As usual folks this is a spoiler free zone so feel free to chime in whatever your thoughts may be.
Tyson (James Toback - 2008)
I'm torn here. I watched "Iron" Mike Tyson's rise and fall live on my television for many years. He was the most explosive and devastating fighter I have ever seen, and before Ruffy takes this thread over telling me about all of the other supposedly "best evers" let me just say that I think Tyson in his prime (at about 20 years young) would have beat them all. Badly. He was that good. To me. Of course that is what debates are all about so let it begin anew eh Ruffster?
Now, on to the movie. I liked a lot of it. I was somewhat surprised by how well spoken Mike was. I found it somewhat disarming in a way. I went into this thing not really knowing anything about it. I had no idea that this was basically him talking for almost 90 minutes.
I really thought it was pretty interesting that he basically told us his whole formula for his success just a few minutes into the film when he said that he had a breathing problem, always has apparently and he also really didn't like to fight which is why he tried so hard to end his fights quickly. Something that he was quite successful at I might add. He didn't touch on this but I will. Of his first 28 fights he won 26 of them by knockout. 16 of those were in the first round. He was also the only man to ever unify all three of the titles and carry all three belts at the same time. Impressive in any fashion.
Obviously if this doc were just about his life in the ring it would be fairly uninteresting because what everyone really wants to know is: "Just how f*cking crazy is this guy anyway?"
I found that answer to be basically that he isn't any more crazier than most of the rest of us. Or perhaps, (as the cynic inside me pops in here) the majority of this soft spoken narrative is all an act. It's certainly feasible. He said several times all throughout how comfortable having money made him feel so its likely that this is in fact just another grab for some cash. If so, though, I would argue that he probably would have sold more DVD's if he spent most of his time ranting like the lunatic a lot of folks think he is. Maybe, maybe not.
Anyway, what did you think of him? Did you believe his sincerity? I admit, I did. Maybe that makes me a sucker. I don't know. I still want to believe that he didn't rape that woman that sent him to prison too and effectively ended a career that really, was barely just getting going. But, it's too late for all of that and his life has gone on and I think I believe him when he says all he really cares about now is his children. Do you?
I found several other things interesting but I'm not trying to write a novel here so I'll just go ahead and throw this open and chime in later.
DING!!! DING!!!
Tyson (James Toback - 2008)
I'm torn here. I watched "Iron" Mike Tyson's rise and fall live on my television for many years. He was the most explosive and devastating fighter I have ever seen, and before Ruffy takes this thread over telling me about all of the other supposedly "best evers" let me just say that I think Tyson in his prime (at about 20 years young) would have beat them all. Badly. He was that good. To me. Of course that is what debates are all about so let it begin anew eh Ruffster?
Now, on to the movie. I liked a lot of it. I was somewhat surprised by how well spoken Mike was. I found it somewhat disarming in a way. I went into this thing not really knowing anything about it. I had no idea that this was basically him talking for almost 90 minutes.
I really thought it was pretty interesting that he basically told us his whole formula for his success just a few minutes into the film when he said that he had a breathing problem, always has apparently and he also really didn't like to fight which is why he tried so hard to end his fights quickly. Something that he was quite successful at I might add. He didn't touch on this but I will. Of his first 28 fights he won 26 of them by knockout. 16 of those were in the first round. He was also the only man to ever unify all three of the titles and carry all three belts at the same time. Impressive in any fashion.
Obviously if this doc were just about his life in the ring it would be fairly uninteresting because what everyone really wants to know is: "Just how f*cking crazy is this guy anyway?"
I found that answer to be basically that he isn't any more crazier than most of the rest of us. Or perhaps, (as the cynic inside me pops in here) the majority of this soft spoken narrative is all an act. It's certainly feasible. He said several times all throughout how comfortable having money made him feel so its likely that this is in fact just another grab for some cash. If so, though, I would argue that he probably would have sold more DVD's if he spent most of his time ranting like the lunatic a lot of folks think he is. Maybe, maybe not.
Anyway, what did you think of him? Did you believe his sincerity? I admit, I did. Maybe that makes me a sucker. I don't know. I still want to believe that he didn't rape that woman that sent him to prison too and effectively ended a career that really, was barely just getting going. But, it's too late for all of that and his life has gone on and I think I believe him when he says all he really cares about now is his children. Do you?
I found several other things interesting but I'm not trying to write a novel here so I'll just go ahead and throw this open and chime in later.
DING!!! DING!!!
__________________
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...
We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...
Last edited by Powdered Water; 08-13-09 at 08:26 PM.