Customer Reviews

The Great White Hype

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was one of the 3 or so people who actually saw this film in the theatre and I enjoy it more every time I see it. It's an excellent, funny, satirical look into the world of professional boxing where athletes, who risk their physical health and financial future, are treated like commodities for the gain of promoters, who risk nothing and always get the big payoff. The flamboyant promoter (Samuel L. Jackson) deftly uses white America's obsession/anger with African-American dominance in sports to produce a payday as the media plays a willing pawn in the game. All of the performances in this movie are excellent but Peter Berg deserves a special mention.

I can't understand Leonard Maltin's lack of enthusiasm for this movie, which features what may be the best work yet from Samuel Jackson and Jeff Goldblum. The writers, obviously inspired by the Tyson-McNeeley fight, offer us the anti-Rocky, the story of a nobody pitted against the world boxing champion, and the crafty promoter who tries to con the public into believing the outcome is in doubt and buying tickets to see them fight. This film did badly at the box office and caught me a little off guard the first time I saw it because it is so completely cynical, every character is a fraud. But once you realize there are no heroes in this story and accept that it is hilarious. Every time I see it the film gets funnier. The writers might want to do a sequel about women boxers. As women's boxing websites and newspaper coverage make clear, in women's boxing horrible mismatches in which an unprepared gal is fed to an experienced pro in the ring just to fill a fight card are commonplace and a continuing scandal.

The amazon.com review for this film includes the line "While sharp and funny, it's never quite clear what the point of it all is." If this is all a GREAT WHITE HYPE viewer gets out of this movie, i'm afraid he/she just wasn't paying attention. While providing a nice satirical look at egomaniacal athletes and hustling boxing promoters (Sam Jackson is as brilliantly watchable as always here) throughout, the movie is all about how hype can make a non-event an event and the film's last ten minutes is the key. What, you were expecting a ROCKY denouement? In the end, this movie shows how sports fans -- and the entertainment-junkie public in general -- can be manipulated by loudness and money. Combined with Shelton's ever-sharp and fearless takes on America's racial tension (also see the brilliant WHITE MEN CAN'T JUMP), THE GREAT WHITE HYPE is well worth a watch. And a think thereafter.

This is an odd movie. One of the qualities it shares with other motion pictures is that its parts don't add up to a great whole. However, what I find odd is that the parts are without question hilarious. There are many scenes in this film that simply do not support any other part of the movie. None the less, they had me laughing so hard that my ribs were hurting.

The movie tries to parody the sport of boxing and in particular the careers of ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and boxing promoter Don King. The mockery of the two aforementioned larger than life personalities is readily apparent so it doesn't require much explanation if any. Earlier I used the word "tries" in its attempt to lampoon boxing. It's ironic that the sport of boxing as it stands is so cartoonish, attempts to "send-up" the game pretty much fail. If you're a fan of boxing and you watch this movie, you'll know exactly what I mean. A few examples of failed ribbing include the governing body in the movie (the WBI) giving a fighter with NO PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE a number one ranking so that a title fight can be sanctioned, the worthy challenger being ducked in this movie (Marvin Shabazz) coming to a press conference and getting knocked out by the fighter with no experience and last but not least, a gun-toting manager in the ring after a prize fight has concluded. Every follower of the sport knows that these events are mild compared to what actually happens in the real life sport. Cases in point, real life boxing one ups the number one ranked fighter with no professional experience in that there's a well known case of a dead boxer consistently moving up the ranks for 2 years after his death. Real life boxing (and I should point out that the "real life" designation is used loosely) trumps the previously mentioned press conference knock-out by scores of press conference brawls. Finally, the gun-toting manager in the ring after the fight ends? Real life boxing has some of the wildest scenarios occuring before, during and after a fight has taken place. There are simply too many to mention but there have been brawls where managers use cell phones during attacks on the opposition causing full scale riots (Riddick Bowe vs. Andrew Golota II) and a fighter who lost becoming so enraged that he sucker punches the winner with his gloves off after the verdict has been read, gets arrested in the ring, is convicted and sent to jail(Richard Grant vs. James Butler). I won't even mention "fan man" (Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield II). As you can see, boxing cartoons itself.

With that being said, the movie is still funny without adding up to much at all.

I've noticed that the only people who love this movie as much as I do are boxing fans. If you're a boxing fan then you're going to get all the little inside jokes about the sport that boxing fans can't miss. I think the movie more of a spoof on the Holmes-Cooney fight in 1982 than anything else. Yes the jokes are racial, but boxing is a racist sport. Not that anybody is discriminated against but boxing fans tend to support their own and this movie pokes fun at that. Lighten up people and enjoy the laughs

Okay the DVD itself isn't so great with only minimal features but why I give this 4 stars is because I waited FOREVER for this thing to finally be released. It is one of my all-time favorite comedies and I laugh so much everytime I see it. It is about time that this was finally released and I say it rules!

When the champ's promoter, Rev. Sultan, decides something new is needed to boost the marketability of the boxing matches, he searches and finds the only man to ever beat the champ. The problem is that he isn't a boxer anymore and he's white. However, once Rev. Sultan convinces him to fight, he goes into heavy training while the confident champ takes it easy and falls out of shape. A very funny movie that also has a rather keen insight into the current state of boxing. Even if you are not a boxing fan, you will enjoy this movie. Very funny movie and great acting performances.

"The Great White Hype" is a satire all about boxing, with Samuel L. Jackson as the flamboyant,devious promoter. All cares about his $$$$,no matter how he gets it. He finds an alcoholic boxer who'd rather rock&"raise awareness about the homeless situation",tries to make him a champ, and promotes him as an Irishman (though he isn't)

To its credit, "The Great White Hype" is often done in the style of a mockumentary,and there's good acting. It mocks political correctness. The "Irish" boxer,Robert Conklin,refuses to wear white gloves... because it would be racist! The "champion" (Damon Wayans) watches the blaxploitation movie "Dolemite" before the pivotal fight. "Great White Hype" is more about celebrity cameos (Cheech Marin, Jeff Goldblum, Corbin Bernsen, Jamie Foxx, Jonathan Rhys-Davies) than a script with any substance. It's more of a "name that famous face" than follow the story.

"Great White Hype" attempts to be cutting satire-but it ends up dull.

Make that 4 people who saw it in the theatre. This is just one of those movies that somehow got passed over. I've worn out my VHS copy. I've seen thousands of movies once. I've seen this movie more times than I can count. Scenes and dialog from "THE GREAT WHITE HYPE" have become part of my comedy repetoire...that nobody ever gets...

Ha, ha, thinking about some of the scenes and characters in this movie always makes me laugh. I've seen it at least a dozen times and this past time I must have cried laughing. It keeps getting funnier. I read a whole lot of people trying to make sense of the movie and the point is, it's useless to try to make sense of something that's loosely based on some famous and other generalized personalities in the field of entertainment. It pokes fun at how easily we buy into a notion based on race or fame or for no better reason than it's popular. The entire movie makes sense, it flows and almost EVERY scene has something that I just have to see. After watching it again, I think the only character who tried to be sincere was Conklin and he wasn't very bright. However, even with the all-star cast (for the most part) it amazes me that I can show the movie to friends and family and some just don't get it. I get it and it's funny as he**!