When We Were Kings
In 1974, Leon Gast traveled to Africa to film Zaïre 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, observing 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.
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Soul Power, a 2008 documentary about the Zaïre 74 music festival directed by Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte
- New interview with producer David Sonenberg
- Interview from 1997 with director Leon Gast
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Kelefa Sanneh
New cover featuring a photograph by Howard L. Bingham, designed by F. Ron Miller
Special Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, with 5.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Soul Power, a 2008 documentary about the Zaïre 74 music festival directed by Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte
- New interview with producer David Sonenberg
- Interview from 1997 with director Leon Gast
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by critic Kelefa Sanneh
New cover featuring a photograph by Howard L. Bingham, designed by F. Ron Miller
Cast
- Muhammad Ali
- George Foreman
- Don King
- James Brown
- B.B. King
- Mobutu Sese Seko, president of Zaire
- Spike Lee
- Norman Mailer
- George Plimpton
- Thomas Hauser
- Malick Bowens
- Lloyd Price
- The Spinners
- The Crusaders
- Miriam Makeba
Credits
- Director
- Leon Gast
- Produced by
- Leon Gast
- Produced by
- Taylor Hackford
- Produced by
- David Sonenberg
- Coproducer
- Vikram Jayanti
- Coproducer
- Keith Robinson
- Cinematography by
- Maryse Alberti
- Cinematography by
- Paul Goldsmith
- Cinematography by
- Kevin Keating
- Cinematography by
- Albert Maysles
- Cinematography by
- Roderick Young
- Editor
- Leon Gast
- Editor
- Taylor Hackford
- Editor
- Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte
- Editor
- Keith Robinson
Trailer for When We Were Kings
