Film Forum

“Recaptures the electricity generated by Muhammad Ali in his prime.” – Roger Ebert. Here is the definitive account of one of the greatest boxing matches of all time – the 1974 Muhammad Ali / George Foreman fight in Zaire, the “Rumble in the Jungle.” Director Leon Gast had unprecedented access to Ali and Foreman in the weeks leading up to the bout, and deployed an army of cinematographers (including Albert Maysles) to capture this global event. Featuring James Brown, Jim Brown, B.B. King, Don King and interviews with Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, Spike Lee, and Thomas Hauser. 35mm.

USA • 1996 • 92 MINS. • UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Reviews

“If you haven't seen this—INDISPUTEDLY THE BEST BOXING DOCUMENTARY OF ALL TIME—you've got a show to attend. Blessed with total access to what would be a seismic, symbolic event, director Leon Gast headed to Zaire, Africa, to capture 1974’s ‘Rumble in the Jungle,’ the apotheosis of Muhammad Ali’s legend.”
– Joshua Rothkopf, TimeOut.com

“Thrilling. Gorgeous…brings the “Rumble in the Jungle” alive with a vibrancy guaranteed to move the souls of even the most boxing illiterate.”
– Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

“There’s no better picture of what made Ali so great. In its small moments, the film lives and breathes.”
– Matthew Dessem, Slate

“BRILLIANT.  A movie with a perfect  ending, and a perfect buildup….The fight footage, narrated by (Norman) Mailer and (George) Plimpton, captures AN EXTRAORDINARY GLADITORIAL EVENT, and is drama enough for one movie. But there’s so much more to Gast’s film. His cameras and mikes caught every beat of the Rumble, from the boxers’ training camps to the stages where James Brown, B.B. King, Miriam Makeba and other international black stars were performing. And he caught ALI AT HIS CHARISMATIC PEAK – cocky, boisterous, playful, at ease with reporters and in spiritual union with the locals. WHEN WE WERE KINGS, which seamlessly intercuts scenes of racial conflict at home with the unfolding events in Zaire, is a heady brew of sports and political nostalgia, and ultimately, one of the most passionate celebrations of a folk hero ever assembled.”
– Jack Mathews, Newsday

“A GENUINELY INSPIRING FILM, ABOUT A REAL TWENTIETH-CENTURY HERO… It’s hard to imagine a more EXTRAORDINARY CAST OF CHARACTERS than the real protagonists of this documentary….At the center of it all, at ease with himself like some Olympian, is the most electrically charismatic of all sportsmen, who is also so much more than a sportsman, Muhammad Ali. Ali’s presence – a combination of pure magnetism, complete self-assurance, intelligence and naivete (or is it just lack of cynicism?) – is always compelling and frequently hilarious: ‘If you think the world was surprised when Nixon resigned/Wait til I kick Foreman’s behind,’ he declares in one of his famous spontaneous ‘poems.’ Gast handles his wonderful archive material deftly. It’s refreshing to see an American documentary that avoids being too literal, building up a kaleidoscopic, impressionistic picture of Ali and the fight, interweaving some fabulous music from the Kinshasa concert.”
– Kevin Macdonald, Sight and Sound