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30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Excellently Executed Documentary, November 26, 2001
This review is from: Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Bret "Hitman" Hart has been my favorite wrestler ever since I first watched this documentary on A&E a few years ago. He had always been a great wrestler, but after having watched this riveting tale of Hart's association with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1996-97, he became my hero. Bret Hart's tale in this video is both happy and sad. In the beginning moments of the film, we see a light-hearted and very accomodating Hitman talking about his family and how he started in wrestling. He talks about growing up a Hart, and how life at the house was not always so wonderful. For the first 20-30 minutes, this film shows us the happier side of Bret Hart. And that's when things get interesting. World Championship Wrestling (WCW) made Hart an incredible offer that he almost couldn't refuse. But, as a man of integrity and moral values, he inititally declined the WCW's offer out of loyalty to Vince McMahon, the owner of the WWF. Instead of taking a three-year contract worth $9 million from the WCW, he signed a 20-year contract for significantly less with the WWF. Bret Hart's topsy-turvy road in 1997 is a captivating one to travel on for the audience. Anyone who knows wrestling knows the name Bret Hart and what has happened with him throughout his career. This documentary, so beautifully done by director Paul Jay, gives you the dirt on what Hart's life was like back when wrestling was just starting to come into its more adult nature. This film gives you the entire scoop on why Bret Hart was turned heel (turned into a bad guy). This film shows you exactly what happened at the now infamous 1997 Survivor Series, which forever changed the direction of WWF programming. You will see it all as the happy and appreciative Bret Hart from the first 20-30 minutes is slowly chipped away until a depressed and demoralized Bret Hart is left in the wake of what the WWF and Vince McMahon did to him. After the film, there is a special interview with Bret Hart and director Paul Jay that takes place 18 months later following the double-cross at the 1997 Survivor Series. Bret Hart goes on to tell what life has been like since his departure from the WWF and how things in his life have drastically changed. One shock, for example, is his admittance of his divorce. This comes as such a surprise since we see him and his wife sticking so closely together in the film. In short, this is one of the best wrestling documentaries out there. They don't get any more real than this, and any wrestling fan will find Bret Hart's real-life battle with Vince McMahon intriguing. On a personal note, Bret Hart, in my mind, will always be the Excellence of Execution. He will always be "The Best There Is, The Best There Was, and The Best There Ever Will Be." He deserved to have a grand exit from professional wrestling. It's just too bad that neither the WWF nor the WCW had the decency to give him one.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Documentary I Have Seen, February 18, 2001
This review is from: Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This movie is not only the best wrestling documentary I have ever seen, but probably the best documentary on any subject that I have viewed. It is a real and truthful depiction of former five-time World Wrestling Federation World Champion, Bret `Hitman' Hart, as he was betrayed by fellow wrestlers and his boss, Vince McMahon. Bret Hart talks about growing up in Calgary, Alberta in a wrestling family. In the process he suffered verbal abuse from classmates and physical abuse from his father, wrestling legend Stu Hart (Order of Canada, 2001). By the time Bret Hart hit the age of forty he worked his way up the wrestling ladder, to the point where he replaced Hulk Hogan as the WWF's top star. Though the Federation's biggest name in the 1990s, Hart is forced to leave, and then double-crossed in his final match in order to ruin his name in the wrestling business. Essentially, on 9 November 1997 in Montreal Bret was promised that he would be allowed to leave the WWF on his own terms, but that was a lie by WWF management. In a match with Shawn Michaels, Hart is embarrassed with an abrupt end to the match as Michaels had Bret in his trademark submission move, the `sharp shooter'. The match ends instantly with Bret Hart, a Canadian hero, being 'cut down' in his own nation. The picture reaches it's climax with Bret Hart punching-out WWF owner and CEO, Vincent McMahon behind closed doors. Wrestling With Shadows accounts for the fall of Bret Hart in the WWF. It is a sad story of his final days in the very company he helped save, and sacrificed for. Such sacrifice included turning down millions of dollars from World Championship Wrestling, working injured and being subject to slander from WWF creative control (Bret Hart was portrayed as anti-American and a racist). I recommend this movie, and hope you enjoy it.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most important work on pro wrestling in the 1990s, January 10, 2000
This review is from: Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The most important work on pro wrestling in the 1990s. With Beyond the Mat going into wide-scale release sometime in 2000, Wrestling with Shadows can easily be named the most importance work about wrestling of the 1990s. This excellent documentary follows wrestler Bret "Hitman" Hart during his last few months within the WWF, his home for fifteen years, and the blurry line between real and fictional heroism. The great strength of Paul Jay's documentary is its ability to legitimize wrestling as a real art form, while at the same time exposing its culture of sleaze and manipulation. A must see for anyone who wants to know more about wrestling.
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