Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

When We Were Kings Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 11, 2019

Leon Gast's documentary "When We Were Kings" (1996) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an exclusive new video interview with producer David Sonenberg; archival interview with Leon Gast; Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte's documentary "Soul Power"; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by Kelefa Senneh and technical credits. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The macho talk, which often evolves into plain old-fashioned trash talk, is where most of the curious revelations in Leon Gast’s documentary emerge from. For example, Norman Mailer rightfully points out that a lot of Muhammad Ali’s brash verbal attacks on George Foreman were just a façade that was meant to hide his anxiety and fear. At the time Foreman was constantly on TV, and he wasn’t just winning in spectacular fashion, he was destroying his opponents, as if to send a clear message to Ali that he was simply further down on his list. Later on, when the fight in Zaire was officially scheduled, many boxing pundits made it even harder for Ali to cope with the pressure because they saw through his act and called it out. So, the boxing match on the ring in Zaire really was the final phase of a much bigger clash that Ali, Forman, and a whole bunch of other people were involved with.

Foreman remained much more reserved, which is something that clearly did not help his popularity overseas. But did it actually matter? There is enough raw footage in the documentary where Ali insists that it did because he connected with his ‘African brothers and sisters’ and their support gave him a valuable boost that later on helped him prevail. It is possible, but the biggest cracks in the façade that was hiding his emotional vulnerability emerged precisely after he landed in Zaire. For example, when word came out that the highly publicized boxing match had to be rescheduled because Foreman had suffered an injury, Ali temporarily lost his cool and actually threatened to walk out of his contract with Don King and go back to America, and it was only after it was made perfectly clear to him that he would face devastating consequences, including serious financial losses, if he did that he changed his mind. So again, the psychological fight that had to be endured off the ring was as important as the one that had to be won on it.

Predictably, the documentary promotes a fair number of political messages, and just as unsurprisingly they all come from the same corner of the political spectrum. Ali’s arrival in Zaire for instance is framed as a historic statement of solidarity with the African people who had suffered under colonial rulers and an extension of his controversial refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War. In realty, his fight with Foreman was just a dream business deal that King was able to put together. What is even more ironic is that President Mobutu Sese Seko, one of the most vicious dictators the African continent had seen, was the person that provided the $10 million that King needed for it, and he actually pulled the cash straight out of the country’s miserable budget. On top of this, shortly before Ali and Foreman’s planes landed in Kinshasa President Seko went on a killing spree and wiped out an unknown number of ‘prominent criminal elements’, just to send a message to the masses that while the world had gathered there his country had to look safe and behave properly.

By the time the documentary gets to the main event, the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’, it is already too late to even pretend that it aimed to be respectable of Foreman and the part he played in it. He remains the ‘outsider’ that early on Ali insists he would be in Kinshasa, a man far more interested in the experiences of his favorite dog than the people around him, and even his fighting strategy disappears in a sea of mostly meaningless noise.

The organizers of the fight between Ali and Foreman also welcomed various prominent artists from America and Africa to perform in an equally impressive music festival. Amongst them were B.B. King, James Brown, The Spinners, Tabu Ley Rochereau, Celia Cruz, and Miriam Makeba.

When We Were Kings Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, When We Were Kings arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this Blu-ray release:

"This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director scanner from a 35mm interpositive and restored at Deluxe in Hollywood. The 5.0 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm six-track full-coat magnetic tapes using Avid's Pro Tools and iZotope RX.

Colorist: Lee Kline, Criterion Post, New York."

The documentary uses footage from a number of different sources, including some were mastered in standard definition, with variable technical characteristics. So, my comments do not address the native quality of this footage and how it was incorporated into the documentary. My comments address only the presentation of the finished product and how it was transferred to Blu-ray.

Given the above clarification, you should expect to see a range of modest to strong density fluctuations, with the most prominent ones appearing during the standard definition footage (you can see an example in screencapture #11). Clarity also varies, especially during the darker footage, some of which is also a tad jittery. This being said, the entire documentary has a very nice organic appearance. (Just to be clear, there are no traces of digital work that was done to rebalance the archival footage). The color grading job is also very pleasing and in my opinion preserves the native period qualities of the raw footage. (And yes, even the black-and-white footage). Image stability is excellent, but keep in mind that some of the native footage could be a tad shaky. There are no distracting imperfections, such as damage marks, cuts, stains, warped torn frames. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

When We Were Kings Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

As the technical credits that we have quoted above reveal, the audio has been remastered to remove age-related imperfections. However, the original soundtrack does some native dynamic and balance fluctuations, and it should not be difficult to understand why -- there is quite a bit of raw footage and concert footage that was shot under different conditions. The important bit here is this: the lossless track reproduces the original qualities of the soundtrack very well.

When We Were Kings Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for When We Were Kings. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).

• Leon Gast - in this archival interview, director Leon Gast discusses the type of work he did to put together When We Were Kings as well as his interactions with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. The interview was recorded in 1997. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, 1080i).

• David Sonenberg - in this new video interview, producer David Sonenberg remembers how he collaborated with Leon Gast and how When We Were Kings came to exist. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in New York in 2019. In English, not subtitled. (17 min, 1080i).

• Soul Power - presented here is Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte's documentary Soul Power, which was initially released on Blu-ray Sony Pictures Classics. A director's statement is included as well. In English, not subtitled. (93 min, 1080p).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring Kelefa Senneh's essay "ready to Fight" and technical credits. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080i).

When We Were Kings Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Any way you look at it, the 'Rumble in the Jungle' was a monumental event, which for a short period of time had the entire world fixated on it. In those days, only FIFA's World Cup was capable of accomplishing the same. I also consider it one of the greatest business deals ever done, with Don King being the mastermind behind it. There is a lot of political noise that surrounded it and When We Were Kings rightfully captures plenty of it, though it is difficult for me to see the documentary as an objective account of what took place as it clearly promotes a one-sided view and does not treat Muhammad Ali and George Foreman equally. It is still worth seeing, however, because there is plenty of very rare archival footage in it. Criterion's Blu-ray release is sourced from a solid new 4K remaster. RECOMMENDED.