Directed by:
Leon GastCast:
Muhammad Ali, Don King, B.B. King, Spike Lee, Norman Mailer, Malick Bowens, James Brown, Miriam Makeba, George Plimpton, Joe Frazier (a.f.), Drew Bundini Brown (more)VOD (6)
Plots(1)
In 1974, Leon Gast traveled to Africa to film Zaire 74, a music festival planned to accompany an unprecedented sports spectacle: the Rumble in the Jungle, in which late-career underdog Muhammad Ali would contend with the younger powerhouse George Foreman for the boxing heavyweight championship title—“a fight between two blacks in a black nation, organized by blacks,” as a Kinshasa billboard put it. When the main event was delayed, extending Ali’s stay in Africa, Gast wound up amassing a treasure trove of footage, capturing the wildly charismatic athlete training for one of the toughest bouts of his career while basking in his role as black America’s proud ambassador to postcolonial Africa. Two decades in the making, When We Were Kings features interviews with Norman Mailer and George Plimpton that illustrate the sensational impact of the fight, rounding out an Academy Award–winning portrait of Ali that captures his charm, grace, and defiance. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
![Muhammad Ali](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/280/280894_fde946.jpg)
Muhammad Ali
USA
Best movies:
Solino (2002) - a.f.
Richard Jewell (2019) - a.f.
American Made (2017) - a.f.
![Don King](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/166/928/166928084_cbd0e8.jpg)
Don King
USA
Best movies:
Michael Jackson: HIStory on Film - Volume II (1997) (video compilation)
The Devil's Advocate (1997)
Head Office (1985)
![B.B. King](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/270/270974_a162ab.jpg)
B.B. King
USA
Best movies:
Spies Like Us (1985)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
Heart and Souls (1993)
![Spike Lee](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/269/269661_dc7923.jpg)
Spike Lee
USA
Best movies:
Do the Right Thing (1989)
Mo' Better Blues (1990)
Clockers (1995)
![Norman Mailer](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/273/273140_424389.jpg)
Norman Mailer
USA
Best movies:
Ragtime (1981)
King Lear (1987)
Cremaster 2 (1999)
![Malick Bowens](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/162/074/162074230_227d84.jpg)
Malick Bowens
Best movies:
Out of Africa (1985)
Ali (2001)
Outbreak (1995)
![James Brown](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/276/276070_f49d4b.jpg)
James Brown
USA
Best movies:
Rocky IV (1985)
The Blues Brothers (1980)
Blues Brothers 2000 (1998)
![Miriam Makeba](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/471/158471979_636654.jpg)
Miriam Makeba
South Africa
Best movies:
Sarafina ! (1992)
Amok (1982)
George Plimpton
USA
Best movies:
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
A Nero Wolfe Mystery (2000) (series)
![Joe Frazier](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/768/159768603_b2460d.jpg)
Joe Frazier (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Rocky (1976)
The Hurricane (1999) - a.f.
Just the Ticket (1999)
Drew Bundini Brown
USA
Best movies:
The Color Purple (1985)
Shaft (1971)
Shaft's Big Score! (1972)
Lloyd Price
USA
Mobutu Sese Seko
Congo
Ken Norton (a.f.)
USA
Best movies:
Drum (1976)
Mandingo (1975)
Dirty Work (1998)