When We Were Kings [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Leon Gast

Overview

In 1974, boxers Muhammad Ali and George Foreman came to the still-emerging and politically unstable African nation of Zaire for what Ali called the "Rumble in the Jungle," a highly publicized world heavyweight championship fight. Documentarian Leon Gast flew to Zaire to film both the fight and a music festival (featuring B.B. King, The Pointer Sisters, and Miriam Makeba) organized by promoter Don King. Gast's footage was shelved for 22 years due to legal and financial problems, but when it was finally released in 1996, When We Were Kings provided a vivid portrait of the controversial Ali. At 33, he was considered past his prime for the Zaire fight, and his refusal to serve in the U.S. military on moral grounds was still an issue in the minds of many. But here, Ali displays strength, skill, intelligence, and tremendous charm, making it clear how he became one of the most renowned figures in the world of sports. And, while George Foreman is best known today as a genial commercial pitchman, he's seen here as a strong, forbidding opponent, not especially articulate and seemingly unstoppable. The film also features interviews with several notable fight fans, including Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, and Spike Lee. A fascinating document of a great moment in sporting and cultural history, When We Were Kings received an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won a Special Jury Recognition Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/22/2019
UPC:	0715515235815
Original Release:	1996
Rating:	PG
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Language:	English
Time:	1:27:00
Sales rank:	10,085

Special Features

English SDH Subtitles Soul Power, a 2008 documentary about the Zaïre 74 music festival directed by Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte New interview with producer David Sonenberg Interview from 1997 with director Leon Gast Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Miriam Makeba	Self
Drew Bundini Brown	Self - Ali's Ass't Trainer
Howard Cosell	Self - ABC Sports

Technical Credits

Leon Gast	Director,Producer
Taylor Hackford	Producer
David Sonenberg	Executive Producer,Producer

Editorial Reviews

Believe the hype. This much-praised documentary about one of the most famous boxing matches in history deserves every one of its accolades. Blending sports drama and biography with a touch of political analysis, When We Were Kings relates the who, when, where, and most importantly the why of the 1974 George Foreman/Muhammad Ali world championship fight in Zaire. Splicing together old news footage, photos, and contemporary interview clips, director Leon Gast captures the excitement and chaos that led up to the famed "Rumble in the Jungle" and the incredible characters and events surrounding the thrilling bout. The documentary explores a gamut of issues that defined the 1970s and impacted the African-American community: the Vietnam War and the draft, the nascent "Black is Beautiful" movement and idealization of Mother Africa, and the brutal reality of post-colonial dictatorships. But it is the charismatic and bombastic Muhammad Ali at the center of it all who steals the show with the sheer force of his inimitable personality. When We Were Kings reminds us why Muhammad Ali truly was "The Greatest."

Barnes & Noble - Regina Raiford

Filmmaker Leon Gast caught an ironically lucky break when the footage he shot of the famed 1974 heavyweight match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman got tied up in legal red tape for the better part of two decades. With the passage of time, the fight has taken on even larger dimensions than its status as one of the more dramatic upsets in boxing history: It was one of Ali's last big hurrahs; it humbled the chiseled and glowering Foreman, who was eventually reborn as a roly-poly, genial, bald fighter; it was wily promoter Don King's coming-out party on the world stage; and it provided Norman Mailer with material for one of his best books, The Fight. Starting with its title, When We Were Kings has the character of a bottle of vintage wine, allowed to age until all the facets of its true flavor can come out. Gast has assembled all the archival footage you could want, and he scores a great one-two punch by interviewing Mailer and George Plimpton 20 years after the fight, and then freezing a frame of film to show the two men in 1974, ringside and slack-jawed in disbelief as Ali wades in with his final flurry of punches to win the bout.

All Movie Guide - Tom Wiener