Tyson

TYSON

Aspect ratio: 1.33:1

Sound format: Stereo

Reverent - though scrupulously fair - account of the life and times of champion boxer Mike Tyson. Given his conviction on a rape charge, the film is careful not to portray him as hero or villain, but paints a warts-and-all portrait of his rise to fame, the pressures of success, and the people who shaped his destiny for good or bad. Constrained by time limits, the script gallops through a succession of relevant details, alighting briefly on significant events, culminating with Tyson's (temporary) downfall in 1995. Novices will be enlightened by the chronology, while boxing fans will be entertained by director Uli Edel's straight-arrow approach to the material. He portrays Tyson's life as a circus in which he was ultimately led astray by the circumstances of his own success. In fact, the script reserves most of its venom for Tyson's ex-wife Robin Givens, characterising her as an ungrateful gold-digger who took advantage of his naivety. Production values are uniformly solid and the cast is superb: Michael Jai White does a fair imitation of the title character; George C. Scott plays Tyson's mentor Cus D'Amato through acres of gritted teeth; and Paul Winfield was surely born to play Don King!

This is a made-for-TV flick about Iron Mike. As people have already commented there are several memorable and incredible performances given here. Scott is, to my mind, one of, if not the greatest American actor who lived in the last century. Along with Jason Robards, Jack Lemmon, Jimmy Cagney, and today Kevin Spacey. (Yes, I said it, Kevin ranks right up there with the all-time champs. Don't believe me? See the movie he did with Annette Benning and Chris Cooper, then watch the Kaizer Soze flick. Unfortunately it is late and titles are escaping me.....)

So Scott steals the movie cursing and arguing and screaming his lungs out. By the way, after his death, it was rumored that D'Amato had forced Iron Mike to perform oral sex on him when Mike was a young boy under Cus's tutelage. True or not, it would certainly explain a lot....Paul Winfield as Don King is a great match. His performance is much more believable here than Ving Rhames's would be several years later on in "King". Tony LoBianco is good to as Jim Jacobs who for years managed Tyson. Jacobs incidentally was a jack-of-all-trades, winning the US Handball Championship for Men, having the greatest private collection of fight films ever collected, and being an expert on comic books. Talk about your Renaisannce guys. The only weak link is Michael Jai White. He doesn't really capture the caged-animal intensity of Iron Mike during his glory years. Tyson incidentally, should really consider making a film about his own life with actors of his choosing. Overall a good effort by some extremely talented actors.

I do feel a bit sad at the former champion's situation, and how he was led astray by fame and Wealth. It is a point,that if we desire to achieve greatness,we have to earn it by work.The bars are made by the man,Himself;This confused and misunderstood athlete is only to blame, because He refuses to change His World,His Life.In the movie, we see his tough exterior is rough,He does not trust or rely on the guidance of others.He does not move forward when tough times arise(such as death of trainer,surrogate mom)

There is an old fable of a "Phoenix rising out of the ashes it dwells in".As a role model for children, celebrities must dwell on past mistakes and learn what Society requires of them.I believe how they achieve a reputable name, is based on the impressions of others.

I'll be totally honest and say when Tyson beat Trevor Berbick to become the youngest world heavyweight champion I was mesmerised by this boxer . Lightning hand speed , power and someone who livened up the rather staid and fractured heavyweight division that was being left behind in a golden age of boxing that featured Leonard , Hagler , Hearns .Perhaps the most sympathetic thing about him was his tale of why he took up boxing , of the older kids beating him up and learning how to fight to merely survive the human jungle of New York's mean streets . This however turned out to be a fairy tale and the reality was Tyson learned boxing in a reform school where he was sent to having carried a series of street robberies and where he met Cus D'Amato who effectively adopted the thug . It was D'Amato who steered Tyson from crime . As well as being a mentor he was also something a spin doctor and the myth of " poor unfortunate victim of bullying " was just that - a myth but it makes for a nice story . After all a violent sociopath is no role model , especially and ironically in the world of boxing where an audience in general and an American audience in particular like their heroes to be good guys . When D'Amato died in 1985 not long before Tyson became world champion the only calming force in Tyson's life was gone and the boxer was heading for the rocks . Before his loss to Buster Douglas there were stories of street brawls outside the ring and his fights inside the ring were often farcical . The division lacked depth and his victories were either against fighters who were past their sell by date like Larry Holmes or against opponents who'd go out of their way to merely last the distance like Bonecrusher Smith or against opponents who'd be in awe and freeze such as Frank Bruno or Carl Williams . All this was before he was convicted of rape of course

