MOVIE COMPANY: UNIVERSAL FAMILY & HOME ENTERTAINMENT/IMAGINE ENTERTAINMENT
CAST: Starring Mick Foley, The Rock, Terry Funk Jake “the Snake” Roberts, Chyna and more.
DIRECTED BY: Directed by Barry W. Blaustein
PRODUCED BY: Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Michael Rosenberg, Barry Bloom, Barry W. Blaustein
RATING: Unrated
INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE URL: http://us.imdb.com/Title?0218043
TYPE OF MOVIE: Documentary
DURATION:Â 1 hour 48 minutes
It’s supposed to be fun. It’s not supposed to be real. But behind-the-scenes it’s a whole different story. Now, for the first time ever, in this expanded and unrated director’s cut, you’ll learn the real story. Join Mick Foley, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Terry Funk for a no-holds-barred look into the wild world of professional wrestling. Uncover their secrets and their nightmares. This extraordinary version also contains controversial additional footage by Vince McMahon. And new footage of Mick Foley backstage after his brutal Royal Rumble match. It’s time to go beyond the spotlight beyond the pain, Beyond the Mat.
DVD EXTRAS:
• Region 1 encoding (US and Canada only)
• Color, Closed-captioned
• Production notes
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Feature Commentaries by Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Barry W. Blaustein
• Director’s Cut featuring 6 minutes of Deleted Footage
KNOWN DVD SECRET(S): None that I could find.
DVD REVIEW:
“BEYOND THE MAT: UNRATED DIRECTOR’S EDITION” DVD… what an awesome documentary!
I was a big fan of wrestling many years ago and just started watching again this year. The game is more electrifying than ever and things have changed since the 80’s of WWF. The focus on certain wrestlers in this documentary was very fun and shocking to watch at the same time.
From Terry Funk getting the doctor’s prognosis of his battered body, Jake “The Snake” Roberts and the demons in his life which was a shock to watch and most of all, the segment that really hooked me in was Mick Foley’s segment and how his family handled watching him get beat during “Royal Rumble”. Also, one of the reasons to BUY this DVD is the comments Mick Foley had in the special features commentary in which he comments about the Rock hitting him and boy, you can tell Mick Foley was pissed at the Rock. Also, you see a few features on a few WWF and ECW stars in this documentary.
Some people may want to call this documentary perhaps “The True Secrets behind wrestling”. I’m actually surprised to see the added footage of Vince McMahon…whoah! A lot of things are in this video. From people trying to get into the business, the dangers of the business and the wrestler outside of the ring.
As for the audio and video, the video has good colors, audio…I wasn’t expecting digital 5.1 to begin with. As for the special features, it comes with a trailer, production notes…not that much compared to other movies/documentaries but if one thing truly shines in the special features category, it’s the commentaries on this DVD which are the big thing. You have to watch Mick Foley’s commentary. If anything, after I watched this movie, you have more respect for Mick. What a cool dude!
So, wrestling fans…this DVD is highly recommended. VHS owners, you thought the movie was good, buy the DVD to hear what Mick has to say in the director’s commentary…whoah!
THE MOVIE:Â A
THE DVD EXTRAS:Â C+
THE DVD OVERALL:Â A