Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)There is a large hole in this film, and it is in the depiction of the actual fight itself. Everything that led up to the fight is brilliantly presented. This is Ali in all of his greatness. You see his fight strategy unfold as the film progresses. He turns the people of Zaire into his hometown crowd. You watch him psyche himself up by raising the stakes. The fight became more then the heavyweight championship. Ali was going to "walk down the alley ways and sit with the wine heads, and talk to the prostitutes on the streets..." Ali was going to better the world, and restore the black mans pride. All he had to do was beat Foreman first. And he loved to be the underdog. He loved to shock the world when nobody gave him a chance in hell of winning. You see him asking an audience of fight writers, "Who's got George picked? Raise your hands. Who thinks George is gonna whup me?" At a news conference he told Don King, "I know you got George picked, but I'm gonna show you all just how great I am."
By the time Ali stepped into the ring, Foreman didn't stand a chance. Ali was almost a decade past his prime, and Foreman was in the middle of his, but Ali was about to shred him, and this is where this film falls short. The fight is simply not accurately depicted. The film focuses almost exclusively on Ali's rope-a-dope strategy. You are left with the impression that Ali was pounded on the ropes for 8 rounds, only to explode in a moment of glory, knocking out a tired and caught of guard Foreman. That is simply not the way it happened. There were 8 rounds in this fight, and Ali won all 8 of them. True, he did lay on the ropes a lot, but that was only a portion of his strategy. He demoralized Foreman by taking his best shots, and scoffing at them. Ali would taunt Foreman, "Is THAT all you got George?" Then Ali would hit him with blistering combinations, almost at will. Foreman was staggered, several times. He was the perfect opponent for Ali because his head was a stationary target. Ali used it for a speed bag. Foreman's face was puffy and swollen by the third round. Ali's didn't have a mark on it. Even Joe Frazier, who was doing commentary during the fight had to admit, "I don't think George is gonna make it." He said that somewhere around the 5th. Jim Brown, who was also doing commentary, repeated over and over again, "Muhammad Ali is unreal." But you see none of this in this film. Despite what the film shows you, Ali picked Foreman apart. He was way past his prime, but this was, no doubt, his finest hour. Had Ali fought Foreman, or Frazier, or Norton, or anyone for that matter, when he was in his prime, their names would have been forgotten like all of the others that Ali disposed of early in his career. The name Joe Frazier would be familiar only to avid fight buffs, in the way the name Zorra Folley is now (one of Ali's early victims).
Buy this DVD. What it does well, it does very well. But I strongly encourage you to follow it up by watching the entire fight. You can see it on "Muhammad Ali, The Greatest Collection." Then you will know the entire story.
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WHEN WE WERE KINGS - DVD Movie
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