-2006 11:39PM

Lodgepole wrote:

Dunno... Has a bit of a Fair City buzz about it. Everything very wooden and flat.

? It happened in Dublin! Ok, 'Mondo' was acting but c'mon...wheres the polish gangsters? racist attacks? mobile phones? It painted a picture of what that area of Dublin was like in 1981.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:40PM

Binomate wrote:

Brings a sense of reality to the actual disaster. How horrible it must have been. The acting is poor at the start but it got a lot better imo. Can't wait to see the next part of it. I think they should have made it a bit more disturbing though. Show some burning flesh etc. As close to what it must have been like as possible.

The acting in the morgue scene was excellent, Ger Ryan redeemed herself. The whole sequence was excellent. I agree that the fire itself may have benefited by being a little more disturbing. Scenes like the girl being thrown to the ground, and of the door being opened... More of that to highlight the horror.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:41PM

Rockee wrote:

? It happened in Dublin! Ok, 'Mondo' was acting but c'mon...wheres the polish gangsters? racist attacks? mobile phones? It painted a picture of what that area of Dublin was like in 1981.

I was talking about the production value, not the content.

johnnyrotten · 12-02-2006 11:41PM

Lodgepole wrote:

One of the current Dublin firechiefs. It was after 1981 when he joined the firebrigade so he wasn't around at the time. He was involved in aspects of the inquest. We have a copy of it here at the house, and of the recreations that have been filmed for it.

Theres 1 Fire Chief in Dublin!

is_that_so · 12-02-2006 11:42PM

Lodgepole wrote:

We're all aware of what went on that night, and afterwards.

Many people are not and while I appreciate your comments, the aim is to tell the story.
For those that do remember it , it was an awful horror of an event and not one that should be demeaned by comments about "production values" . Not everything needs to win awards.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:43PM

johnnyrotten wrote:

Theres 1 Fire Chief in Dublin!

One fire chief with five assistants.

edit - actually five... just double checked.

Femelade · 12-02-2006 11:44PM

Lodgepole wrote:

It was horrific in parts but it really should have gone all the way.

Didnt RTE have a special screening for the family members last week and they were asked to edit some of the more horrific scenes?

12-02-2006 11:45PM

my dad said it wasnt a real dipiction of what happened at all as soon as the fire started the lights were cut
that didnt happen in the show
my dad was mates with jimmy and christina (newlyweds )so it was prob a bit close to home for him hes actually reallly upset about it he lost a lot of mates
i'm getting the book tomorrrow and gonna read it again
from what my dad told me it was far too sugar coated
people didnt find put for days about names and such and who exactly died and body from the area had to wait days

im really saddened by seeing it tonight myself ive been curious about it myself for years as my dad told me about it
my dad said it was a right cover up
the man that owned it was friends with the haughtys and the like
he didnt impeed in proceddings but it wasnt fully investigated and also they didnt have the equipment and they didnt want too investigate it too much
put it this way the right ppl were on the owners side
the finding were in the end the fire was started maliociocsly and the gov paid out some comp and that was to be the end of it according to the fcukers

they are opening a club in that exact place soon and from ppl i know living in apts near to it its haunted and so will the night club be too
all i would think about while even near there is all the the innocent ppl who died their screams would fcuking haunt me(words of my dad)
super pub it will try to be but i know hundreds who will never go near it

sorry about the spelling ive been typing as my dad been telling me what to say and as a survivor hes prob entitled to say more than me

Amazotheamazing · 12-02-2006 11:45PM

Thought it was fantastic, remember the victims families are still alive and grieving, to tabloid their grief would be cruel.

Rockee · 12-02-2006 11:45PM

In my opinion I wasnt looking out 'for the production'. Just fascinated about the story, sorry if I seem ratty but the Stardust disaster had a big impact on my family.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:45PM

is_that_so wrote:

Many people are not and while I appreciate your comments, the aim is to tell the story.
For those that do remember it , it was an awful horror of an event and not one that should be demeaned by comments about "production values" . Not everything needs to win awards.

How is it demeaning to the event to criticise the production value of a televised recreation of it? I think the low quality of some aspects of the production demeaned the memory of the event.

Femmy wrote:

Didnt RTE have a special screening for the family members last week and they were asked to edit some of the more horrific scenes?

I hadn't heard that. I imagine it would be incredibly upsetting to watch a faithful recreation of how your loved ones died.

Rockee · 12-02-2006 11:47PM

is_that_so wrote:

Many people are not and while I appreciate your comments, the aim is to tell the story.
For those that do remember it , it was an awful horror of an event and not one that should be demeaned by comments about "production values" . Not everything needs to win awards.

I wish I said that! Fair play, post of the year.

