Beyond the Mat

Name: Beyond the Mat
Genre: Biography, Sport, Documentary
Released: March 17, 2000
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 73
Cast: Jake Roberts, Mick Foley, Terry Funk

2000

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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7.7

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7.7	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Ratings

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Beyond The Mat

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Movie Details & Credits

Universal Pictures | Release Date: March 17, 2000 | Unrated

Starring: Jake Roberts, Mick Foley, Terry Funk

Summary: Documentry focusing on the lives of professional wrestlers. Gives the viewer a behind-the-scenes look at how their sport is not fake.

Director: Barry W. Blaustein

Genre(s): Biography, Sport, Documentary

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

100

David Sterritt

Stay far, far away unless you can handle the copious amounts of blood--and agonizing psychological problems-- that its participants face on what seems like a daily basis. Read full review

Milton Kent

What the film does, brilliantly, is provoke the intelligent fan to wonder if there's a limit to how far the proceedings can go.

Shawn Levy

Frighteningly, grippingly real.

Peter Stack

A skillful exposition of the pain of pro wrestling, and the high price participants pay in terms of physical and ego injuries. Read full review

Lou Lumenick

Doesn't shy from the ugly side, though it's far from the no-holds-barred exposé being touted in the ads.

TV Guide Magazine Maitland McDonagh

A behind-the-scenes documentary that manages to be unabashedly sympathetic without being a puff piece. Read full review

Edvins Beitiks

Trouble is, it's too close-up. Read full review

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User Reviews

AzF.

Apr 6, 2006

A real inside look at pro-wrestling.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

Tss5078

Feb 22, 2013

Adult professional wrestling fans aren't stupid, we know wrestling is fake and the outcomes are pre-determined. What none fans don't realize is why we like it. It's the drama, the pageantry, the cheesy stories, the costumes, and most of all the action. Yes, it's pre-determined andAdult professional wrestling fans aren't stupid, we know wrestling is fake and the outcomes are pre-determined. What none fans don't realize is why we like it. It's the drama, the pageantry, the cheesy stories, the costumes, and most of all the action. Yes, it's pre-determined and choreographed, but you still need to be charismatic and athletic, and night after night these guys put their bodies on the line just for our entertainment. People have been killed and paralyzed doing this, so to anyone who says it's not real and takes no skill, I point to this documentary. Beyond The Mat looks into the lives of these guys outside the ring and show the ancient Terry Funk, whose body has been ravaged from years in the ring. He can barely walk anymore, but still has to get in there and has to do this because it's all he knows and what he loves. Jake "The Snake" Roberts is also featured and he talks about how eight years on the road with WWE made him a neglectful father, a bad husband, and a drug addict. Roberts says between the pain and the constant moving around he could never have done it without drugs! Finally, they look at Mick Foley AKA Mankind, Dude Love, Cactus Jack and show how he's this normal family man and while his family knows it's for show, how much they worry. In the last 30 years, hundreds of pro-wrestlers have died under the age of 45, most of them due to the physical trauma they've put their bodies through or the dependence on drugs that has resulted from it. If those were NFL or MLB stars instead, there would be massive reform and congressional intervention, but the truth is no one cares about these guys, except of course their families, friends, and fans. Beyond The Mat is important because it shows just what these guys put on the line and just how little the people at the top care.… Expand

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