When We Were Kings

Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest sports figure of all time. He is remembered for his athletic achievement, political stances, and larger than life personality. Yet we never knew him.

Michael Mann made a decent movie called Ali a few years ago. He tried his best to draw a portrait of an elusive human being. But what he was trying to achieve had already been done before with When We Were Kings.

When We Were Kings is a phenomenal documentary. In my opinion, the prototype for all documentaries. Taking place in and around perhaps the best boxing match of all time, the Rumble In The Jungle, in which Ali faced George Foreman(of grill fame...). Ali is shown as a man brimming with confidence, yet his constant boasting becomes a coat of armor that protects him from his own self-doubt. Yet he endears himself to the African people who embrace him like he's one of their own. In these moments Ali appears both invincible and mortal.

There are some cool musical numbers by James Brown and B.B King as well as appearances by Spike Lee, Don King, and the controversial president of Zahire at the time, Mobutu Sese Seko. These appearances add depth to the amazing events of the film.

If you love documentaries, sports, or character stories, When We Were Kings is among the class of each.

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.

Leon Gast's documentary about the 1974 "rumble in the jungle" championship fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali is...

Well, is it even about that, or is it about Ali? I incline to the view that it is the latter. Foreman is not much seen before the fight, and never speaks. Ali is all over the place, talking about his strategy, his love for Africa. We hear celebrities of the day, and boxing commentators. Foreman remains a brooding, fear-inspiring, mysterious opponent, who plans to corner Ali and beat him to death.

Of course, that's not the way it happened, and when this Oscar-winning film came out, more than two decades after the fight, everyone knew it then. So are the film makers trying to evoke the tension in the Ali camp at the time, that he was going to get himself beaten to death for half the $10,000,000 purse, or just to make the story better? Or a combination of the two? Probably the combination. Whichever it is, it's a well told story, and put together very well with talking heads and clips of the time edited together very well.

I watched this movie last night on CBC, my third viewing. It keeps getting better. As fascinating a story as one would ever hope to see in any movie. In case anyone does not know why Muhammed Ali was widely named as the athlete of the century by many in 1999. This film will explain.

Ironically, the long delay in finishing and releasing this film may have improved the finished product. The increased perspective of more than a decade may have sharpened the editing choices. Not a method I would recommend as it is rather hard on the artist, but we benefit in this case.

It is important to recognize that whatever this film started out as, it became a study of Ali. And what a subject for study. What an athlete, what a man.

I don't believe the film is as flawed as some of the previous reviewers have stated. The footage was all from the early 70's and in that sense this is truly a film of it's time. This is a time and a place that doesn't exist any more, and even Zaire doesn't really exist anymore, its now the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When Ali and Foreman fought it was a dictatorship under Mobutu, who wanted a spectacular sporting event held in his country. For me, the musicians, and the black culture elements are nothing more than an interesting backdrop of a superbly talented athlete trying to overcome almost insurmountable odds. Again and again we are reminded of the lack of belief in the Ali camp as Foreman destroyed one heavy bag after another. The key moment of the film for me can almost (but not totally) be encapsulated in Norman Mailer's anecdote at the end of the first round, where he claims he could see Ali looking within himself, and slowly concluding that this was THE moment in his life. Ali was standing in a ring with a man he knew he could not bully, who was stronger than him, could hit harder than he could, and was as determined to force his will on Ali as Ali was determined to do likewise. There is no purer moment of epiphany captured in any documentary I have yet seen. Here was a man out-gunned in almost every department, who with a combination of pure skill, guile, determination, athletic prowess and self belief, managed to overcome a ferocious and worthy opponent. Foreman cannot go without mention. Every David needs his Goliath. He was awesome in ability and dignified in manner. He had destroyed both Joe Frazier and Ken Norton in spectacular fashion in the eighteen months before this fight and was at the top of his game. People would do well to remember Foreman was still knocking people out until 1997, when he KO'd Lou Savarese in the 12th round. They surely don't make 'em like they used to. Nobody except Ali believed he could overcome such an opponent. And what the documentary reveals to us is that in his darker moments, even he had doubts. He did not, however, let them stand in his way. This documentary is absolutely inspirational in almost every department. The fact that Ali was also a man of the people and recognised the dignity of African's in spite of their grinding poverty adds yet another dimension to this wonderful film, and to the man himself. As George Plimpton so concisely said "My God, the man's a politician too!" A truly great film , about a spectacular moment frozen in time, and a truly great leading man in Ali. I cannot close without commenting on the effect this loss had on Foreman. It hurt him deeply, and there is no one more pleased than I that he came back and shook the world a second time many years later.