- Title: USA: The tale of Mike Tyson plays out on the big screen in the new film "Tyson"
- Date: 17th April 2009
- Summary: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (APRIL 16, 2009) (REUTERS) POSTER FROM THE FILM (*** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) TYSON WALKING THROUGH FANS AND REPORTERS AT THE PREMIERE BOXER "SUGAR' SHANE MOSLEY AT THE PREMIERE TYSON AND DIRECTOR JAMES TOBACK AT THE PREMIERE ACTOR SCOTT CAAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIKE TYSON ON THE FILM SAYING: "It was very comforting. I felt very comfortable with James. I knew him for a great duration of time and he made everything very easy, until I saw the thing and than I couldn't believe I told the guy this stuff. But, other than that it was pretty good." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR JAMES TOBACK ON TYSON, SAYING: "To show to the world a fascinating, complex figure in all od his mesmerizing truthfulness and let them live inside the mind of a multicolored individual. I don't just mean that racially. A multi-colored individual who has suffered and prevailed. It is a great human story, a tragic human story." (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIKE TYSON ON LIFE IN GENERAL, SAYING: "If you are not humble, the world will thrust humbleness upon you. I believe in just being humble." (SOUNDBITE) (English) BOXER "SUGAR SHANE MOSLEY ON MIKE TYSON THE BOXER, SAYING: "A lot of the fighters feared him. Just being a heavyweight and knocking out people in 90 seconds or less. Tyson was that fighter of that era." FORMER NFL PLAYER MICHAEL STRAHAN WITH PAN TO ACTOR CARL WEATHERS. TYSON POSING ON THE RED CARPET WIDE SHOT OF THE RED CARPET WITH PUSH TO MIKE TYSON
- Embargoed: 2nd May 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVAXJOZ1RN2LOF0SMT4GLIOAQZY
- Story Text: Far removed from his day's as "the baddest" man on the planet, former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson arrived humble in Los Angeles as he hit the red carpet for Thursday's premiere of the documentary, "Tyson."
Director James Toback's film is an intimate and moving portrait of a nearly shell-shocked Mike Tyson. Using a cinematically original technique, Toback allows Tyson to reveal himself in and out of the ring with a candor, eloquence and vulnerability that is by turns poignant and riveting. Through a deft mixture of original interviews and archival footage and photographs, a startling complex, fully-rounded human being emerges.
"It was very comforting," Tyson told Reuters. "I felt very comfortable with James. I knew him for a great duration of time and he made everything very easy, until I saw the thing and than I couldn't believe I told the guy this stuff. But, other than that it was pretty good."
The film ranges from Mike's earliest memories of growing up on the mean streets of Brooklyn through his entry into the world of boxing, including his rollercoaster ride through the funhouse of worldwide fame and his fortunes won and lost. In "Tyson," Toback offers much more than a documentary about a former heavyweight champ -- it is the story of a legendary and controversial international athletic icon, a figure conjuring radical questions of race and class, and a man who arose from the most debased circumstances and soared to seemingly unlimited heights, followed by destruction generated by hubris, like a character out of classical tragedy.
"To show to the world a fascinating, complex figure in all of his mesmerizing truthfulness and let them live inside the mind of a multicolored individual," explained Toback. "I don't just mean that racially. A multi-colored individual who has suffered and prevailed. It is a great human story, a tragic human story."
In the years that have passed, it's easy to forget just how truly great a fighter Tyson was and instead focus on the defeats that came in and out of the ring. At his peak though, Tyson was a compact, "pit bull" who fought with a fury that fans have not seen in the sport since.
"A lot of the fighters feared him," said boxer "Sugar " Shane Mosley. "Just being a heavyweight and knocking out people in 90 seconds or less. Tyson was that fighter of that era."
The tragic part is that Tyson could have been the fighter of all era's.
Instead, we are left with questions as to why he wasn't. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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