Champions Forever pitches Foreman, Frazier, Holmes, Norton and of course Ali together one more time. We see each boxer making their boxing accendancy and giving insight into their fights against each other. Ali is the focus, and rightly so, and shows despite his condition that mentally he is a sharp as ever. Foreman as you expect is articulate and humble but it is Ken Norton's thought's that really stand out for me. Having never heard him speak before I found him insightful, with an earthly honesty about him, both in his respect for others and in his belief (that I share) that he beat Ali in their third encounter. If you love boxing there is nothing like this documentary, shame about the soppy music Americans seem compelled to put in the background to point people to the sincerity of the fighters when interviewed singularly. It's there for all to see producers so let them get on with it !!!!
7 Reviews
Classic
kenyae-cagle4 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
I enjoyed this movie and documentary within itself and I love hearing from all five of these great fighters! It was amazing to see George Foreman kicking people's butts. It really has showed amazing elements to all of these boxers. It was funny
to see Muhammad Ali's cocky attitude and when he tried to fight and would lose sometimes. He was a great boxer I miss him. This was a very great documentary!
Made me want to be a boxer
wise_guy27 March 2001
This is undoubtedly the best sports video I have seen in my life. It is a documentary that charts the careers of 5 of the greatest boxers ever to enter the ring. Every time I watch this it makes me long for the boxing days of old.
The soundtrack to this documentary is excellent and helps elevate some of the moments from 'good' to 'great'.
What I like best is how fluently the story is told. No matter how many times I watch it I will never get bored. The story starts in the present(relatively) in 1989 when Larry Holmes is knocked out by Tyson at Caesars Palace. After an interview with Holmes, we are taken right back to the beginning as Cassius Clay wins the Olympic gold medal(1960). As expected, Muhammad Ali is the main focus(having been the only one to fight every other boxer present). However I didn't feel that anyone had been left out. Having watched this video I have a new found respect for all of the fighters. Ali has always been outspoken, it is perhaps more interesting to hear what these 'quiet' men have to say about things.
Trying to fit the lives of 5 fighters into one documentary is an extremely difficult job, but it is done superbly here. You get enough history of each fighter to understand how much is at stake, but not so much that it disturbs the pace. Also clips of world events(Vietnam War etc) give a good idea of the decade being dealt with. Each of the fighters are given a chance to speak individually. This makes for some very honest revelations that are completely free of the cliches that blight modern sports. They are also given a chance to talk in groups which makes for some extremely funny exchanges(especially when Norton or Ali are involved).
Surely every video of boxing legends should be entertaining to a boxing fan?
I have watched many other boxing videos that fall far below the standard of this one.
Either they have:
(a)too much boxing and not enough insight. This is entertaining, but after you finish watching you haven't learnt anything you didn't know already.
(b) too much talking and not enough boxing. This just gets very boring. A lot of the time they retread old ground and focus on irrelevant points.
Champions Forever gives you periods of talking followed by periods of boxing. This means you do not get a chance to be bored by one or the other. I feel this video is a must-see for boxing fans and I strongly recommend it to sports fans or anyone else.
The soundtrack to this documentary is excellent and helps elevate some of the moments from 'good' to 'great'.
What I like best is how fluently the story is told. No matter how many times I watch it I will never get bored. The story starts in the present(relatively) in 1989 when Larry Holmes is knocked out by Tyson at Caesars Palace. After an interview with Holmes, we are taken right back to the beginning as Cassius Clay wins the Olympic gold medal(1960). As expected, Muhammad Ali is the main focus(having been the only one to fight every other boxer present). However I didn't feel that anyone had been left out. Having watched this video I have a new found respect for all of the fighters. Ali has always been outspoken, it is perhaps more interesting to hear what these 'quiet' men have to say about things.
Trying to fit the lives of 5 fighters into one documentary is an extremely difficult job, but it is done superbly here. You get enough history of each fighter to understand how much is at stake, but not so much that it disturbs the pace. Also clips of world events(Vietnam War etc) give a good idea of the decade being dealt with. Each of the fighters are given a chance to speak individually. This makes for some very honest revelations that are completely free of the cliches that blight modern sports. They are also given a chance to talk in groups which makes for some extremely funny exchanges(especially when Norton or Ali are involved).
Surely every video of boxing legends should be entertaining to a boxing fan?
I have watched many other boxing videos that fall far below the standard of this one.
Either they have:
(a)too much boxing and not enough insight. This is entertaining, but after you finish watching you haven't learnt anything you didn't know already.
(b) too much talking and not enough boxing. This just gets very boring. A lot of the time they retread old ground and focus on irrelevant points.
Champions Forever gives you periods of talking followed by periods of boxing. This means you do not get a chance to be bored by one or the other. I feel this video is a must-see for boxing fans and I strongly recommend it to sports fans or anyone else.