To be fair this HBO bio-pic doesn't sugar coat the boxer as much as I remember . It does point out that Tyson the child was disturbingly street wise and was heavily involved in crime " Forty convictions ? Not even Al Capone had forty convictions ! " . It also makes a point that even in his teen years Tyson had a run in over a girl and that he contracted venereal disease . Not much of a role model is he ? but at least it doesn't paint him as a victim - well until later . Enter Paul Winfield who gives an all too realistic performance as Don King , a man so greedy and exploitative that he's a walking advert for Stalinism .Winfield has a lot of fun in the role and while you might say the performance is a little too obvious it'd be impossible to play King in a subtle manner as he's one of the most flamboyant , larger than life

characters in the world today . He goes out of his way to grasp the milk cow of Tyson in his talons . This is where things start falling apart to a degree . King exploits Tyson when he's at his most vulnerable but remember Tyson is a street smart thug who one would expect to know all about King . Heck I was a skinny Scottish teenager in the 1980s living on an obscure Island and I knew all about Don King so why not Tyson ? Total greed on Tyson's part wouldn't have everything to do with it ? No of course not . . It also insinuates that Tyson fell in love with the wrong woman - Robin Givens - and this contributed to his downfall . Well if you beat up your wife you can't blame her for walking out on you . Interesting this domestic abuse seems to be played down . Oh don't tell me she was just interested in Tyson's money . None of us are privy to the marriage between Givens and Tyson but if she was after Tyson's money wouldn't she have signed a pre nuptial agreement ? The amount of negative press against Givens from this period was disgraceful and it's not like Tyson had a glittering reputation where violence outside the ring was concerned .

Disgracefully when the rape case was done and dusted there were those commentators who were quite happy to fling more innuendo about the rape victim crying rape due to Tyson's wealth etc . The bio-pic does seem to suggest that we're supposed to make up our own mind if Tyson was guilty or not but the fact that a jury who sat in court all day everyday and listened to all the evidence from all sides found Tyson guilty of rape so there's no ambiguity involved - Tyson is a rapist and to suggest otherwise is a disgrace to both the victim and the rule of law

This 1995 made for TV. HBO original movie chronicles Tyson's discovery by Cus D' Amato in 1979 in a Catskill, NY Boxing Club to the 1991 alleged rape of a black beauty pageant contestant. And I must say this film is brilliant it has all the highs and lows of Tyson's ferocious career as he destroys the heavyweight ranks and becomes the youngest heavyweight champion ever, also the dispute and problems he had with former trainer and current boxing analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas the film also does a good job of showing Tyson's rage and anger brought on by the deaths of his mother and the legend Cus D' Amato. I am especially glad that this film shows just how much of a gold digger ex-wife actress Robin Givens and her mother really were alot of people blamed Mike for the problems with him and Givens, but this film finally showed how manipulative Robin really was. And the crushing defeat to Buster Douglas was shown with such realism and Don King is wonderfully depicted as guiding Mike Tyson's career along perfect, finally the film does a great job of leaving the viewer to really have doubts if Mike really commited the rape or not watch and you will see. This movie airs often on the HBO networks you must record this for keep sake if your a boxing fan and followed the career of Tyson simply because of the realism it's like you were really there with Mike for the rise and fall.