When We Were Kings

UPC: 025192228223

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:null

Summary: 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. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Sports & Recreati

Awards: Special Jury Recognition – Sundance Film Festival Best Documentary – Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Documentary Feature – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Truer Than Fiction Award – Independent Spirit Awards Best Documentary – National Society of Film Critics Best Documentary – New York Film Critics Circle Film Presented – Silverdocs Film Festival Best Documentary Feature – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Features: ccStandard and widescreen formats
Interactive menus
Digitally mastered
Film and cast biographies
English Dolby Pro Logic
English closed captioning
French subtitled
Spanish subtitles

When We Were Kings

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 11/18/1997

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Theatre Wide-Screen, 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: DD Dolby Digital

Runtime: 94 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: French,Spanish

Chapters: Side #1 -- Widescreen
1. Opening Credits [4:26]
2. Talk the Talk [9:17]
3. Press Conferences [6:17]
4. Welcome to Zaire [7:56]
5. President of Zaire [6:01]
6. Postponement [9:16]
7. The Concert [9:41]
8. Prepare to Fight [6:31]
9. In the Ring [11:39]
10. Reflections [6:00]
11. "When We Were Kings" [5:39]
12. Closing Credits [4:38]
Side #2 -- Standard
1. Opening Credits [4:26]
2. Talk the Talk [9:17]
3. Press Conferences [6:17]
4. Welcome to Zaire [7:56]
5. President of Zaire [6:01]
6. Postponement [9:15]
7. The Concert [9:41]
8. Prepare to Fight [6:31]
9. In the Ring [11:39]
10. Reflections [6:00]
11. "When We Were Kings" [5:38]
12. Closing Credits [4:38]

Tom Wiener

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. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Leon Gast  Director 
Leon Gast  Producer 
David Sonenberg  Producer 
Muhammad Ali  Actor 
George Foreman  Actor 
James Brown  Actor 
B.B. King  Actor 
Norman Mailer  Actor 
George Plimpton  Actor 

Country: USA