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Best boxing documentaries
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 00:38
by Robinson
Guys what are in your opinion the best
doco's going around ? I am trying to get my
collection up and I am curious to know what titles are
out there so i can hunt them down.
tHANKS again
Kym
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 02:39
by Goodnight, Irene
HBO's Legendary Nights is a series I have
really enjoyed. I haven't seen them all, but I purchased the majority of them through a US dealer online. I haven't seen a bad one yet. One is on Holmes-Cooney, if you haven't seen it Robinson, since I know you are a Holmes fan (Sicko

)
If you're looking for something a little less modern, the
Boxing's Best series, which are available in retail stores here in Australia, K-Mart, Dymocks, Border-Collins, Sanity, HMV etc.
The best you can do in terms of range is search online. Bucketloads of American sites that sell docos you would never see on Oz shelves. You looking for a doco on any one fighter in particular?
Good luck

Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 02:41
by Collins2000
64 Day Hero – Documentary on Randolph Turpin
0463 Great! 90 Minutes
Naked Sports: Welcome to the Sewer
0640 1993 – 50 Minutes – Great doco!
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 03:51
by Robinson
Thanks Gdnite Irene,
I have the Legendary Nights series, I agree I have not watched one that was not good. I must confess I have watched the Cooney-Holmes one a few times...sad eh ;)
Not looking for any fighter in particular, just interested in increasing the library.
Just found at a Newsagent for $12 a Boxing doco narrated and presented by Henry Cooper, wasnt to bad.
Thanks again lads
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 09:01
by MightyWarrior
When we were Kings has to be the best boxing doc ever made.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 09:06
by Goodnight, Irene
MightyWarrior wrote:When we were Kings has to be the best boxing doc ever made.

Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 10:21
by granberry
MightyWarrior wrote:When we were Kings has to be the best boxing doc ever made.
For anyone whose idea of a boxing "expert" is Norman Mailer and George Plimpton.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 11:20
by MightyWarrior
granberry wrote:MightyWarrior wrote:When we were Kings has to be the best boxing doc ever made.
For anyone whose idea of a boxing "expert" is Norman Mailer and George Plimpton.
Well you're not really watching it to hear Mailer & Plimpton are you? If it's a boxing expert you must have, Ali's not too bad is he.
Just as a doc about one of the sports biggest fights, it's as close you can get to the time and place without having actually been there. A brilliant film.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 11:32
by granberry
MightyWarrior wrote:granberry wrote:MightyWarrior wrote:When we were Kings has to be the best boxing doc ever made.
For anyone whose idea of a boxing "expert" is Norman Mailer and George Plimpton.
Well you're not really watching it to hear Mailer & Plimpton are you? If it's a boxing expert you must have, Ali's not too bad is he.
Just as a doc about one of the sports biggest fights, it's as close you can get to the time and place without having actually been there. A brilliant film.
A piece of garbage propaganda put out for retards.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 11:34
by MightyWarrior
granberry wrote:
A piece of garbage propaganda put out for retards.
Perfect for you then?
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:05
by granberry
MightyWarrior wrote:granberry wrote:
A piece of garbage propaganda put out for retards.
Perfect for you then?
Perfect for you--
with its leftwing slobbering over the fact Ali was supposedly 'against' the Vietnam war
even though Ali had the mentality of a 12 year old and was only only regurgitating what his Nation of Islam masters ordered him to say
and endless performances and "quotes" from James Brown and other US pop music performers.
Yeah, that's a real "boxing" documentary.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:19
by MightyWarrior
granberry wrote:
Perfect for you--
with its leftwing slobbering over the fact Ali was supposedly 'against' the Vietnam war
even though Ali had the mentality of a 12 year old and was only only regurgitating what his Nation of Islam masters ordered him to say
and endless performances and "quotes" from James Brown and other US pop music performers.
Yeah, that's a real "boxing" documentary.
Lighten up you boring old bastard

