Watched a new HBO sports documentary (in association with the WWE) Andre the Giant. This is, surprisingly, a documentary about Andre the Giant!! Who knew! I’m not a fan of pro wrestling but I do acknowledge the guys who do it work hard, have to take the falls, and put on a good show. So every once in a while, I’ll watch a doc about it. Well, that and Andre the Giant was Fezzik in The Princess Bride… they couldn’t ignore that movie, right?
The film covers his entire life (with some gaps) from his youth in the French Alps to his ultimate death alone in a hotel room. There’s a lot of archival footage of his early days, including some shocking early matches where he was tall but thin, probably in his late teens or early twenties. Seeing a lithe and trim Andre the Giant was surprising and almost worth the price of admission (which was free, but still!).
There are a fair number of interesting interviews, including Vince McMahon who really does seem moved when recounting his time with Andre… though it’s possible he’s faking it. Who knows? They also interview WWE announcer Gene Okerlund, Hulk Hogan who has the best stories, Ric Flair, Jerry Lawler, and more. And, yes, it does talk about the Princess Bride and they get Robin Wright, Cary Elwes, Rob Reiner, and Billy Crystal on tape too.
Given that Andre the Giant was the Giant because of a growth disease that he refused to get treated, the movie goes from a fun documentary to rather sad as you see the man break down. Knees shot, back shot, heart under stress. Robin Wright talks about the moment in Princess Bride where she lands in his arms… and she had to be on wires because he was in so much pain he couldn’t lift her. And they go blow-by-blow through the historic match up between Hogan and Andre… showing how every move they made was designed to keep as little pressure on Andre as possible. It’s really sad and you can see that Hogan is moved by it (and we know Hogan isn’t a good enough actor to fake it).
I really, really enjoyed this documentary. I had a smile through almost all of it and was, as mentioned, moved as well. It’s got a lot of his life but also a fair amount of history of the WWF/WWE that’s interesting in a business angle. So it covers a lot of ground and is professionally well done, has a lot of great footage, interviews, and information. What a documentary should do, I think. I caught it recently on HBO so it should still be out there, if not On Demand.
Score: 87