The Kings of the Ring

Starring:Muhammad Ali, Louis Gossett Jr., Rocky Marciano, Mike Tyson
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This comprehensive HBO presentation documents the history of heavyweight boxing through the 20th century, beginning with Jess Willard's victory over Jack Johnson in the early 1900s and running through the reign of the controversial Mike Tyson. As well as being an overview of the Sweet Science, however, Kings of the Ring probes the private lives of the champs and the travails that they faced outside the ring, with special attention to the context of their times and the roles that the fighters played in reflecting and shaping society. Undoubtedly Max Baer's and Joe Louis's victories over Max Schmeling in the 1930s carried some political weight as the unwilling symbol of Nazi Germany was pummeled by both Americans. Some 30 years later, Cassius Clay's personality, brash attitude, and superior skills in the ring brought him attention. That attention turned to controversy when Clay joined the Nation of Islam, changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and was jailed for refusing to go to Vietnam. Also, no history of 20th-century heavyweight boxing would be complete without the occasional freak show, such as the Italian strongman Primo Carnera boxing with a kangaroo before being taken apart by the much smaller Max Baer. There is, of course, plenty of thrilling fight footage to go around as well, with boxers such as the wild Jack Dempsey, the remarkable Rocky Marciano, and Ali's astounding speed and footwork. Marciano's hammering of Jersey Joe Walcott in particular is worth the price of admission. --Jerry Renshaw

Customer Reviews:

Greatest of all time.......2005-01-27

This is one of the rare sports documentaries that will appeal to more than just sports fans. I saw this documantary a few years ago and was "Blown away". I'm a boxing fan but if you like excellent documentaries this is for you.

The Kings of the Ring stands along side the other great sports documentarres such as "16 Days of Glory", "Hero" and "Gol" and if you see any of these films, you will never forget them.

pretty good but missing.......2004-06-21

while it's cool to hear Louis Gossett Jr The Academy Award winner given Commentary through out this Project doesn't cover the full bases of Boxing.you have to do more.still there are rare footage here&there good coverage throughout from different Era's&Weight Classes but still something is mising from this being complete.

Not what I was looking for!.......2003-01-22

I regret buying this DVD. Actually, it wasn't what I was looking for. There was another documentary called KINGS OF THE RING which focused on the careers of Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali. It was directed by Bud Greenspan, I saw it once or twice on SHOWTIME and thought it was excellent. The tribute to Joe Louis was particularly touching. What we have here is an HBO produced documentary with a similar name but with less class. Admittedly, some of the footage here is rare (the Schmeling-Baer fight, Carnera boxing a kangaroo), but it just feels like footage spliced together with bleh commentary. And poor Larry Holmes. You get to watch him get pummelled by a young Mike Tyson again. No mention of his 7 years as heavyweight champion of the world. ...

But save your [money] and wait for Showtime to air the Greenspan documentary.

Poor poor Larry.......2001-12-15

I've seen Larry Holmes interviewed in the past and at first I thought he was just a man with a massive inferiority complex but now I understand his problem. When a film such as this (which gives a fairly detailed history of the heavyweight crown) completely and uterly ignores his domination of the division for a five to eight year span, I think his complex is justified. Max Baer and Primo Carnera get five times as much attention in this movie as does holmes.

I was also expecting some kind of explanation of when and how the multiple governing bodies took precedence in the awarding of the title. After all it's something that could be discussed in narration alone without additional footage. Instead... we magically skip from Ali, who apparently has one title, to the days of Tyson and multiple titles. This is an important omition.

I understand that there is not film coverage of the absolute beginning of the heavyweight crown but I also find fault with the omission of this info...

Great History.......2001-02-03

I love KINGS OF THE RING. HBO always does a great job with boxing show and I like the Louis Gosset Jr. as the nararrator. It has a real in-depth history of the heavyweight division. From Jack Dempsey's brutal ko of Jess Willard, to Mike Tyson. It show training and fight clips, as well as clips from outside the ring. It also helps explain the signifcance of the Heavyweight title and what it meant to the world at each particualar time in history.

Average customer rating:

The Legends of legalized slaughter!!

Kings of the Square Ring
Starring: Kings of the Square Ring , and Amazons in Wrestling
Manufacturer: Bci / Eclipse
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Customer Reviews:

The Legends of legalized slaughter!!.......2006-10-05

What a treat!
This is a look at the men whole made the `square ring' their legacy including Ali,Inoki,Benny the Jet Urquidez,Rikidozan and many more.
This is a japanese piece filmed in the `70's in Japan.
Many fighters travelled there(and still do so today)where the fight game is most respected than anywhere else on earth.

There's a great section on Benny where he takes out guys with a superb spin kick to the liver.One guy gets dusted with a perfectly executed judo throw!

