3/4  Not a knockout but delivers
A decent documentary about Mike Tyson's rise in the boxing world to his troubled downfall and search for redemption. There are a lot of clips from early fights that help with the storytelling, though for some reason a lot are out of order.... (read full)

2/4  Not that good nor well done
I almost liked this movie. It is not a documentary, it is more like an interview. It is an HBO special at best. So the only real reason why I almost liked this movie is because I really like Tyson. There is no better boxing game than M... (read full)

1.5/4  Tyson Quick Review
This documentary was not put together well, it jumped around, too much interview with Tyson, seemed like a first year broadcasting major wanted to make a documentary for their final project. This could have been so much more.

4/5 The Tragedy of Mike Tyson
  by R. Sohi
James Toback, the director of "Tyson," has commented in interviews promoting this film that he sees Mike Tyson as "a classically tragic figure." The story, as presented here, of how he transformed himself from a lispy voiced overweight kid, who was regularly bullied while growing up in one of the toughest neighbourhoods in America, to a fighter, who at his peak was among the most dominant heavyweight champions ever, to the middle-aged man shown as he is today, his face wrinkled and his belly soft, his fortunes squandered, and his sense of self publicly shamed innumerable times for various outrageous acts both in and out of the ring, is a tragedy in it's truest sense.

Toback has been friends with the former heavyweight champion for several years and it shows as Tyson unguardedly reveals to the camera the damaged contradictive person that exists behind the popular image of his merely being some kind of brutal animal. Other than the numerous segments of archival television footage showing Tyson in the ring, in interviews or being followed in public, Toback's documentary zeroes in on its subject and leaves Tyson the only person to appear on screen, his voice the only one that is heard. Sometimes he is shown in split screen with snippets of his monologue looped to repeat or overlapped to form a sound collage, presumably to evoke the confusion in his obviously tortured mind, as he recounts the various losses he has suffered, the way he sees the scales of justice always balanced against him. The result is claustrophobic.

Like any tragedy this is not an easy story to watch. At times it feels like you are looking at the wreckage from a violent road accident: once you start looking at it you want to look away but can't. Anne Carson suggests in her preface to Euripedes' classical Greek tragedy, "Herakles" (a play those who are interested in Tyson should read), that watching stories of other people who are lost in their grief and rage is beneficial for us. It helps to cleanse us of our darkness. If you believe that, you owe it to yourself to seek out this film.

5/5 Amazing!
  by Sean Mercutio (Brooklyn, NY USA)
I was fortunate to attend an early screening of this film. This movie is incredible. If you ever had any opinion of Mike Tyson, this movie will change it- good or bad. He talks about every single aspect of his life and there is nothing from his amazing or disturbing past that goes untouched...

4/5 I am not an animal
  by L. Power (San Francisco)
In the classic book The Art of War, written over 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu said: "The battle is won or lost before it's even begun."

In this movie, Tyson's public and private battles, successes and failures, wins and losses, show the truth of this saying.

Through it all, Tyson talks to camera, and his speaking style mirrors the relentlessness he showed as one of the greatest fighters ever.

As you watch the story gets more gripping, and it's easy to be amazed and perhaps a little horrified by both his blinding speed and ferocity as a fighter.

I can remember a coworker asking me one time, after watching Tyson demolish someone in half a round, if I would fight him for $4 million. I said no way. "But you would get $4 million." I said if it was Ali I know he wouldn't kill me, so I might risk it because he wouldn't kill me, but with Tyson you would have no such assurance.

In life as in boxing, Tyson pulls no punches, and it's odd, and not a little surreal to watch him talk and hear the shocking and surprising things he has to say about Robin Givens, Desiree Washington, and Don King, not to mention his celebrated fights including the ones with Holyfield and Lewis, and with Berbick, where he was battling herpes.

It would appear that his mentor Cus d'Amato instilled discipline in him, and was a huge positive force in his life. That story is very touching.

