One of the most succesful documentaries of all time, both critically and commercially, Leon Gast's awe-inspiring "When We Were Kings" is heady fare indeed.

An account of Muhammad Ali's mighty dust-up with George Foreman in Zaire in 1974 - the so-called 'Rumble in the Jungle' - is a riveting piecing together of the lead up to the fight, the event itself (surely one of the greatest sporting spectacles in history), and the repercussions of Ali's unlikely victory, plucked right from the jaws of defeat.

The real strength of the film - apart from Ali's obvious charisma, sheer bravado, and physical perfection - is the editing. Norman Mailer, George Plimpton, and Spike Lee provide contemporary commentary to the dizzying array of footage of Ali's and Foreman's training schedules and the Machiavellian machinations of uber-promoter Don King.

A powerful and deeply conscious look at the Mobutu dictatorship and the rise of black power, not to mention the new economic stratosphere that the sport of boxing was entering, "When We Were Kings" is not only testament to Ali's remarkable sporting legacy but is, in its own right, remarkable on every level.