The bonus features are also amazing.
First there's a section with deleted scenes from the japan version of this film.It's got many of the same pieces so you might want to fast forward through this segment as it's rather long.

Next up is a long segment f Inoki fights including one against Oyama Karate fighter Willie Williams where both men wind up fighting outside the ring than in it.
This didnt look staged either.Williams seemed really angry.
There's got to be an hours worth of great fights.

But wait...there's more!!
The ladies get their share of the action too!
Amazons in Wrestling is another `70's docu with asian wrestlers.
Man have we come a long way!
Also included is more recent matches of ladies doing some great moves.
This segment like the mens bonus section is all in Japanese.

It's doubtful you can get through all this in one sitting.
There's about 5-6 hours of materials packed into 2 discs.

The Best of Backyard Wrestling, Vol. 1: Future Kings of the Ring!

Average customer rating:

Morons Go Wild
Nothin' but fake wrestling!
This is hardcore!

The Best of Backyard Wrestling, Vol. 1: Future Kings of the Ring!

Manufacturer: Xtreme Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Best of Backyard Wrestling, Vol. 2: More Hardcore Than Ever Before!

ASIN: B00005R1MX

Customer Reviews:

Morons Go Wild.......2004-02-25

I bought this DVD used for five dollars. I paid way too much.

I was looking for the lamest DVD available on Amazon to give as a special 'gift' to a friend as part of a relentless competition to see which of us can find the worst film ever made. Although this isn't the worst film ever made (that award goes unquestionably to "The Underground Comedy Movie") it wins in a special subcategory called 'Group of Apparently Stupidest People Ever Put Together on One Video.' My favorite part of the DVD is in the introduction where a credit claims that these 'wrestlers' are highly trained professionals who have painstakingly striven to provide the viewer with an entertaining performance but always keep to the highest levels of safety possible. Like, for instance, lighting someone in a fish suit on fire and then realizing belatedly that a hose or fire extinguisher would be a handy thing to have around the fish fry. Brilliant.

This is, honestly, so hokey, and the stunts so ill conceived as to make it virtually unwatchable. Think of this as just a bunch of idiots trying to injure themselves and failing only through their own ineptness. I presumed that this would be intriguing (or funny, or both), but it is really just a waste of time. If you are a die hard wrestling fan, stick to known quantities: this is a mess and the visual quality of the DVD is fairly awful in most parts as it was shot by a hand held video camera by rank amateurs. This really isn't even entertaining enough to give as a (bad) gift.

Nothin' but fake wrestling!.......2002-09-19

... This DVD ain't good! ... I thought "Best of Backyard Wrestling, Vol. 1: Future Kings of the Ring!" would be as real ... but it's NOT!

These punks on the video are nothin' but posers! They rip off moves from the REAL wrestlers, make up stupid names for there characters, and fake all there injuries! They set up these ... wrestling rings in their ma & pa's backyard, and tell all they friends to come over and watch. ... Quit yo pretending, cause this video just ain't good!!!

This is hardcore!.......2002-08-21

This tape has everything a fan of hardcore wrestling could want. It shows amateurs in their backyard wrestling, except its not your daddy's style wrestling. Its hardcore as hell. People get set on fire, do backflips off the roof smashing someone threw a table, piledrived onto a car, get powerbombed and chokeslamed onto lightbulbs, and best of all they use thumbtacks and barbwire... This is not for the weak. This tape has crazy violence, and amazing stunts. If you enjoy wrestling, especially the hardcore style, you will enjoy this tape. Watch, and laugh at bloopers and other silly screw ups. My only complaint is that short segments as interludes between parts of the tape, show a blond bimbo doing poses and showing her big ugly fake breasts at the camera, as if she is somehow desired. The only reason they put this here is to up the sales with from teenage boys. But anyway, watch this if you like ECW or the Japanese Death Matches. This is some crazy stuff. 5 stars. Check it out. Oh yeah, Do not try this at home. ; ]

Ring Kings III - The Evolution of Kickboxing

Average customer rating:

Ring Kings III - The Evolution of Kickboxing

Manufacturer: CustomFlix
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD-R

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Description

From the same people that bring you the Freestyle Fighting Championship comes KINGS...The Evolution of Kickboxing. KINGS is an international rules kickboxing show featuring some of the nations most fearless warriors doing bettle. Sportsfighting USA brings the 2 - 4 Man Grand prix back south for the Gulf Coast fight fans. Watch the fists fly and kicks blast off as 4 Light-Heavyweight & 4 Heavyweights battle to see who the next Ring King will be.

Average customer rating:

The Kings of the Ring
Starring: Jr. Louis Gossett
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Biography | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000053VBZ
Release Date: 2001-03-27

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