Tyson (2008)

A mixture of original interviews, archival footage, and photographs sheds light on the life experiences of Mike Tyson.

Director:

James Toback

Writer:

James Toback

Stars:

Mike Tyson, Mills Lane, Trevor Berbick

1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mills Lane	...	Himself (archive footage)
Mike Tyson	...	Himself
Trevor Berbick	...	Himself (archive footage)
Cus D'Amato	...	Himself (archive footage)
William Cayton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jim Jacobs	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joe Louis	...	Himself (archive footage)
Max Schmeling	...	Himself (archive footage)
Jack Dempsey	...	Himself (archive footage)
Gene Tunney	...	Himself (archive footage)
Rocky Marciano	...	Himself (archive footage)
Muhammad Ali	...	Himself (archive footage)
Carl Williams	...	Himself (archive footage)
Larry Holmes	...	Himself (archive footage)
Tyrell Biggs	...	Himself (archive footage)

Storyline

Mike Tyson narrates his life story as a reaction to fear and as a resolution not to be bullied or humiliated as he was when a boy in Brooklyn's mean streets. He starts boxing while at a state detention center; his coach there sends him to Cus D'Amato who becomes trainer, father figure, and confidence builder. Tyson wins a series of championships and, for six years, is unbeatable. A failed marriage, a felony conviction, and lack of training lead to his fall. We see later losing fights and archive footage of other incidents in his life. Tyson concludes by speaking philosophically about being a father and trying to be a better person.

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Plot Keywords:

boxing | reference to mike tyson | boxing champion | professional sports | retrospective | 

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Taglines:

The man. The legend. The truth.

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA France

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 May 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tyson: The Movie

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$85,046, 26 April 2009

Gross USA:

$887,918

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$964,920

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fyodor Productions, Defiance Entertainment, Green Room Films

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

To gage what effect "Tyson" would have on audiences, James Toback asked the opinions of the film's opposite demographic: older white women who were disinterested in boxing. He asked that they come to his editing suite and watch the film. If they left after 5 minutes, Toback would give them $100 USD. If they stayed after 5 minutes, they would have to stay for the whole picture - and give Toback extensive feedback on the film. According to Toback, not one woman left after 5 minutes, and many were in tears by the film's finale.

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Quotes

Mike Tyson: My first manager Bill Caton and those guys, they were like slave masters basically. Cause I was just a young kid 18 years old, 17 years old, too young to sign a contract with those guys, but I signed a contract, Cus died, I signed a contract with these guys, and they took what, a third of what I had. Eventually I got rid of them, and then I got caught up with this other piece of shit, Don King, who's a reeched, just a reached slimy reptilian mother fucker, right. This is suppose to be my ...

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Connections

Featured in Boxing at the Movies: Kings of the Ring (2013)

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Soundtracks

Legendary
Written by NaS
Performed by NaS

User Reviews

A great Doc. from a great fighter.

Mike Tyson, probably the greatest heavy weight to ever walk the earth during a short span of 2 to 3 years. Why do you think all the other great heavyweights waited until he was well aged before they fought him. No other fighter ever exuded such skilled ferocity, not even Foreman.

Around the same time as Tyson's rape trial was William Kennedy's rape trial. I remember saying to a friend of mine after both trials were over that I bet William Kennedy was guilty and Tyson was not. I assume Tyson had his way with her and then discarded her and when she realized what his intentions were, she did it to save face and get back at him.

Now look, Tyson himself, says he took advantage of many woman but not her and you know, I actually believe him. Just a gut feeling I guess. Maybe I am wrong but its how I see it. Tyson was no saint by a long way and he admittedly confessed to committing many many felonies.

I actually find myself defending him for some reason.

Now that I said my points. This was an extremely intriguing documentary. From the heart and apparently truthful account of Mike Tyson. I never realized how well read Mike is. He has an excellent grasp of the English language and I only noted one or two bad English comments "That weren't intended".

He is very charismatic and intelligent. He gives very astute and detailed re-tellings of his life.

I was very much interested throughout.