Magnum Milano Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 anyone here seen the boxing documentary 'The Long Journey'. It's was a BBC film (2002) based on the life and death of Welsh boxer Johnny Owen. The doc. gives his story up until his death in the ring in Mexico...then it cuts to modern day where it follows Johnny's father who makes the trip to Mexico to meet the man who was responsible for his son's death. It's pretty heartbreaking stuff, it's a an eye-opening look inside boxing and how it effects both families and opponents. I found the footage of the meeting a little too intrusive, but fascinating all the same. The actual footage of the fight is harrowing, the punch which ends the fight is a horrible piece of film, Johnny didn't die there and then, but he never woke up and the way he goes down just kinda tells the story The guilt his father's lived with since is something which must be unbearable (he refused to throw in the towel), if you're a boxing fan or not i recommend you track it down. The Long Journey Trailer I'm not a huge boxing fan and certainly not knowledgable on the subject, but I just watched a piece about Johnny Owen on youtube and really sad, heartwrenching stuff. The guy just looked so fragile and I don't think I'll ever forget him now having watched his story.  Going to give that King of Kong doc a watch later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 28, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 28, 2011 (edited) yeh, Owen was probably the most frail looking boxer that's ever lived, they called him The Matchstick Man for good reason. Â Im going to get this next week too Johnny Owen Book, the whole story grips me, sad tale. It's something that happened to someone so close to where i live too. Edited July 28, 2011 by Ebb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matbro1984 Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Just watched King of Kong. Excellent shout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patiirc Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Billy Mitchell comes across as all kinds of douche in King of Kong. Â Watched it some time ago now, but was very good.. Dodgy videos of Kong... Hmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted July 29, 2011 Moderators Share Posted July 29, 2011 Immediately after the doc, I thought Billy Mitchell was the biggest asshole ever and that Steve Weibe was a true underdog hero. Â After a while, and a bit more reading about the two, I became more convinced that Billy Mitchell is awesome and that Weibe is a chump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amazing_Red_Fan Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 That Tribe Called Quest documentary looks fantastic having just watched the trailer. Does anyone know if this is getting a UK release or not? Would love to check it out being a huge Tribe fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylin_and_Profilin Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Immediately after the doc, I thought Billy Mitchell was the biggest asshole ever and that Steve Weibe was a true underdog hero. After a while, and a bit more reading about the two, I became more convinced that Billy Mitchell is awesome and that Weibe is a chump.  Why so ? I'm just curious as i had initial thoughts you did after watching it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 30, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 30, 2011 Billy Webbe is probably the greatest villain in movie history. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members extacy of farts Posted July 30, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted July 30, 2011 Saw an advert on FX the other day for a programme on 9/11, didn't quite catch the name of it but looked rather interesting. Anyone heard anything about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Milano Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Immediately after the doc, I thought Billy Mitchell was the biggest asshole ever and that Steve Weibe was a true underdog hero. After a while, and a bit more reading about the two, I became more convinced that Billy Mitchell is awesome and that Weibe is a chump. You'll need to educate and enlighten us, as my opinion is exactly what you posted in your opening paragraph. Mitchell was in the Twin Galaxies clique so could get away with stuff that Wiebe (the outsider) couldn't, and the clique needed little excuse to try and discredit Wiebe's achievements.  Huge props to those who pimped this doc also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Awards Moderator Frankie Crisp Posted July 30, 2011 Awards Moderator Share Posted July 30, 2011 anyone here seen the boxing documentary 'The Long Journey'. It's was a BBC film (2002) based on the life and death of Welsh boxer Johnny Owen. The doc. gives his story up until his death in the ring in Mexico...then it cuts to modern day where it follows Johnny's father who makes the trip to Mexico to meet the man who was responsible for his son's death. It's pretty heartbreaking stuff, it's a an eye-opening look inside boxing and how it effects both families and opponents. I found the footage of the meeting a little too intrusive, but fascinating all the same. The actual footage of the fight is harrowing, the punch which ends the fight is a horrible piece of film, Johnny didn't die there and then, but he never woke up and the way he goes down just kinda tells the story The guilt his father's lived with since is something which must be unbearable (he refused to throw in the towel), if you're a boxing fan or not i recommend you track it down. The Long Journey Trailer Thanks to the bump of this post by Magnum Milano, I've just watched this documentary. Jesus, it was so sad to watch. I knew the rough story of what happened via my Dad but watching that made it all the more heartbreaking. Throughout the whole thing I was waiting for his Dad to blame himself which he did