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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great to See Everyone Again, April 18, 2006
This review is from: Forever Hardcore: Director's Cut (DVD)
This documentary had the "real" stars of ECW in candid form. I thought it was as good as "Rise and Fall of ECW" and better at times. While I got the DVD to hear some of the inside scoop on ECW, I think I heard a little more than I really wanted at times. New Jack explaining the Mass Transit Incident and the Vic Grimes Fall, and the Florida incident was disturbing and sick.
It was also strange that Paul Heyman was given less credit in this DVD than "Rise and Fall". This might be partially due to the fact that the wrestlers on Rise and Fall actually went on to bigger and better things and probably have less of an axe to grind than the others.
The highlights of the DVD were seeing Francine again (She looks great), hearing Sabu talk for the first time (he's actually a cool guy), and hearing Tod Gordon, Joey Styles, and Shane Douglas give their take on ECW and the landmark incidents that took place.
The downside was probably hearing about the disputes and gripes people had with Paul and at times each other. But even when they didn't like someone, they always gave some credit to most everyone who was apart of the company.
I wish there were more wrestling documentaries. There is tons of footage on these two DVDs and enough to keep any ECW fan happy. I only wish there was a Forever Hardcore II with even more footage. I could watch this stuff all day. Take the gritty, raw information from this DVD and mix it with the sugar-coated WWE version and you probably come out with a middle ground of how things really went down.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Almost perfect look back at "The Extreme"..., June 22, 2006
This review is from: Forever Hardcore: Director's Cut (DVD)
I liked the gritty feel of this documentary. The stars presented their stories and recollections with a great deal of honesty and color. Tod Gordon and Joey Styles were particularly vivid in what they said, especially when it comes to discussing the competition ECW had. I wonder if Joey regreats being so forthright now that he works for the WWE.
There were a few negative points, however, namely the small amount of matches and clips and the fact Paul Heyman was not involved with the project. I understand Paul E. has been under contract with the WWE for a number of years now and I'm sure that prevented him from signing on to do this, but a DVD about the HISTORY of Extreme Championship Wrestling SHOULD feature some sort of involvement from the guy who ran the company.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
THE BEST NON-WWE DOCUMENTRY I'VE SEEN, January 8, 2006
This review is from: Forever Hardcore: Director's Cut (DVD)
Just to get this out the way...the version Jim Bryan is talking about is the first draft of the Forever Hardcore DVD that came out months before the directors cut did. The directors cut has additional interviews, footage, chapters and bonus features but it doesn't have the Chris Candido tribute/blooper. If your looking for that Candido feature, check out the TNA Lockdown DVD cause it's in the Candido tribute section on that DVD.
This is the best non-WWE wrestling documentry I've ever have or probably will see. This DVD basically "fills in the gaps" for those hardcore ECW fans that the WWE DVD left. Unlike how the "Rise & Fall" DVD showed some bias towards WWE & their current roster (at the time) at the expence of those who did more for ECW (ala Shane Douglas & Tod Gordon), you hear stories from the icons of ECW that aren't under a WWE contract (at the time) so you get all the stories raw & uncut. Also they have opinions from those who were in WWE/WCW behind the scenes & wrestling historians. There are some handicaps here as they can't use any ECW copywrites (mainly footage) and can only use fan photos & footage from the Hardcore Homecoming event & the old XPW wrestling federation to get certain points across. Basically, it's alot of interviews cut together for different segments but the stories & profiles on wrestlers come across great.
On WWE's DVD, certain stories were told but you didn't hear from alot of major players involved in the angles & behind the scenes...those gaps are filled in on this DVD. Todd Gordon talks about how Eastern Championship Wrestling got started; Shane Douglas tells what was his motivation behind throwing the NWA belt down; Sandman & Raven defend their crifixation angle that involved Kurt Angle & how Shane Douglas was involved; you hear from all three participants from "The Night The Line Was Crossed" 3 way dance; Konnan tells his involvement of bring the lucha libre stars; New Jack's take on the Mass Transit incident; Todd Gordon explains the whole "mole story".
Just like on the WWE DVD, you get profiles & opinions on characters of ECW as alot of them are highly praised (Funk; Douglas; Styles) while others had varied opinions (Taz; RVD). There's also stories that WWE didn't tell on their DVD that get told here like the angle where Shane Douglas broke Pitbull #2's neck that result in fans attacking him; the hardcore fued between Axl & Ian Rotten; the incident where Terry Funk was caught on fire by Cactus Jack; the story behind the falling out of Francine & Shane Douglas; New Jack & Vic Grimes balcony fall that almost ended their lives; the story of the "Born To Be Wired" match between Funk & Sabu; the true story behind why WWE hired Public Enemy only to fire them later; and how former WWE writer Terry Taylor talks about how he openily stole ECW ideas for WWE storylines (which Vince denied on the WWE DVD).
The bonus disc includes more interviews & outtakes. You'll hear Terry Funk talk about the end of ECW; Sabu, Raven and Sandman talk about their times in WCW & why they left ECW; Shane Douglas talks about why he left ECW & the incident involving Scott Hall being thrown out of the ECW area; Joey Styles does name association with those involved with ECW; New Jack tells about his latest court case in Flordia; Kid Kash tells the story of how he broke his jaw but still wrestled on PPV the next day; Simond Diamond & Sinister Minister talk about the orgins of their characters; and Jerry Lynn talks about his past as a breakdancer?
You also get bonus matches from XPW such as Sabu vs. Terry Funk; Shane Douglas vs. Chris Candido (different than the one on Hardcore Homecoming); New Jack vs. Vic Grimes (not the Freefall scaffold match); Jerry Lynn vs. Chris Hamrick; Sandman in a brawl against Konnan, Psichosis, and MMW. Hidden extras are two bonus matches between Chris Chetti vs. Chris Hamrick; Sabu vs. Kronis; and a tour of the newely remodeled ECW arena.
Again, if your a hardcore ECW fan or just want the raw & uncut truth on some issues...this DVD is for you. If your just starting to get into ECW or just want to look at some classic ECW footage, get the WWE's DVD first.
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