When We Were Kings (1996)
Average Rating: 8.4/10
Reviews Counted: 43
Fresh: 42 | Rotten: 1
An engrossing documentary that's as much about at time and a place as it is about a fight.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 0
An engrossing documentary that's as much about at time and a place as it is about a fight.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 8,346
My Rating
Movie Info
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
Oct 25, 1996 Wide
Sep 14, 1999
Gramercy Pictures
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All Critics (44) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (42) | Rotten (1) | DVD (5)
If anyone deserves an award, it is Ali; his charisma makes the film.
Enormously entertaining.
No comedian was ever funnier, no fighter ever faster than Muhammad Ali, who is caught at the top of his game in Leon Gast's valentine, When We Were Kings.
A penetrating emotional analysis of the boxing which is nothing short of inspired.
Top CriticWhen Muhammad Ali achieved victory in Kinshasa on Oct. 30, 1974, he did far more than win a prize fight.
By portraying the young Ali as hero -- and moving beyond the media image of the poetry-spouting peacock -- Gast reminds us that Ali didn't follow the path of earlier black superstars or earn his stripes by conforming to white society's expectations.
Gast never makes a mistake by turning the camera on Ali-he comes through like a champ
A film as deserving of respect as its subjects.
Wonderful sports documentary covering the 1974 heavyweight championship fight in Zaire.
The intersection of sports, politics and culture enlivens Leon Gast's entertaining documentary about the heavily promoted 1974 heavyweight championship bout between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
This is the real deal.
This is a great documentary film and a must for fans of the sport and Ali.
I pick it to win the Oscar for best documentary feature.
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A documentary of the 1974 heavyweight championship bout in Zaire between champion George Foreman and underdog challenger Muhammad Ali.
REVIEW
The story of Muhammed Ali and the famous "Rumble in the Jungle" is the stuff of legend; the world's best boxer becomes a hate figure for middle America and is banned for political reasons; he returns but has lost his edge; he gets a last shot at the world title in a fight to be held in Zaire, whose kleptomaniac dictator is willing to put up his people's cash to pay for it; and against all the odds, he astonishingly beats the superior puncher George Foreman through a combination of wit and bravery. Ali was beautiful and clever as well as violent; his "art" destroyed him, but it's easy to tell his story as a kind of noble myth. Which is exactly what 'When We Were Kings', a documentary that relies relatively little on talking heads (because the whole drama was a kind of performance, and filmed) does. The film even gets its soundtrack for free thanks to the musicians brought in to publicise the fight. 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.