A documentary of the events surrounding The Rumble In The Jungle - the 1974 World Heavyweight Boxing Championship fight in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) between Muhammad Ali and defending champion George Foreman.
This tremendous movie is both an excellent chronicle of a boxing match which was extraordinary in pretty much every way, and a wonderful depiction of it/Ali's social and cultural impact. If you ever doubted Ali's incredible fighting skill, ferocious intelligence and his importance as a prominent African American at a crucial period of history, you must see this film. The tactics he uses to outsmart and defeat a much stronger opponent are brilliant and carefully explained. His constant quips and raps, with his belligerent / comic delivery are hilarious, "I have rassled with an alligator / I done tussled with a whale / I done handcuffed lightning / Throwed thunder in jail.". Most impressive of all though is his keen mind, always working overtime, analysing people and situations and coming out with perceptive, individualistic, thought-provoking comments. Here is a man who received little education and struggled to read, but had amazing wit and insight. His political stances, his struggle for recognition and his philanthropy for the disadvantaged are inspirational. The circumstances of the fight are equally amazing; boxing impresario Don King risked a fledgling career by persuading the notorious African dictator Mobutu Sese Seko to front the prize money, and then promoted it as an international spectacle of black Americans reclaiming their cultural history. Sheer genius. For extra fun we also get plenty of footage of a simultaneous concert featuring several sensational acts, notably B.B. King's rendition of Sweet Sixteen. Almost all of the 1974 footage was shot by Gast and tied up in ownership rights for twenty years, but looks sensational and is cleverly intercut with insightful comments, particularly by Mailer. A superb documentary.
This tremendous movie is both an excellent chronicle of a boxing match which was extraordinary in pretty much every way, and a wonderful depiction of it/Ali's social and cultural impact. If you ever doubted Ali's incredible fighting skill, ferocious intelligence and his importance as a prominent African American at a crucial period of history, you must see this film. The tactics he uses to outsmart and defeat a much stronger opponent are brilliant and carefully explained. His constant quips and raps, with his belligerent / comic delivery are hilarious, "I have rassled with an alligator / I done tussled with a whale / I done handcuffed lightning / Throwed thunder in jail.". Most impressive of all though is his keen mind, always working overtime, analysing people and situations and coming out with perceptive, individualistic, thought-provoking comments. Here is a man who received little education and struggled to read, but had amazing wit and insight. His political stances, his struggle for recognition and his philanthropy for the disadvantaged are inspirational. The circumstances of the fight are equally amazing; boxing impresario Don King risked a fledgling career by persuading the notorious African dictator Mobutu Sese Seko to front the prize money, and then promoted it as an international spectacle of black Americans reclaiming their cultural history. Sheer genius. For extra fun we also get plenty of footage of a simultaneous concert featuring several sensational acts, notably B.B. King's rendition of Sweet Sixteen. Almost all of the 1974 footage was shot by Gast and tied up in ownership rights for twenty years, but looks sensational and is cleverly intercut with insightful comments, particularly by Mailer. A superb documentary.