I'll bet your a barrel of laughs to be around.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:20
by granberry
Terry D wrote:
'When We Were Kings' gives a snapshot of a fight most of us never attended. What is wrong with that?
Nothing is 'wrong' with it.
It is a long, boring compilation of leftwing propaganda including endless quotes from rabid leftwingers about Vietnam.
Most of it has nothing to do with boxing.
Unless you think quotes from heavily drugged leftwingers Norman Mailer and George Plimpton, along with disgusting Ali parasite Thomas Hauser,
are worth anything when it comes to "boxing."
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:21
by MightyWarrior
Terry D wrote:Does anyone else think that the BOTP forum is very much like the early 1990's NME letters page?
A person would write in saying they liked an obscure indie band, such as 'Fandango Bananas. They would get a reply from someone that went along the lines of 'Well, I saw that bang play before they even realised they were a band but since they've signed for squirrel records and sold 4 LPs I no longer consider them a cool band. I am now the only fan of the band yet to be formed by my 3 year old brother who bangs his spoon with such rhythmic beauty and grace it reminds me of Richie Manic (who I saw before anyone else, I was at his ultrasound scan), Sincerly, Twat Ps You are a slave to the music industry.'
'When We Were Kings' gives a snapshot of a fight most of us never attended. What is wrong with that?
Yep you're so right Terry, this forum could be a great one, but it attracts the few who are so desperate to show they know more about the sport than anyone else. Ever.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:30
by granberry
Plimpton is there (along with Mailer) to add literary gravitas to the proceedings. LOL
How dare yoiu question anything Plimpton says.
And literary 'giant' Mailer comments toward the end that "I had to go urinate" as his deep cultural contribution to this embarrassing piece of garbage that passes as a 'documentary.'
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:32
by granberry
Terry D wrote:
Yep, having in-depth discussions about fights no one has ever seen .
CORRECTION :
Fights that clueless Terryd has never seen.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:36
by MightyWarrior
granberry wrote:Plimpton is there (along with Mailer) to add literary gravitas to the proceedings. LOL
How dare yoiu question anything Plimpton says.
And literary 'giant' Mailer comments toward the end that "I had to go urinate" as his deep cultural contribution to this embarrassing piece of garbage that passes as a 'documentary.'
Well they were there mate, unlike yourself, though I'm sure your balanced commentary would have improved the film no end. Who would you have prefered commenting, Mobutu & Hunter Thompson perhaps?
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 12:48
by granberry
MightyWarrior wrote:granberry wrote:Plimpton is there (along with Mailer) to add literary gravitas to the proceedings. LOL
How dare yoiu question anything Plimpton says.
And literary 'giant' Mailer comments toward the end that "I had to go urinate" as his deep cultural contribution to this embarrassing piece of garbage that passes as a 'documentary.'
Well they were there mate, unlike yourself, though I'm sure your balanced commentary would have improved the film no end. Who would you have prefered commenting, Mobutu & Hunter Thompson perhaps?
I turn the SOUND OFF when I watch boxing.
I need NO COMMENTARY.
I leave the swallowing of "commentary" to the clueless like yourself
who are not competent to see what is going without "guidance" of the Thomas Hausers, Larry Merchants, and Bert Sugars who are your mentors and guides to what you are supposed to swallow and then regurgitate back out about "boxing."
.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 13:09
by MightyWarrior
granberry wrote:
I turn the SOUND OFF when I watch boxing.
I need NO COMMENTARY.
Wow HOW IMPRESSIVE!!
![[icon_e_biggrin.gif] :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 18:57
by Robinson
When I saw 'When we were kings' when it came out I was 17 and really likeed it.
But after a few years I re-watched it and fund it kinda annoying as to the arty angle.
The writers and musicians opinions mattered very little to me, what annoyed me about it was that had no interviews from Foreman or anyone associated with him, let alone say a Larry holmes or anyone boxing related.
Instead it had old acid washed writers trying to be poetic about the whole thing as though they had just polished of a bottle of red and it was 1am.
The way that the guys like mailer made Foreman came across, was just plain annoying and there take oin the fight was just misleading.
It was well made and did well on a popular front, but as far as being a boxing doco for me it was lacking, it was an Ali doco I guess.
Well made production, best bits were some of the footage I had not seen at the time.
The tragic thing for me in regards to that doco is that many people who saw it most likely would not see the fight, and take what they saw in this doco as an absolute. To me that is painful.
To me what sums up Norman Mailer is the fight he has on the set of a movie that is up on You Tube. Feel free to check it out.
Kym
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 19:10
by Goodnight, Irene
"...what annoyed me about it was that had no interviews from Foreman or anyone associated with him, let alone say a Larry holmes or anyone boxing related..." - Robinson
"When We Were Kings" is the most horrendously slanted, one-sided piece of
HIS-story ever to masquerade as an objective documentary. Anyone who watched it at the time came out an Ali fan, knowing nothing more than, "He is the greatest!"
A person would do just as well to watch something like,
"Through The Eyes Of The World", at least that is honest in that it announces itself as an Ali documentary, not an objective piece on a fight.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 19:15
by Robinson
Atleast it sold a few Fugee's CD's.
I saw it in Year 12 at High School for English. I enjoyed it in the
sense that we were doing some thing about 'boxing'.
It convinced the class like you said that Ali was the 'greatest' after all
there was this doco made about him.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 22:41
by bjermaine
i think we need to do a documentary on granberry. this guy's ideas on the past and current fight game are cutting edge and need to be analyzed. he reminds me of the iraqi minister of information when the war first started. no matter what proof there is in front of him he will put his spin on things and try to make his point. i've never read so much crap in my life but at the same time i can't wait to read his next post. cheers granberry, we may disagree but you sure entertain the hell out of me.
Posted: 25 Feb 2008, 23:37
by granberry
bjermaine wrote:i think we need to do a documentary on granberry. this guy's ideas on the past and current fight game are cutting edge and need to be analyzed. he reminds me of the iraqi minister of information when the war first started. no matter what proof there is in front of him he will put his spin on things and try to make his point. i've never read so much crap in my life but at the same time i can't wait to read his next post. cheers granberry, we may disagree but you sure entertain the hell out of me.
bjer--You can kiss my *ss.
Posted: 26 Feb 2008, 00:23
by Collins2000
bjermaine wrote:i think we need to do a documentary on granberry. this guy's ideas on the past and current fight game are cutting edge and need to be analyzed. he reminds me of the iraqi minister of information when the war first started. no matter what proof there is in front of him he will put his spin on things and try to make his point. i've never read so much crap in my life but at the same time i can't wait to read his next post. cheers granberry, we may disagree but you sure entertain the hell out of me.
"They are not in Baghdad. They are not in control of any airport. I tell you this. It is all a lie. They lie. It is a hollywood movie. You do not believe them."