Hitman Hart: Wrestling with Shadows (1998) (TV)

Director:

Paul Jay

Writer:

Paul Jay (writer)

Release Date:

20 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Sport

Tagline:

The story of a man who believes in heroes, in a world where the anti-hero is king.

Plot:

Documentary focusing on the career of pro wrestler Bret Hart & his controversial exit from the WWF.

Plot Keywords:

Wrestling | Wrestler | World Wrestling Federation | Family Relationships | Gym

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bret Hart	...	Himself
Owen Hart	...	Himself
Brian Pillman	...	Himself
Blade Hart	...	Himself (Bret's Son)
Julie Hart	...	Herself
Stu Hart	...	Himself
Helen Hart	...	Herself
Diana Hart
Keith Hart	...	Himself
Tammy Sytch	...	Sunny
Jim Neidhart	...	Himself
Georgia Hart	...	Herself
Mark Calaway	...	The Undertaker
Curt Hennig	...	Himself (archive footage)
Vince McMahon	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Movie Connections:

Features WWF WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (1995) (VG)

Argh! What kind of wrestling fan am I?

It's hard to believe that it took me like, forever, to finally get to see 'Bret Hart: Wrestling With Shadows", since I consider myself to be quite a wrestling fan, AND I was born in Calgary and watched Stampede Wrestling religiously (and went to a lot of their matches!). So I know a lot of the Hart family's history. This is of course, THE definitive documentation of went down during the Survivor Series incident in Montreal. It's sort of fun watching the whole thing develop, and sort of makes me wonder if the whole thing was a whole elaborate set-up, since of course, the documentary cameras were there to catch it all. It probably wasn't, so this is a classic piece of wrestling history caught on tape. This just doesn't cover that moment though, as it focuses on the latter part of Bret's WWF days, while providing a fascinating romp through the Hart family history. Stu Hart of course, even though he was quite cordial to everyone (me included (thanks, Stu, for letting me take pictures for my college course of some Stampede Wrestling!) he still was a borderline sadist for what he did to people in his dungeon. Of course, the REALLY sad thing about this is that this ends at precisely a ridiculous tumultuous downward spiral for the family. What with Bret's marriage falling apart, Owen's death, followed by Bret getting thumped on the head by Goldberg,, which led to his stroke..followed THAT by the death of Helen and ultimately Stu. So this is a bit of a sad film to watch if you follow wrestling. But even if you don't, this is still quite entertaining.