"Bus 174" is a well crafted documentary which tells of a Rio de Janeiro city public bus hijacking which, as documentary material goes (WWII, 9/11, etc.), was not a big deal. Of course, it was a big deal to the hijacker who took the patrons of the stationary Copacabana bus hostage on board remaining in the same location for the duration and to the hostages who were constantly threatened with a gun. The film shows us ample back story about the slums of Rio, Sandro the street punk hijacker, the plight and blight of Rio's street kids, and other societal ills of Brazil's largest metropolis including much beautiful aerial photography of the city. The poor police control of the hijack area allowed for much news footage to be shot with lots of up close and personal looks at the hijacker, hostages, and sloppy police work. However, when all is said and done and this documentary is compared with real documentary treasures like Ken Burns Civil War, "Bus 174" doesn't measure up as well and the populace numbers and critical reviews would suggest. An English language narration would have gone a long way toward making this worthy non-narrated effort more cogent and elucidative. Expect a whole lot of subtitle reading, some drama, and a little action at the very end. (B)