I watch it at least once a year
richeysj27 November 2011
I watch this DVD at least once a year. The fight clips are great. It is so moving to see the great champions having dinner together. Especially at the very end when Ali & Frazier embrace. During the dinner you get a sense of some lingering animosity from Joe Frazier towards Ali, and Ken Norton at Larry Holmes. But the great champs put aside most of their ill feelings out of respect for each other, and their individual accomplishments. Big George Foreman was about two years into his comeback while this was being filmed, and it shows. Reggie Jackson does such an awesome job as the mediator. If you are even just a casual boxing/sports fan do not miss this amazing documentary.
Five Heavyweight Boxing Champions Fondly Recall Their Days Of Glory In The Ring
StrictlyConfidential30 June 2020
This "Champions Forever" documentary consists of "lost" interviews (that have now been found) with 5 top, American heavyweight boxing champions whose heyday was the 1970s.
In this 2-hour presentation Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, and, yes, of course, Muhammad Ali all shoot the breeze and reflect on the glowing highlights of their boxing careers. Archival footage is provided to back up their stories of glory in the ring.
I think that this documentary is sure to be of interest to a lot of viewers.
In this 2-hour presentation Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, George Foreman, and, yes, of course, Muhammad Ali all shoot the breeze and reflect on the glowing highlights of their boxing careers. Archival footage is provided to back up their stories of glory in the ring.
I think that this documentary is sure to be of interest to a lot of viewers.
This documentary should have one an academy award!
rickblain2012 March 2006
This is one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. Not only for sports fans but for entertainment sake. Both my wife and I enjoyed ourselves in a very unexpected way. It was recommended to us by some friends who said it was brilliant. The director scored it with an original soundtrack and it felt like I was watching a movie.
I think one of the most compelling things about it is how we here the boxers talk about their own experiences and interactions with each other.
The director took us back to the 60's with Ali and all his political and career choices and how it affected some of the best boxers that ever lived.
It is a true must see!
I think one of the most compelling things about it is how we here the boxers talk about their own experiences and interactions with each other.
The director took us back to the 60's with Ali and all his political and career choices and how it affected some of the best boxers that ever lived.
It is a true must see!
The Golden Age of Boxing...
poe-488337 February 2016
The title pretty much says it all: CHAMPIONS FOREVER. THESE were the fighters I grew up watching (which is why I consider theirs The Golden Age of Boxing); they inspired me and taught me a great deal. (I started out using a duffel bag weighted with two cinder blocks wrapped in discarded clothes as a punching bag: I busted my hands up pretty good, but I practiced everything I saw professional fighters doing and eventually took to the streets with two pair of boxing gloves to put my theories to the test. Everything I perfected in that empty garage worked against flesh and blood opponents.) Ali was, of course, my idol (along with Bruce Lee and Charlton Heston) and it was HIS style (and that of the great Jersey Joe Walcott) that I emulated. I remember the feeling of AWE I had as a kid for the sheer Power of George Foreman. Before his bout with Ali, EVERYBODY was convinced that Ali was as good as dead. Foreman could literally lift a full grown man (Joe Frazier, for instance) off his feet with a single blow- and he'd hammered both of the men who'd beaten Ali, Frazier and Norton, into defeat in two rounds each. I was pulling for Ali, but it wasn't until I saw the front page of the sports section of the newspaper the next morning that I was able to smile with relief: the black and white photo showed Ali, both hands on the back of Foreman's neck, holding Foreman bent double beneath a bold headline to the effect that ALI WINS BY 8TH ROUND KNOCKOUT. Higher Drama is hard to imagine- although, as Ali himself put it: "Black men scare White Men more than Black Men scare other Black Men." (It wasn't until just a few years ago that I happened across two interviews that revealed something VERY interesting about Ali's bout with Foreman: in one, Wally Youngblood reveals that he went out to spy on Foreman while he was training for the fight and saw Foreman jog a short distance before turning around and returning to his training camp. So certain of a quick knockout was Foreman that he apparently didn't feel the need to put in the roadwork necessary to go more than a few rounds. In another interview, it was revealed that someone watching Foreman train said that he was "training to fight dirty." THAT would partially explain why Ali fought the way HE did, grappling with Foreman and wrestling him around the ring. And, in the seventh round of their epic battle, Foreman CLEARLY thumbed Ali in the right eye: watch the fight and you'll see Ali recoil, wincing, before quickly covering up. This was no aberration: Foreman indeed had a reputation as a dirty fighter- he hit Jose Roman after he was down and even hit Ali throughout their fight with intentional rabbit punches looped to the back of Ali's head; and he used just about every dirty trick in the book against "The Frightful Five," the five men he fought in one night following his loss to Ali, and against Jimmy Young (driving his elbows down on Young's arms to break clinches, something he was still doing when he lost going away to the late Tommy Morrison). To set the record straight: Ali won almost every single round against Norton in both their second and third fights (see YOUTUBE if you doubt it), although he DID lose to Jimmy Young (who isn't profiled in CHAMPIONS FOREVER, although he beat both Ali AND Ken Norton in Title fights and floored George Foreman en route to a relatively easy win- a win that sent Foreman into retirement). Overall, CHAMPIONS FOREVER is a loving tribute to the fighters I consider the cream of the fistic crop. Their deeds will truly live Forever.
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