Champions Forever: World Heavyweight Champs!
by Dimitri Logothetis
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Actor: George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Muhammad AliDirector: Dimitri Logothetis
Producer: Joseph Medawar
Producer: Nabeel Zahid
Producer: Nicholas Celozzi
Producer: Roy Medawar
Writer: Kenny Griswold
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 90 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-04-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Reviews of Champions Forever: World Heavyweight Champs!
DVD Review: Champions Forever: World Heavyweight Champs!
Summary: 5 Stars
This video shows great insight to the five fighters they cover and interview. You will see film clips of these great fighters performing in and out of the ring.
The dinner conversation they have with Reggie Jackson (lucky guy) is very revealing. You may change your mind about a few of these champions.
BTW, I had not been much of a Ken Norton fan when he was fighting, but I did get to meet him in 2000 shortly after seeing this video for the first time. Norton arm wrestled with my son, and although it was a struggle, my son beat him three times. My son was 9 years old at the time and I gained a lot of respect for and a better understanding of Ken Norton. Enjoy the video.
DVD Review: World HW Champs
Summary: 3 Stars
Some surprising and candid comments especially by Foreman like the fact that his knees were shaking before the Frazier fight and how imposing Norton looked to him before blasting out both of them.DVD Review: "Champions Forever" Documents the Best Five Boxers of the 60's and 70's - Tops!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Champions Forever" may be the best boxing documentary of all time. Exquisitely done, it features the five greatest heavyweight boxers of the 1960's and 1970's. The story focuses primarily on M. Ali, beginning with his huge upset victory over the sullen and powerfully intimidating Sonny Liston, and then proceeds to document the rise of Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Kenny Norton, and finally Larry Holmes. While the story seems to revolve around the rise and eventual fall of M. Ali, the other four greats are featured in their biggest fights as well. There are interviews with all five men, and they bring timely commentary to their lives and fights that is both enlightening and informative.
In the heavyweight division, there was no greater period than that of the 60's, 70's, and 80's. These five fighters ruled the heavyweight division during this time, and their fights with each other are now considered classics nin fisticuffs. In watching the documentary, Foreman comes off as the most well-rounded of the five. He shows candor (admitting his knees were shaking when he met Frazier for the first time!), humility (praising the other fighters frequently), and a terrific sense of humor (he has a 1,000-watt smile). The bad blood that Frazier still carries for Ali is clearly evident in his interviews. Frazier believes that Ali verbally taunted and abused him unnecessarily in the build-up to their three intense fights. While Ali says he was only trying to build the gate and create excitement for the fight, (as he did for all his fights), Frazier took the verbal darts personally and it is obvious that Ali's words hurt the intense pride of Joe Frazier. In fact, Frazier is so torn on this that he actually expresses a macabre sense of satisfaction that his powerful punches may have caused Ali's Parkinson's Syndrome. Frazier comes across as a bitter and "small" man based on his comments about Ali. Ali's comments are painful to watch, as he is obviously suffering from the Parkinson's affliction and has little expression and haltering speech. Larry Holmes clearly suffers being in the shadow of the great Ali, and he is somewhat bitter like Frazier, not so much towards Ali, but towards boxing in general, as contemporary boxing did not recognize his greatness at the time. Kenny Norton was champion by default, being "awarded" the title by boxing associations when Ali first retired, and his inclusion is this group may be somewhat questionable. I do not mean to take anything away from Norton, as he gave Ali and Holmes fights that were wars. However, Norton was easily beat by Foreman, while he and Frazier never battled. (I suspect Frazier's powerful shots would have stopped Norton, who was not a KO specialist). Norton's inclusion in this group is clearly due to his three epic battles with the great Ali. Norton's awkward style gave Ali fits and Ali could not dominate Norton with his jab and speed as he did others. Boxing enthusiasts believe Norton won 2 of 3 of their fights, the last fight being "awarded" to the clearly aging Ali based mor on his legend than his ability.
While this is the best boxing film I have ever viewed, I would have loved to have seen two other boxers included, those being Sonny Liston and Mike Tyson. The inclusion of these two men would have summed up the years 1960 - 1990. Obviously, Liston was dead long before this film was made (1989), and Tyson was the current heavyweight champion in 1989. If the film is ever remade (doubtful), it would nice for the sake of completeness to have the life stories of both Tyson and Liston included.
If you were alive during the 70's and want to relive the excitment of that period of boxing, there is no better film to watch than this one. If you are a younger boxing fan and have heard about the great fighters of the 70's, this is the film to watch to learn about these greats. There is simply no better documentary of that period than this one.
HIGHLY recommended.
Jim "Konedog" Koenig, (Boxing Fan and Fight-Film Collector)
DVD Review: Great documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
I don't know if this film had a theatrical release or not but if it did and it wasn't at least nominated by the Academy for Best Documentary of the Year as far as I'm concerned the makers of this film were robbed.DVD Review: A Very Uncomfortable Dinner But Great Fights
Summary: 4 Stars
A Very Uncomfortable Dinner But Great FightsGreat DVD - 4.25 Stars
This is difficult to review - some of the greatest scenes I've ever seen and some of the hardest scenes I've ever seen.
Here's what's hard- watching what's happened to Muhammad. It's just difficult and sad. He's still the Greatest and still likes to clown, but you just can't help but wonder why or what if...
What's also painful is watching the dinner with these great champions. It's good and bad, but mostly just really uncomfortable.
On to the good.
I've never seen so much great fight footage on one DVD.
You don't get entire fights, but get the highlights. It's absolutely amazing and worth getting the DVD (or VHS) for this only - everything else is gravy.
An absolute must have for any boxing fan.
A great item for any Ali fan - there's actually one moment where Ali talks about coming back and taking on Tyson - and I found myself excited and actually thinking how great that would be...and then waking up to the reality and silently laughing at myself.
If you're a George Foreman fan I think you'll want this as well. George comes across as not only a great champion, but a humble and incredible man as well.
Description of Champions Forever: World Heavyweight Champs!
Five champions together for the last time! Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Ken Norton. For more than twenty years, these kings of boxing ruled the ring as they passed the world heavyweight title from one to the other. Now, for the first time, see them all come face to face--gloves off--in an unprecedented video event, hosted by Reggie Jackson. In "Champions Forever," you'll discover the real men behind the legends, uncover the hidden anguish and secret passions that drove them to greatness. Hear them talk about themselves--and each other--with surprising candor. Relive the most thrilling moments from dozens of their greatest bouts and hear the fascinating truth about how these legends felt when they squared off to do battle. This is unlike any sports video you've ever seen, an exciting, emotional odyssey through the awesome careers of five bigger than life heroes who, for millions of us, will always be "Champions Forever."General DVDs
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