Search - 45 Fantastic Fights Of The Century on DVD

OK but not great

Roger Long | Port Clinton, OH USA | 11/06/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"There's just a wee bit of hyperbole in the title of this DVD. Some of the fights are not fantastic, and the documentary covers only the first half of the century. Except for very short bouts, only bits and pieces of fights are included. The early fights are from old films that are hard to see and unrestored. Many of the great old championship fights are not there--such as Willard vs. Johnson. And of the more recent bouts, there is none with Jake LaMotta and only a couple of pieces of Sugar Ray Robinson fights, none of the classic Robinson/Zale fights, Robinson/Basilio bouts.



Perhaps the producers tried to pack 10 pounds of material in a 5-pound bag. They might have given us a two or more DVDs in the package with a wider selection of material, or chosen better and complete bouts for a one DVD package. There's no Ali, no Sugar Ray Leonard, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, etc. The latest fights are from the 1950s, as far as I could see.



Still, this is better than nothing at all, if you are a boxing fan. The Louis/Schmeling fights alone are worth the price."

"In this cawnah...Caveat Emptor! And in this cawnah... The C

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 07/25/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"With a prior understanding that 45 FANTASTIC FIGHTS OF THE CENTURY was only samples of boxing matches, I went ahead and ordered it.



This is an utterly disappointing DVD that TANGO ought to withdraw from the market.



There's NO literature and NO playlist anywhere to be found, and NO wonder-- some featured bouts are the equivalent of "Schmenk vs. Smegma."



One "fight" is only a title card, then the losing boxer already on the canvas! (oy)



Dubbing quality is THE WORST (the WORST, Jerry!). Many chapters are so blurry the viewer thinks his eyes have been dilated by an optometrist. A few fights consist of two indistinct ghosts dancing within the squared circle (usually the matches you wanted to see, like Joe Louis's).



Lowest blow of all (a 'cup shot'): my darn disc freezes up on the Dempsey/Tunney fight (approx. chapter #31) and won't play anything that comes after it!!!



Feh! Feh! Can you say: "crapola"?

Thou hast been forewarned. (...and there's the bell for the 16th round...)"

Production Value Packs No Punch

Daniel Culp | Columbia, MO | 09/29/2009

(1 out of 5 stars)

"This is a haphazardly compiled collection of badly-rendered fight footage. There are some fights included that really aren't fights of the century in any sense, such as washed-up ex-champ Max Baer beating the tar out of mid-range contender Tony Galento. The fights are presented in no particular order, as we lurch from the 20s, forward to the 30s, up to the 50s, back to the 10s, and then back to the 30s again. The transfers of the fight films are far too poor to blame on their simply being old. You can find better picture quality for most of these fights on YouTube. For most fights, there is only sparse newsreel-style commentary that, coupled with the poor picture, makes it hard to figure out which fighter is which, and few of the fights are placed in context in any way, shape, or form (especially with the lack of chronological logic). It doesn't really make sense to hear an announcer tell us that Joe Louis' only loss to this point was to Max Schmeling, and then see that very match two fights later.



The most inexplicable mistake of the entire enterprise, however, was the fact that at least two of the fights were repeated for absolutely no reason: Dempsey-Tunney II and (if I remember correctly) a Luis Firpo fight. Add to all of this the fact that the title cards are filled with careless misspellings ("Loe Louis" and "Primo Carnero" are examples) and it becomes clear that the production company was trying to rush a haphazard product onto the market, and make a quick buck off of fight fans buying it blind. Don't make that mistake. This is garbage.

"

Its only four dollars...

John Riley Atwood | Illinois | 11/24/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This dvd is pretty crappy(it consists mostly just of fight clips, not full fights), but come on, its only four dollars. If you are interested in the history of boxing, then its probably worth the four bucks for you to buy it, just to see how boxing has evolved and what not.



"