Detailed item info | Movie description | Twenty-two years in the making, this documentary chronicles one of the most famous heavyweight championship bouts in history, the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman "Rumble in the Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire in 1974. Along with highlights of underdog Ali's stunning victory and infamous "Rope-A-Dope" tactics, the film also covers the back-story of the event and its cultural significance, with footage of Ali's goodwill tours, concert footage featuring B.B. King and James Brown, interviews with George Plimpton, Norman Mailer and Don King, and more. Academy Award winner for Best Documentary Feature.
| | Credits | | Cast: | George Plimpton |
| | Notes | DVD Features:
Region 1 Keep Case Widescreen Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 - English Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Text/Photo Galleries: Biographies - 1. Cast and Crew
Screened at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.
| | Editorial reviews | "...The best documentary of the year. WHEN WE WERE KINGS offers a stunning look at the 1974 Muhammad Ali/George Foreman fight in Zaire..." Rolling Stone - p.126 - Peter Travers (11/14/1996)
"...[An] extraordinary Oscar-nominated documentary....[A] masterpiece, a total original..." 4 out of 4 stars" USA Today - p.4D - Mike Clark
"...Enormously entertaining....A total delight for every second of its running time..." Variety - Todd McCarthy (02/12/1996)
"...A valentine to Muhammad Ali as an athlete and political figure..." Film Comment - p.51-3 - Rachel Rosen (03/01/1996)
"...[Ali,] wonderfully captured in finely chosen swatches of film, was beautiful, charming, self-confident, articulate and burning with talent in his prime..." Entertainment Weekly - p.105-6 - Lisa Schwarzbaum (02/21/1997)
"...[Ali's] presence alone makes WHEN WE WERE KINGS a special event....[The film] always compels our interest..." Los Angeles Times - p.F18 - Kenneth Turan (10/25/1996)
"...A time capsule....It is a new documentary of a past event, recapturing the electricity generated by Muhammad Ali in his prime..." Chicago Sun-Times - p.35 - Roger Ebert (02/28/1997)
| | Awards | 1996 Academy Awards, Best Documentary Feature
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