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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writer:
Barry W. Blaustein (narrative written by)
Release Date:
17 March 2000 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The movie Vince McMahon does not want you to see! more
Plot:
Heartfelt documentry focusing on the lives of professional wrestlers and how their sport is not fake. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
3 wins & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
"The Wrestler" review. The greatest movie ever made about pro wrestling.
(From Movie Jungle. 13 January 2009, 12:04 PM, PST)
Ron Howard Verbally Wrestles With Vince McMahon
(From Studio Briefing - Film News. 20 March 2000)
User Comments:
Normal but different more (79 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Barry W. Blaustein | ... | Himself - Narrator | |
| Vince McMahon | ... | Himself | |
| Jim Ross | ... | Himself - Sr. VP of Talent | |
| Jim Bell | ... | Himself - Sr. VP of Merchandising | |
| Darren Drozdov | ... | Himself | |
| Roland Alexander | ... | Himself | |
| Tony Jones | ... | Himself - XPW wrestler | |
| Michael Modest | ... | Himself | |
| Terry Funk | ... | Himself | |
| Mick Foley | ... | Himself | |
| Danny Zucker | ... | Himself - Childhood Friend | |
| Dave Meltzer | ... | Himself - Journalist | |
| Jake Roberts | ... | Himself | |
| Ed Beckley | ... | Himself - Promoter | |
| Chyna | ... | Herself |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
Beyond the Mat: Unrated Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)
more
MPAA:
Rated R for language and violent content.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
102 min | USA:108 min (director's cut)
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) (director's cut) | USA:R (No. 37049) | Australia:M | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Singapore:R(A) | UK:15 | USA:Unrated (director's cut)
Filming Locations:
APW Garage - 21063 Cabot Boulevard, Hayward, California, USA more
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Since the release of the film, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) lost a lawsuit to the World Wildlife Fund and was forced to change their name from WWF to World Wrestling Entertainment. more
Quotes:
Vince McMahon: Oh my, God! He's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna puke! He's gonna puke! He's gonna puke! He's gonna puke! more
Movie Connections:
Features Royal Rumble (1999) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Lost Between Las Vegas & Mars more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (79 total)
Message Boards
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Related Links
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Love them or leave them - misfit politicians, wayward spouses, and yes, professional wrestlers. Perhaps no other spectacle involves personalities as much as professional wrestling and Barry Blaustein's insightful "Beyond the Mat' explores those who thrill us with their lust for mayhem. Men and women with self destructive appetites are drawn into this entertainment venue - those who make a profit like the billionaire promoter Vince McMahon are called smart and shrewd, those who are swallowed up by their maladaptive behavior like the pathetic Jake'the Snake' Roberts are simply called mad. "Beyond the Mat" doesn't uncover anything we don't already know - the loud-mouth, hyped interviews, the staged choreography of flying bodies and colliding men against steel, and the spurting blood sacrificed in the name of violence. What we do see are the showmen who strut their stuff inside the ring, more dedicated to their brotherhood and craft than you can imagine. The battle wearied Terry Funk is a throwback to the self-managed, up-close-and-personal hero that Blaustein and a good number of his generation grew up with. The much younger Mick 'Mankind' Foley is a creation of the media driven World Wrestling Federation, a syndication leap years away from the Amarillo, Texas of Terry Funk. The deeply hurting Jake the Snake has fought so many battles in his long and troubled life that his only solace is crack cocaine and fighting in the ring. But the blood that Funk and Mick and Jake spill is the same blood of wanton brutality. It is the spectacle of harm and harming others. And yet in a cruel and twisted way, "Beyond the Mat" reminds us that wrestlers are as normal as anyone, just different. 'Mankind' and 'The Rock' can talk pleasantries before a match, before each tries to pulverize the other in front of their stunned wives and children. Terry Funk, as a gesture of forgiveness, repeatedly begs an old nemesis to referee his supposedly final match - a match in which he knows he will lose and will get brains bashed in. "Beyond the Mat' is a well made chronicle of wrestlers who care less if they win or lose (the promoters see to that) but more on how they play the game.