Campeões Para Sempre

This is undoubtedly the best sports video I have seen in my life. It is a documentary that charts the careers of 5 of the greatest boxers ever to enter the ring. Every time I watch this it makes me long for the boxing days of old.

The soundtrack to this documentary is excellent and helps elevate some of the moments from 'good' to 'great'.

What I like best is how fluently the story is told. No matter how many times I watch it I will never get bored. The story starts in the present(relatively) in 1989 when Larry Holmes is knocked out by Tyson at Caesars Palace. After an interview with Holmes, we are taken right back to the beginning as Cassius Clay wins the Olympic gold medal(1960). As expected, Muhammad Ali is the main focus(having been the only one to fight every other boxer present). However I didn't feel that anyone had been left out. Having watched this video I have a new found respect for all of the fighters. Ali has always been outspoken, it is perhaps more interesting to hear what these 'quiet' men have to say about things.

Trying to fit the lives of 5 fighters into one documentary is an extremely difficult job, but it is done superbly here. You get enough history of each fighter to understand how much is at stake, but not so much that it disturbs the pace. Also clips of world events(Vietnam War etc) give a good idea of the decade being dealt with. Each of the fighters are given a chance to speak individually. This makes for some very honest revelations that are completely free of the cliches that blight modern sports. They are also given a chance to talk in groups which makes for some extremely funny exchanges(especially when Norton or Ali are involved).

Surely every video of boxing legends should be entertaining to a boxing fan?

I have watched many other boxing videos that fall far below the standard of this one.

Either they have:

(a)too much boxing and not enough insight. This is entertaining, but after you finish watching you haven't learnt anything you didn't know already.

(b) too much talking and not enough boxing. This just gets very boring. A lot of the time they retread old ground and focus on irrelevant points.

Champions Forever gives you periods of talking followed by periods of boxing. This means you do not get a chance to be bored by one or the other. I feel this video is a must-see for boxing fans and I strongly recommend it to sports fans or anyone else.

I watch this DVD at least once a year. The fight clips are great. It is so moving to see the great champions having dinner together. Especially at the very end when Ali & Frazier embrace. During the dinner you get a sense of some lingering animosity from Joe Frazier towards Ali, and Ken Norton at Larry Holmes. But the great champs put aside most of their ill feelings out of respect for each other, and their individual accomplishments. Big George Foreman was about two years into his comeback while this was being filmed, and it shows. Reggie Jackson does such an awesome job as the mediator. If you are even just a casual boxing/sports fan do not miss this amazing documentary.

This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Not only for sports fans but for entertainment sake. Both my wife and I enjoyed ourselves in a very unexpected way. It was recommended to us by some friends who said it was brilliant. The director scored it with an original soundtrack and it felt like I was watching a movie.

I think one of the most compelling things about it is how we here the boxers talk about their own experiences and interactions with each other.

The director took us back to the 60's with Ali and all his political and career choices and how it affected some of the best boxers that ever lived.

It is a true must see!

This "Champions Forever" documentary consists of "lost" interviews (that have now been found) with 5 top, American heavyweight boxing champions whose heyday was the 1970s.

In this 2-hour presentation Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, and, yes, of course, Muhammad Ali all shoot the breeze and reflect on the glowing highlights of their boxing careers. Archival footage is provided to back up their stories of glory in the ring.

I think that this documentary is sure to be of interest to a lot of viewers.

Champions Forever pitches Foreman, Frazier, Holmes, Norton and of course Ali together one more time. We see each boxer making their boxing accendancy and giving insight into their fights against each other. Ali is the focus, and rightly so, and shows despite his condition that mentally he is a sharp as ever. Foreman as you expect is articulate and humble but it is Ken Norton's thought's that really stand out for me. Having never heard him speak before I found him insightful, with an earthly honesty about him, both in his respect for others and in his belief (that I share) that he beat Ali in their third encounter. If you love boxing there is nothing like this documentary, shame about the soppy music Americans seem compelled to put in the background to point people to the sincerity of the fighters when interviewed singularly. It's there for all to see producers so let them get on with it !!!!