Customer Reviews

WWF: Andre the Giant - Larger Than Life [VHS]

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This is from the Biography Channel. It is a 45 minute tape of the life of Andre the Giant. For those of us that loved wrestling for many years there will only be one giant and that is Andre. Very well done documentary.

Overall, WWF - Andre the Giant: Larger Than Life is a great tape. It brings back memories if you are an old school wrestling fan, and is something that the new wave fans must see as well.

I was an old-school wrestling fan, growing up watching the old Gran Prix promotion shows in the early 70's, and Andre, then known as Jean Ferre, was one of the top attractions, battling the likes of Killer Kowalski, Prof. Tanaka, Don Leo Jonathan and the like.

Andre indeed was the biggest star of his generation, and not just physically. He was listed as highest paid for many years in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The A&E Biography did an exceptional job of researching Andre's life and times, with plenty of footage of his hometown, Molien, France, and interviews with his brother and close friends.

The recollections of former wrestlers such as Rene Goulet and Fred Blassie (who later managed a young Hulk Hogan) also lend a good deal to Andre, the person as well as the wrestler.

I especially liked seeing the old footage of Andre, and the show also tracked his decline from the affliction he faced. He handled it apparently with grace and without complaint.

How does a 7-4, 500 pound man get about? Not easy. The things we take for granted were hard for him, such as getting on a plane, getting a hotel room, etc. The loneliness of being on the road so much also weighed on Andre, as noted.

The best part of it all were the comments and insights delivered by Andre's closest friend and ranch manager. He give an honest and heartfelt confirmation that what Andre appeared to be was for real.

Andre was in sum a great performer, a hero to a lot of people, and this story tells it well.

The wwf really knows what they're doing when it comes to home videos. This truly proves it. Whether you're a wwf fan or not you'll love this.

Andre the Giant Larger than Life isn't a wrestling tape, it's a documentary that was that originally shown on A&E. So if you are looking for a wrestling tape this one isn't for you as there are no matches or even reasonably long clips of matches on this tape. It is also only 45 minutes long. The tape is mainly interviews from Andre's friends such as Tim White (wwf ref) and Andre's brother. The narrator was a poor selection (obviously not a wrestling fan)for he had a slightly condescending and patronizing tone that I'm sure most of you are as sick of as I am from non-wrestling fans when they discuss sports-entertainment.