Andre the Giant

I loved Pro Wrestling when I was a kid and I will love it till the day that I die

You don't necessarily _have_ to be a fan of professional wrestling to enjoy this documentary, but it adds so much depth and feeling to the narrative if you _were_ a fan during the time of Andre the Giant. I remember seeing his matches, including when he "turned heel" under Bobby Heenan. And yes, they were quite accurate when they mentioned (in the documentary) that Andre's career sort of died after that. They had a story, of course, where he was publicly berated and humiliated by Bobby Heenan and Andre "turned face" (babyface, the wrestling terminology for a "good guy") by slapping Heenan around much to the delight of the cheering crowd...but due to his failing health and the pain his body was wracked with, Andre was never able to fully capture that mythological status and adoring fan base that he'd once had. This documentary so beautifully tells Andre's story...and it deserves to be told. The interviews, the stories, the tears...they're all here, so if you're a softie just beware: this will definitely tug at your heartstrings and leave you moist-eyed. I know he's gone, but I so wish Andre could've lived to see this and know just how revered and loved he truly was. RIP, Andre. It doesn't matter how many they try to drag up: you'll always be "The Giant" in our eyes.

Do yourself a favor and watch this movie.

**A Gentleman and a Scholar.** Nothing more needs to be said of this Legend among Legends.

A fascinating look at this gentle giant (a seeming contradiction until you watch this movie.) Especially interesting/fascinating for those of us who remember watching him during his wrestling days, as well as from "The Princess Bride".

I loved the peek behind the curtain of both professional wrestling, and the life of someone who was only known to most of us through his stage persona.

An intimate look at one athlete who could be considered truly larger than life, the aptly-named pro wrestling legend Andre the Giant. Not content to simply lean on accrued television footage or the countless tall tales about his epic nights out on the town, this HBO documentary intends to dig deeper, for a closer look at the man behind the myths and exagerrations.

As a means of drawing back the curtain, we catch glimpses of Andre's upbringing, from the double-wide handmade chair that still sits at his childhood kitchen table to countless candid photos and clips from the dawn of his career in the ring. It's not a particularly happy story, laced as it is with the everyday difficulties of a jumbo-sized man in a normal-sized world, disconnected familial relationships and chronic pain as his frame struggled to deal with its own mass, but it does feel honest and (mostly) true. The one notable exception being Andre's big main event with Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania III, which seems overly romanticized if not slightly misleading.

A better chance to get to know who the giant was away from cameras, to understand his suffering and recognize that, although his size did reap untold fame and fortune, it also made enjoying those fruits excruciatingly difficult or downright impossible. I feel like we barely skimmed the surface.

A fitting tribute to man who was legitimately one of a kind

It's not always successful in its attempts to separate the man from the myth, falling back far too often on the very hyperbolic mythological elements it's trying to sidestep, and it's neither as insightful nor as objective as one might wish - it was made in association with WWE, which makes objectivity pretty much impossible, and there's next to nothing here you couldn't find online. However, it's respectful, informed, and entertaining, avoiding, for the most part, hagiography, and featuring some superb archival footage, providing a not-always-uplifting window into the life of a man for whom the term "gentle giant" could very well have been coined.

For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/OaEqN

A must see in terms of understanding the history of the business and a real legend of it. That said I'm not sure I'd put it in my top ten wrestling documentaries. Others I would happily watch again, this one I am happy having seen it once.