ThiefHott
Too much of everything
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Fatma Suarez
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Michael_Elliott
When We Were Kings (1996) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Extremely entertaining, Oscar-winning documentary covering the 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, which became known as the Rumble in the Jungle. Through interview footage as well as archival footage, director Leon Gast's film perfectly documents the historic match and everything leading up to it. The boxing match itself is legendary and something most people know about and it's perfectly shown here but I think the real key to the documentary is everything we're shown leading up to the fight. This, of course, includes a lot of stuff dealing with Ali trash talking and getting involved with the African people. There are several scenes where Ali is simply out in the streets working out and trying to pump up the African people and of course get them in his corner. By contrast, we then see interview segments with Foreman where he's obviously not as deeply in with the people and doesn't have the same connection that Ali does. One really gets a great idea of the political climate heading up to the fight and the stuff with Ali training and just being himself are truly priceless. It's also fun hearing about how his career was thought to have been on the low-end as everyone was thinking that Foreman would destroy and possibly kill him in the ring. When we finally get to the fight footage it's presented in such a way that you really see what Ali was going for and how he pulled the upset. We see some terrific footage that is broken down and we're shown every little point that helped get Ali the win. WHEN WE WERE KINGS shows a historic fight and the surroundings around it and you can't help but be thankful that such an important event was captured in such a great form.
paul2001sw-1
The story of Muhammed Ali and the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" is the stuff of legend; the world's best boxer becomes a hate figure for middle America and is banned for political reasons; he returns but has lost his edge; he gets a last shot at the world title in a fight to be held in Zaire, whose kleptomaniac dictator is willing to put up his people's cash to pay for it; and against all the odds, he astonishingly beats the superior puncher George Foreman through a combination of wit and bravery. Ali was beautiful and clever as well as violent; his "art" destroyed him, but it's easy to tell his story as a kind of noble myth. Which is exactly what 'When We Were Kings', a documentary that relies relatively little on talking heads (because the whole drama was a kind of performance, and filmed) does. The film even gets its soundtrack for free thanks to the musicians brought in to publicise the fight. I don't even like boxing, but it's still a compelling story; but also watch 'Thrilla in Manilla', a film about Ali's next fight, for a story that takes something of the gloss of his personal sheen.
gcd70
Inspiring, amazing true story of Ali's comeback/retirement fight against George Foreman. Leon Gast, with help from Taylor Hackford, has taken the times, the black cause, and two giants of boxing and fashioned a fascinating narrative and an insightful culture study of a nation and its people. It's true the material is to die for, but Gast knew just what to do with it.I am no boxing fan, and consider the sport uncultured and physically dangerous, yet I was glued to this doco from start to finish. Especially insightful were the comments from the then fight writers, including Norman Mailer.Saturday, June 26, 1999 - Video
sherbetsaucers
Some people see boxing as nothing more than two people standing in a big square that for some reason is called a ring, hitting each other very hard until one of them falls over bleeding onto the floor. Others see it as a tough, graceful sport that can be elevated to an art form. If any one person has ever exemplified the idea of boxing as an art, surely it is Muhammad Ali.Mostly shot in 1974, When We Were Kings follows the circus that was the famous 'Rumble In The Jungle', the fight between Ali and George Foreman that took place in Zaire – now the Democratic Republic of the Congo - in 1974. However to say that this movie is about that match is to do it an injustice. Really this is a movie about Ali himself, and what the man has come to represent.The title actually refers to the time when black people were kings of Africa, yet it is interesting to note that the only reason the fight took place in Zaire was the massive amount of money offered. Indeed Zaire, under the rule of Presedent Mobutu, was hardly a place where the common person thrived. Much is made of President Mobutu. He is described as a 'closet sadist', and there is discussion of detention rooms and prisons for thousands for people under the stadium the fight was take place in! The most frightening accusation aimed at the president is the idea that he rounded up all of the dangerous, high ranking criminals in the country, randomly killed 100 of them and released the others, just to ensure that, while the eyes of the world were on Zaire, there would be no criminal trouble. Whether or not that is true, there certainly was little trouble at all.In 1967 Ali lost the world title because he had refused to go to Viet Nam, famously saying 'no Vietnamese ever called me Ni**er', but began a comeback in 1970. In 1971 he had a shot at the title but lost to Joe Frazier. This is very important to remember as in 1974 Ali was fighting Foreman, a person who obliterated Frazier in a couple of rounds. Nobody really thought Ali was going to win this fight, a fact made clear by the documentary. Nobody, from his training staff to the commentators, believed that the former champion could stop 'Big George', no one except the people of Zaire. Everywhere Ali went there were cheers of 'Ali, Bomaye!', which means 'Ali, kill him!' I found it quite interesting when in one interview Foreman says that he wouldn't want people shouting that - a chant encouraged by Ali - but rather that the people would shout 'George Foreman loves Africa!' However in the eyes of the people of Zaire, Foreman represented America, while Ali was their champion.As well as interviews with the fighters and those associated with them there is also a lot of coverage of the massive amount of hype that went along with the match. Don King ensured that this fight was massive, and the hype that surrounded the fight, with artists such as James Brown and B.B. King performing bought anticipation to a fever pitch. Called the 'Black Woodstock' music festival, I found the emphasis the film placed on these artists and what they did just as compelling as the information about Ali.Of course there is also the fight. I must say that this was the one point of the documentary that worried me. It depicted Ali as taking a huge amount of damage during the match, on his last legs before taking the fight to Foreman. I feel that this was simply for dramatic effect. Even during the fight it was noted that Foreman was tiring himself out and Ali's tactics seemed obvious to everyone except his opponent in the ring. But this small criticism cannot overshadow what an amazing feat it was for Ali to floor Foreman in the eighth round. The final punch Ali lands is amazing, as is his performance throughout the fight.This film may not appeal to people who find boxing offensive, yet in truth the fight itself is not the main interest. Here we see people talking abut a man who during a time of massive social upheaval was a leader for his people. As Spike Lee says towards the end of the movie 'These kids, they are missing a whole lot if they don't know the legacy of Muhhamad Ali because no matter what era you live in you see very few true heroes'.
