When We Were Kings( 1996)

TV-MADocumentaryTV MovieHistoryMusic

77%

User
Score

The untold story of the Rumble in the Jungle.

Overview

It's 1974. Muhammad Ali is 32 and thought by many to be past his prime. George Foreman is ten years younger and the heavyweight champion of the world. Promoter Don King wants to make a name for himself and offers both fighters five million dollars apiece to fight one another, and when they accept, King has only to come up with the money. He finds a willing backer in Mobutu Sese Suko, the dictator of Zaire, and the "Rumble in the Jungle" is set, including a musical festival featuring some of America's top black performers, like James Brown and B.B. King.

Top Billed Cast

Muhammad Ali
Self
George Foreman
Self
Don King
Self
James Brown
Self
B.B. King
Self
Spike Lee
Self
Mobutu Sese Seko
Self
Norman Mailer
Self
George Plimpton
Self
Malick Bowens
Self
Lloyd Price
Self
Miriam Makeba
Self
Drew Bundini Brown
Self
Odessa Clay
Self
Howard Cosell
Self
Wilton Felder
Self
Wayne Henderson
Self
Stix Hooper
Self
Stewart Levin
Self
Alan Pariser
Self
Danny 'Big Black' Rey
Self
Dick Sadler
Self
Joe Sample
Self
Philippé Wynne
Self
Archie Moore
Self
Lola Love
Self
Sonny Liston
Self (archive footage)
Jersey Joe Walcott
Self (archive footage)
Joe Frazier
Self (archive footage)

Social

Review 1Discussion

A review by pablogeezer

NaN

Written by pablogeezer on Wed Aug 28 2013

Roger Ebert February 27, 1997 The heavyweight title fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire on Oct. 30, 1974--”The Rumble in the Jungle”--is enshrined as one of the great sports events of the century. It was also a cultural and political happening. Into the capital of Kinshasa flew planeloads of performers for an “African Woodstock,” TV crews, Howard Cosell at the head of an international contingent of sports journalists, celebrity fight groupies like Norman Mailer and George Plimpton, and of course the two principals: Ali, then still controversial because of his decision...