Product Description

Special Jury Award Winner at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, On the Ropes is the compelling true story that follows the lives of three aspiring boxers and their trainer, Harry Keitt, one time sparring partner of Muhammad Ali.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #83153 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-04-25
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 94 minutes

Amazon.com
That every cliché and stereotype has some basis in fact is axiomatic. Boxing movies have long relied on archetypes such as the tough-but-big-hearted trainer who acts as a mentor, the crooked promoter, the hard-nosed kid who fights his way from the streets to the top. On the Ropes has all of these, but the kicker is this film isn't fiction; this is a remarkable documentary that follows three young boxers, George, Noel, and Tyrene, in and out of the ring as they struggle with tough circumstances in their Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood while they train relentlessly for the Golden Gloves. Trainer Harry Keitt has his share of problems as well, going from a pro career and a stint as sparring partner for Muhammad Ali to crack addiction, homelessness, and jail, then taking up coaching as a road to redemption. A peek inside the personal lives of the three young athletes shows them to be tough but vulnerable kids, likable, courageous, and incredibly determined to see their way out of Brooklyn via a boxing career (there's another of those clichés come to life). As the three progress and move beyond the Bed-Stuy Boxing Center, Keitt must cope with seeing them leave his sphere of influence and move on. Filled with warm and very human characters, On the Ropes is a first-rate documentary and a behind-the-scenes look at a sports world that few of us ever see. --Jerry Renshaw

Additional features
The DVD includes a rich running audio commentary by directors Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgan, on the background of the project and how they picked the young boxers the film focuses on. A five-minute epilogue, filmed two years after the documentary, gives updates on the four main characters. Also included are bios and the theatrical trailer.

Customer Reviews

an amazing film
i was bored one night and walking past the castro theater in SF and i thought, "what the heck..." and went to see this film. it was amazing. the normally high-brow, semi-snooty film festival crowd was actually shouting at the screen during parts of this film. it's that exciting and emotionally wrenching.

i was so happy that the director was actually in the audience and was willing to take questions. the line was 20 people deep at one point... everyone wanted to know what happens to these people after the film ends.

the best part, though, was when someone asked about the coach, and she said something to the effect of "ask him yourself, he's right there--" when he stood up to go to the mike, the 1500 people in the huge castro theater gave the "star" of this documentary a 5-minute standing ovation.

An absolute must-see

The inside look from outside the ring...
On the Ropes takes you inside boxing....not pro boxing where everyone has money, but young-people's boxing in urban NY, where they fight for their lives and struggle to break out of "their" ring. The film is such a perfect metaphor for life in an urban american city.

What makes this film even more remarkable, is that it's all true. And not one of those washed out 'based on fact' movies. On The Ropes is a feature documentary about real people fighting real battles in and out of the boxing ring, and its production style is gritty, entangled and subsequently perfect, for the metaphor continues...the lives of the people it documents is gritty and entangled and complex.

I highly recommend this film for viewing. If you're a boxing fan, you HAVE to see it, and if you are interested in real life drama, you have to see it.

Outstanding!!!
This is a great DVD that captures the lives and stories of 4 people, 3 fighters and a trainer, trying to chase the brass ring in boxing, and life. A wonderfully gripping story that mainly focuses on the life of still active middleweight George Walton. You root big time for the 4 as they struggle to leave the tough Bed-Stuy NY neighborhood they live in. The only complaint here is that the DVD cuts off a nice bit at the end of the originally aired story that follows the reunion of George and his girlfriend, now (real life) wife, after her release from prison. This also deleats the 'where are they now?' updates. Great stuff though!