When We Were Kings is not a great documentary because the director did anything different or special.  There are no gimmicks; it’s a straight forward documentary.  What makes it so great is the subject matter, the footage and the personalities involved.  This is of course the story of the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali vs. George Forman in 1974.  Ali had recently taken a beating from Joe Frazier.  In turn, Forman put a huge beating on Frazier.  Ali wasn’t given much of a chance.  Forman was younger and much stronger.  That didn’t seem to matter to the fans in Zaire where the fight took place.  Forman was the overwhelming favorite, but Ali was the overwhelming fan favorite and it may have taken a toll on Forman. 

The archival footage lets you get a peak in to the lives of the fighters behind closed doors.  Ali confident in front of the fans is more quiet and tense when no is looking at him.  Forman wonders why the fans hate him so much because he’s a black man too.  Forman was a much different person then.  Far from the loveable guy pushing indoor grills; he was much more reserved and sullen.  When We Were Kings also looks at a concert that took place in Zaire to raise money for the fight.  It was considered an African Woodstock with the likes of James Brown and B.B. King performing.  Aside from the principals we see characters such as Brown, Don King and Howard Cosell.  There are current interviews with people such as Spike Lee and Norman Mailer who was at the fight.  

Everyone knows what eventually happened.  Muhammad Ali added to his legend by adopting the rope-a-dope tactic and letting Forman punch himself in to exhaustion.  Ali knocked Forman out in the eighth round and the rest is history.  The story of the fight is as great as the fight itself.  Even if you’re not a boxing fan, this is an interesting piece of American culture and well worth the two hours.