Blaustein's respect for his subjects and the sensitivity he applies makes this an involving and even uplifting humanisation of a grotesque form of entertainment.
Comment
01/01/00
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Beyond the Mat (1999)
82 %
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work
Reviews Counted: 65
Fresh: 53
Rotten:12
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Consensus: Even if you aren’t a fan, Beyond the Mat provides a riveting, perceptive look into the world of professional wrestling by taking a closer look at the people beneath the personas.
Runtime: 2 hrs 24 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Filmmaker Barry W. Blaustein takes a look at the professional wrestling game at every level, from the hopeful, perhaps deluded beginners who spend their money on wrestling schools, to the lower levels of the profession, to the pinnacle of... [More]
Starring: Terry Funk, Mick "Mankind" Foley, Jake "The Snake" Roberts, Vince McMahon
Director: Barry W. Blaustein
DVD Info
Reviews for Beyond the Mat
Top Critic Documentaries are almost always more interesting if the filmmakers fess up about their relationship to the subject, as unabashed pro-wrestling fan Barry Blaustein does in this naively made, compelling homage to the sport.
03/23/07
A gently and genuinely observed film whose subject is a garish, artificial display of mayhem.
03/23/07
Top Critic We tour the All-Pro Wrestling School in California and Philadelphia's fearsome Extreme Championships, but it's the studies Blaustein makes of several wrestlers that root the film.
06/24/06
A very good film that both wrestling fans and non-wrestling fans will enjoy.
05/26/06
Barry Blaustein takes a long, hard look at pro wrestling and, while not making me a newborn fan of the sport, he taught me the intensity and sacrifice of those who enter the ring.
04/09/05
Unfortunately Blaustein isn't an experienced enough film-maker to make much of such material.
12/03/02
turns out to be less interested in the cartoonish brutality of pro wrestling than it is with the lives of the people who make their living in the ring.
06/21/02
Blaustein and his film have at least put a human face on those monstrous countenances that snarl out from our television sets on Saturday afternoons.
09/18/01
The real meat of the movie comes in the many intimate moments that Blaustein's camera catches.
03/24/01
If the film succeeds in no other way, it proves that these men are real human beings -- complete with noble aspirations and human failings in equal measure.
02/14/01
Top Critic For the first time in the history of our sport, a filmmaker has finally had the foresight to focus on the very contradictions that make professional wrestlers so damn interesting.
01/01/00
I guarantee you will never watch Smackdown without thinking about what is going on beyond the mat.
01/01/00
Latest News for Beyond the Mat
September 30, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: The Ringer
Interested in seeing a movie in which Johnny Knoxville poses as a handicapped person so he can scam the Special Olympics? Then be sure to check out the all-new trailer for... More...
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The Rock Says
by: The Rock 8/22/00
by: The Rock 8/22/00
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