When We Were Kings
| When We Were Kings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Leon Gast |
| Produced by |
|
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Albert Maysles Roderick Young |
| Edited by | Leon Gast Taylor Hackford Jeffrey Levy-Hinte Keith Robinson |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Gramercy Pictures |
Release dates | January 1996 (Sundance) October 25, 1996 |
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $2,789,985[1] |
When We Were Kings is a 1996 American
The film took Gast 22 years to edit and finance,
Subject matter
Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee, Malik Bowens, and Thomas Hauser were interviewed for the film in the 1990s. These interviews describe the historical importance of the fight, the questionable ethics of locating the fight in Zaire and accepting funding from the brutal dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the fight itself, and, particularly, the interviewee's impressions of Ali. The interviews are accompanied by many news clips and photos to summarize Ali and Foreman's careers leading up to the Rumble.
During the buildup to the fight, Ali is shown trash-talking Foreman and talking about his beliefs regarding
Performers such as
The film culminates with footage of much of the fight itself, interspersed with analysis of Ali's repeated use of the "right-hand lead" in the early rounds (a rarely used punch in professional boxing because it opens the boxer up for easy counterattacks, which Ali surmised would make it the punch for which Foreman was the least prepared) and his famous "rope-a-dope" strategy. This technique entailed Ali taking heavy blows from Foreman over several rounds while using his quick reflexes and the ropes to lessen their impact, which wore out Foreman. Ali knocked out Foreman in the eighth round, regaining the championship taken from him seven years earlier for his refusal to be drafted into the United States Army during the Vietnam War.
A soundtrack album for the film was released in 1997. It features live festival performances, in addition to new music by
.Awards and recognition
When We Were Kings is regarded as one of the best boxing documentaries ever made. It maintains a 98% positive rating at
The film won the 1996
See also
References
- ^ When We Were Kings at Box Office Mojo
- ^ "When We Were Kings". Entertainment Weekly.
- ^ a b Rotten Tomatoes page: "When We Were Kings"
- ^ a b "NY Times: When We Were Kings". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-01-27. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
- ^ Fawcett, Thomas (2009-03-20). "SXSW Film: Daily Reviews and Interviews". Austin Chronicle.
- ^ "When We Were Kings". rogerebert.com.
- ^ Guthmann, Edward (2011-01-10). "When Ali Was Young, Pretty and Powerful". The San Francisco Chronicle.
External links
- When We Were Kings at IMDb
- When We Were Kings at AllMovie
- When We Were Kings at the TCM Movie Database
- When We Were Kings at the American Film Institute Catalog
- When We Were Kings: Ready to Fight an essay by Criterion Collection
