Beyond the Mat (1999)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Barry W. Blaustein

Writer:

Barry W. Blaustein (narrative written by)

Release Date:

17 March 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography | Sport

Tagline:

The movie Vince McMahon does not want you to see!

Plot:

Heartfelt documentry focusing on the lives of professional wrestlers and how their sport is not fake.

Plot Keywords:

Wrestling | Championship | Backstage | Drugs | Chair

Awards:

3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Beyond the Mat: Unrated Director's Cut (USA) (director's cut)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and violent content.

Runtime:

102 min | USA:108 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

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

Company:

Universal Family and Home Entertainment

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.

Quotes:

Jake Roberts: Put me on the card. Let me bring some asses to the seats. Pay me. I don't care if I'm the champ. I don't care if I'm the water boy. Just let me be part of the show, and I'll do my share.

Movie Connections:

Features "WWF Raw Is War" (1997)

Soundtrack:

I'll Be Seeing You

Finally a movie about wrestling that doesn't insult my intelligence

I've seen this movie a few times and as a wrestling fan for over 20 years I was glad to see a movie that showed a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes. Blaustien does an amazing job and it was no surprise that it was seriously being considered for an Academy Award nomination (sadly it never ended up being actually nominated).

Wrestling fans have had to defend their love of the art of pro wrestling for many years. When the topic would come up that I am a wrestling fan I would be faced with the same idiotic question, with a tone of disbelief in their voice, "You know it's fake, right?". My response has always been to follow that question with "And what is your favourite TV show?" I usually get an answer like "Friends" or something similar and I then mockingly explain to them that Rachel and Ross never dated and Monica and Chandler are not really married and that that isn't even their real names. Soon they began to see the stupidity of their proclaiming that wrestling is fake. Whew, sorry, kind of went on a rant there.

Blaustien's film allows non wrestling fans to see exactly how "fake" wrestling can be. The blood, sweat and hard work that these athletes and their families endure is vividly shown. We finally see a human side of the often larger than life characters that these men and women of the squared circle portray.

One thing that I found very profound was the drab, dark and gloomy colours Blaustein used in segments showing that human side as opposed to the colourfulness of the slick production of the athletes performing. We go from the glamorous pyro and bright lights of a live Pay per View event to shots of the wrestlers in their concrete, black and white, dirty and sweaty dressing rooms. I don't know if the director did this on purpose but I thought it was quite effective.

Bottom line this movie is a must for any fan of wrestling but I feel it is even more important to the non-wrestling fan interested to see why all these people watch this "fake" form of entertainment.