When We Were Kings (1996)

Praises the Oscar-winning documentary for focusing on Ali the athlete and his importance to the African-American community, with contributions from Mailer, Plimpton, and Lee, proving Ali was the greatest.

The review praises the documentary as one of the best and most emotionally affecting ever made, highlighting Ali's natural presence on camera and the insightful contributions from commentators like Spike Lee.

The piece lauds the film as a philosophical and poetic document of Muhammad Ali as an artist, philosopher, and poet, capturing the poetry and tragedy of his life and the era.

The film is a vivid time capsule recapturing the electricity of Muhammad Ali in his prime and the cultural significance of the Rumble in the Jungle. It captures Ali’s public persona, private resolve, and joyful spirit while contrasting the young fighter with his later struggles.

The film provides a prismatic view of one of the biggest sports spectacles of the 20th century, seamlessly capturing its politically radical undercurrent with a tactile sense of urgency in its archival footage and reflectiveness about athletes' roles in social change. This Criterion release attests to the enduring power of Gast’s documentary.

Gast’s exuberant and thrilling documentary captures Ali’s most astonishing triumph in the Rumble in the Jungle. The film shows how Ali transformed his public persona and mojo into formidable weapons against Foreman.

The critic calls it a superb and electrifying Oscar-winning documentary that captures the monumental sense of the Rumble in the Jungle, focusing on Ali's roots and challenge while conveying the event's cultural significance.

The incredible story of the Rumble in the Jungle is related in enormously entertaining fashion. Anchored by Ali’s charisma and the event’s cultural importance, the snappily paced doc is a total delight.

The critic praises Leon Gast's documentary as a time-capsule transporting viewers to the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle, highlighting the insightful commentaries by Norman Mailer and George Plimpton.

Despite some faults, the film is an energetic, passionate documentary of the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle and a revelation for those who only know Ali and Foreman later in life. It celebrates the event as a high-water mark in African American culture but skirts dubious elements like its bankrolling by a dictator and promotion by Don King, while the commentary by Plimpton and Mailer detracts from the footage.

The critic finds the film fascinating for its portrayal of Ali's charisma and showmanship but notes it deals in virtual politics and raises consciousness without confronting uncomfortable facts about the event or its context.