Late in the movie we see a segment where he play boxes with his young daughter, a beautiful counterpoint to all that's gone before. I wonder if this is Exodus. If it is, it's quite poignant.

If you get the opportunity, I recommend you go see Tyson while it is still in release. It's natural to compare this with other fight movies, such as the Oscar nominated 'When We Were Kings' starring Muhammad Ali.

What makes this one so compelling is its unique narrative style, with Tyson talking, and the extreme nature of his successes and failures, interspersed then news coverage and segments of fights and incidents. Those who see it will understand why I would not call this a documentary. I hope you find this review helpful.

5/5 Well done and what I was hoping for
  by WDB (Vancouver, WA)
I've seen tons of shows on Mike Tyson and am actually a big Tyson fan and I was hoping that this film would pay justice to such an intriguing story. This film is very well done and captures all of what is Mike Tyson and in many ways that Mike Tyson documentaries in the past have failed to do. While there is plenty of great footage of all of his fights and knockouts, training and of archive footage outside the ring too, a lot of the film is of Mike himself telling his story beginning from the time of his youth.

You can tell that Mike must have been very comfortable with the film makers because his story is told in such a raw and emotional fashion. It seems like it must have been just a "very good day" for him to tell his story so well. Humble and honest, Mike guides us through the different periods and events of his life and gives vivid and raw insights into his thoughts and feelings about them and about how he was feeling at the time.

It really was a very interesting story and my wife who previously didn't like him at all and every time there was something about Mike Tyson on tv she would always say "There's that big jerk, what a low life. Turn this off!" was just fascinated by the film and you could tell that she really started to like Tyson after she got the chance to see what he was actually like and not as just the circus act that the media portrays him as sometimes.

Like I said, the film is also really well done which is so important to the entertainment value of any documentary or film for that matter whereas no matter how interesting the story, if the film is done poorly it's really not that fun to watch. This film is highly recommended whether you're a Tyson fan or not.


5/5 "The Past is History, the Future's a Mystery," or, The Art of Skullduggery
  by Boy
TYSON is an undeniably compelling and eye-opening film-portrait, regardless of your attitude towards boxing or Mike Tyson himself. It is a human drama that will shock, amaze, and move virtually anyone.

Narrated mostly by Tyson himself, with his blunt, reflective, and strangely distinctive voice, the film features a flood of choice boxing footage. The story begins with Tyson swiftly dispatching one victim after another, but ends with his getting severely and thoroughly pummeled several times in the second half. The footage is exciting, impressive, and occassionally horrifying (Evander Holyfield's ear, anyone?), so fight fans will take to this film immediately. But even those who normally despise the sport will find themselves drawn in by the engaging narrative and ROCKY-like boxing clips.

Tyson's unlikely meteoric rise (defeating virtually every opponent, including several world champions, with ease) and humiliating, ghastly fall (in the ring and out) comprise one of the most extreme true-life dramas you'll ever see. He takes you through his fear-filled childhood, violent adolescence, miraculous salvation, rise to super-stardom, over-indulgence, foolhardy marriage, public divorce, incarceration, defeats, humiliations, and finally to the uncertain present. All of this told with his famous voice - incongruously high-pitched and lisping - expressing the conflicted and self-aware mind of a deeply strange, frightening, and thoughtful individual.

During the director's commentary, Toback tells of how he asked several dozen women to preview his finished film, knowing that women do not generally take much interest in boxing, least of Tyson. In fact, most moviegoers would probably say they find Iron Mike to be a pretty deplorable individual. Anyways, Toback told each woman he would pay her $100.00 if they agreed to watch the film, but did not wish to continue. However, if they were interested enough to watch TYSON through to the end, he simply asked that they give him an honest review. Every person stayed, and every person expressed their surprise at being so deeply affected. After seeing the film for yourself, you won't doubt Toback's story for a second.

Next time you're in the mood for a powerful documentary, take a chance on this one. I bet you'll agree you wouldn't have accepted Toback's hundred bucks either.