Ultras: Pasión Y Muerte is a 3-episode docuseries from HBO Max. I watched it and then forgot to review it, which indicates how little impact the series had on me.
But that’s not because the crimes of the Ultras were not significant. The documented crimes occurred in 1991, 1998, and 2014. In each episode, a man dies. But the incidents were so long ago and feel minor compared to films I have seen on ultras and hooligans in England, France, Germany, and Russia. I came away feeling the series was an attempt to say, “Mira, Spain has ultras too!”.
In the Series
Episode 1 recounts the beginning of the formation of ultra groups in Spain after 1982 and the fall of the Franco regime. Forming an ultra group was a kind of freedom, and violence became in vogue with its own distinctive ‘bad guy’ dress code. Besides fighting each other, they attacked innocents. In 1991, ultras killed a man and also marched through town, beating people.
Episode 2 covers the killing of a man by the ultra Atletico Bastion 1903.
Episode 3 shows footage of the Nov-2014 brawl between groups Deportivo Riazor Blues and Frente Atletico, which resulted in the killing of Jimmy. After this, La Liga and its president Javier Tevas worked to stop the violence. Clubs are now responsible for their fans’ behavior from the minute they leave home for a game. Ultras are banned from some stadiums. Instead, like the Russian hooligans, they meet up for fights in forests. The media speculates that the fan violence will continue and that it is growing in the lower divisions of Spain.
In Conclusion
In this series, it was interesting to see once again how the ultras violence has been linked to politics, just like in the book How Soccer Explains the World, and just like in many of the films I have reviewed. But other than that, the series is just another proof that I have no need to watch any more hooligan-related shows. In this particular case, I watched the series because I couldn’t find much else on HBO Max. In fact, I terminated my subscription for lack of content.
Note that Director Pedro García Campos has a portfolio of crime show docuseries.
6 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 6
Resources:
- Released: 2026-06-19 (HBOMax)
- Original title is Ultras: Pasión Y Muerte
- 3 episodes for a total of 2 hrs 9 mins
- In Spanish with English sub-titles
- IMDB
- Director: Pedro García Campos
- Stars: Javier Tevas
- Watch the Trailer in Spanish