at the end, for not pulling him out of the ring. That was what got me the most. Like you mentioned Ebb, the final punch which sent him down just told the whole story. Such a terrible thing to happen but I suppose one of the more positive aspects was Pintor and how you could see how much he valued the offer of friendship from Owen's family. Cheers for the original post which recommended it. Like with the King of Kong documentary, you don't have to be a fan or have much knowledge to appreciate this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted July 31, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted July 31, 2011 (edited) finally watch Assault In The Ring to continue with the boxing theme. Â Tells the story of a fight involving Luis Resto and Billy Collins Jr. Resto went into the fight with the padding partially removed from his gloves and battered Collins. Collins career ended and his life spiralled out of control before dying in a car crash less than a year after the fight. I was quite surprise that the doc. concentrates on Resto's life after the fight more than the actual case itself but it was a very good watch. I think it's fairly obvious that everyone accused of being invloved were, and it's just got to the point where they've been lying for so long that they've actually convinced themselves that they weren't guilty of any wrong doing, a lot of backstabbing and deception going on. It's a very sad story, there's a couple of revelations in the doc. that it's probably better to find out when you watch it rather than me say anything. Â Again, you don't need to be a boxing fan to enjoy it. Get it. Edited July 31, 2011 by Ebb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Milano Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 finally watch Assault In The Ring to continue with the boxing theme. Tells the story of a fight involving Luis Resto and Billy Collins Jr. Resto went into the fight with the padding partially removed from his gloves and battered Collins. Collins career ended and his life spiralled out of control before dying in a car crash less than a year after the fight. I was quite surprise that the doc. concentrates on Resto's life after the fight more than the actual case itself but it was a very good watch. I think it's fairly obvious that everyone accused of being invloved were, and it's just got to the point where they've been lying for so long that they've actually convinced themselves that they weren't guilty of any wrong doing, a lot of backstabbing and deception going on. It's a very sad story, there's a couple of revelations in the doc. that it's probably better to find out when you watch it rather than me say anything.  Again, you don't need to be a boxing fan to enjoy it. Get it. I ended up watching this last night after the Darts had finished due to your recommendation.  I remember this fight (well the story of one guy having his padding removed, beating on the other guy for the full duration of the fight in what was basically a bare knuckle assault and only being rumbled when the father felt his gloves, not the actual fighters involved) from a TV program that looked at something like great sporting cheats/tragendies/controversies from years ago.  I came out of this having sympathy for none of the main protagonists. Too be honest I had none for Resto at the beginning where he is living in pretty much poverty, and it gets worse as the film goes on and only admits to what really happened when the Documentary maker gets the police transcripts of a conversation that an undercover wired policeman had with Resto.  Panama Lewis is a shady fuck, and as soon as we saw him I knew the guy was guilty. Resto living in poverty, whilst this guy with all his bling is still making a living out of boxing. Their 'reunion' was uncomfortable, especially in hindsight when Resto later admits that it was Lewis who took out the padding. The Aaron Pryor/Alexis Arguello casts more light on the dubious practices and goings on of Lewis.  There is a bit of a twist around half way through with the revelations about Billy Collins Sr, and also the additional information that Resto admits to about the fight that night. The one thing I will add is that Collins Jr was a hell of a tough kid, and the photo of him the day after the fight is absolutely horrific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Chest Rockwell Posted August 1, 2011 Moderators Share Posted August 1, 2011 You'll need to educate and enlighten us, as my opinion is exactly what you posted in your opening paragraph. Mitchell was in the Twin Galaxies clique so could get away with stuff that Wiebe (the outsider) couldn't, and the clique needed little excuse to try and discredit Wiebe's achievements. Huge props to those who pimped this doc also.   I read some interviews with Billy, and read a bit more about his previous achievements in gaming, and saw that he ran a successful business, and I found that I respected what he had done. Also, he's just such a brilliant heel it's impossible not to be entertained by him when you've got a little emotional distance from having watched the documentary, and he introduces some seeds of plausible doubt as to its portrayal of him.  With Steve I saw this guy doggedly chasing this dream to the detriment of his family life and the more I thought about it the more it just seemed like his perspective was a bit out of whack and it was just sad. And I was just thinking 'let it go, man'.  I've still got nothing but contempt for the Billy Mitchell sycophants; Walter and the killscreen nerd. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 1, 2011 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 1, 2011 the best scene in the movie is where Steve's playing in the arcade and Mitchell enters the arcade with his chick on his arm, and quietly shuffles past Steve. It's fucking brilliant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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