Product Description

James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander won Oscar nominations for their riveting performances in this study of a great fighter brought down by lesser men.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15277 in DVD
• Brand: ALEXANDER,JANE
• Released on: 2005-01-11
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English, German, Hungarian, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 102 minutes

Customer Reviews

James Earl Jones at his finest....
This is a remarkable and forceful film, well written and directed. Jones shows a physical prowess that does not come through in any other film I have seen him in and carries the role with a natural grace. Sharply exposing the prejudice of the time, it is also unfliching in the portrait of a man brought to ruin by the forces around him, with not a little assistance from his own feeling of being untouchable. Highly recommended.

Definitely Worth Seeing
This movie (which claims to be based on true events) compellingly deals with the struggle of America's first black heavyweight boxing champion against racism (both black and white).

Far from being pointless, the movie (adapted from a successful stage play) realistically presents the outrageous way this man is treated for having the "audacity" to win the heavyweight championship from a white man, have a relationship with a white woman, and openly celebrate both of these facts. He is shamelessly persecuted by the governement (using obscure laws never intended for the purpose) and disowned by some in the black community for being a "traitor" to his own race and a bad role model to young blacks who admire him.

The acting is superb, and the story (set in the early 20th century) takes on an added dimension when one considers how closely it parallels the events of the year it was released (1970 - a time when Muhammed Ali had been deprived of the right to box for several of his best years due to his refusal to be drafted into the U.S. armed forces; many have argued the real reason for this was that he scared and outraged some white Americans, being a vocal, opinionated black man who embraced the teachings and religion of Malcom X). there are a number of people who have seen this relatively obscure movie and who think very highly of it.

This movie needs to be in print!
I can't say enough about this great film, which is obviously woefully underappreciated, since it's currently not available on video at all. James Earl Jones is mesmerizing, the script and direction are impeccable--yet another great movie from Martin Ritt. So many of the scenes are unlike anything I've seen before in the brutal frankness the filmmakers use to portray race relations circa 1910.