Femelade · 12-02-2006 11:48PM

coolsmileygirl wrote:

they are opening a club in that exact place soon and from ppl i know living in apts near to it its haunted and so will the night club be too
all i would think about while even near there is all the the innocent ppl who died their screams would fcuking haunt me(words of my dad)
super pub it will try to be but i know hundreds who will never go near it

thats madness! i wouldnt even dream of going next or near that place.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:49PM

Rockee wrote:

In my opinion I wasnt looking out 'for the production'. Just fascinated about the story, sorry if I seem ratty but the Stardust disaster had a big impact on my family.

I understand where you're coming from. But I wouldn't read a badly written book about the Stardust... I think that if you are going to film this story, you should film it right. It was a lost oppurtunity to make an incredibly moving (although clearly many people have been moved by it...) and possibly politically charged piece of work. This particular story isn't over, and it's the power of production that makes television become more than just a story.

Femelade · 12-02-2006 11:50PM

Lodgepole wrote:

I hadn't heard that. I imagine it would be incredibly upsetting to watch a faithful recreation of how your loved ones died.

read it in the examiner during the week.
appartantly alot of scenes were edited out after they had seen it, by their request.

12-02-2006 11:50PM

Femmy wrote:

thats madness! i wouldnt even dream of going next or near that place.

i know what the fcuk are they thinking i never even go near that place ANYWAY.

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:51PM

Femmy wrote:

read it in the examiner during the week.
appartantly alot of scenes were edited out after they had seen it, by their request.

I wonder had they filmed specific deaths of some of the characters who were named as real people?

eth0_ · 12-02-2006 11:52PM

connundrum wrote:

25 years on and the fire safety policy for at least 50% of niteclubs in the country is still the same. I remember bein in a club down the country last year where there were chains locking the exit doors at 1.30am.. when I questioned a nearby bouncer he said that they didn't have enough staff to keep and eye on every exit so 6 out of 10 of them were chained shut... we obviously still haven't learned

I'd also bet money they had more people in the club than they are licenced by the fire officer to have there... have seen it many times in this country.

Femelade · 12-02-2006 11:53PM

Lodgepole wrote:

I wonder had they filmed specific deaths of some of the characters who were named as real people?

maybe so, i'm not sure. They hardly would, would they though? that would be a bit much.

chump · 12-02-2006 11:54PM

Overall I reckon it's a good thing they made this drama. While many of the older people know all about what happened, a lot of the younger folk (myself included) don't know the full details and the impact alone of seeing the tragedy brings home the danger(s).

lodgepole · 12-02-2006 11:55PM

Femmy wrote:

maybe so, i'm not sure. They hardly would, would they though? that would be a bit much.

From a factual point of view it probably seemed like a good idea to visualise some of the things that people are aware happened. In reality, it's not though is it? I think there is a strong likelyhood that they did use elements of reality in the fire scene which may have been too close to home for the parents. Didn't some people earlier say they were involved in the making of it? Perhaps they'd know...

Rockee · 12-02-2006 11:57PM

Lodgepole wrote:

It was a lost oppurtunity to make an incredibly moving (although clearly many people have been moved by it...) This particular story isn't over, and it's the power of production that makes television become more than just a story.

Agree with you there, I wasnt born until June 81 but I can remember my aunt and uncle being a cut up by it. I think that the 2 shows will definitely stir up a hornets nest regardless.....

Amazotheamazing · 13-02-2006 12:01AM

I found it very moving and I'm not given to been swayed by movies or tv shows. Think you're being a bit harsh Lodgepole.

Slippin Jimmy · 13-02-2006 12:03AM

I missed the programme on it. Is there a repeat on at all, or can I get it anywhere else? I am interested to see what happened. Thanks

eth0_ · 13-02-2006 12:05AM

coolsmileygirl wrote:

they are opening a club in that exact place soon and from ppl i know living in apts near to it its haunted and so will the night club be too

Who told you that?
I would seriously doubt that planning permission would be granted to such a venture given the history of that site. It would be in extremely bad taste to open another nightclub on the Stardust site.

Aquos76 · 13-02-2006 12:08AM

DonnybrookGhost wrote:

I missed the programme on it. Is there a repeat on at all, or can I get it anywhere else? I am interested to see what happened. Thanks

I recorded it on DVD, but I made the mistake of recording it in the best quality and when I try and compress it, it turned out pretty crap.

Anyone any ideas?

lodgepole · 13-02-2006 12:14AM

I think your best bet for seeing a repeat will be this time next year. Even then... It's more than likely it will go into the vault with a lot of other high profile drama.

A lot of people probably recorded it, ask around your friends i'm sure you'll be able to borrow a copy.

I wouldn't let that stop you watching tomorrow's part. Assuming you know the general story you won't have any problems following it.

The Stardust Disaster

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