Paul Jay’s wrestling documentary “Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows†has been a cult classic for over a decade for two reasons. The first being that it is an exceptional work that shows not only the ins and outs of professional wrestling and the plight of its title character, but makes the sport accessible and interesting to everyone who watches it.
The second part however has less to do with Jay and more about business.
Not available on DVD for the majority of that time, the film gained a reputation being traded on bootleg VHS copies around the country and in Canada, which too, were incredibly hard to find, making an already amazing documentary able to create a mystique around itself like almost no other.
However, in spite of being available for home consumption now, the production doesn’t lose any of its luster and when combined with an added documentary “The Life and Death of Owen Hart,†this two-disc DVD set, put together to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of its release, is a must own for wrestling fans and anyone who appreciates good drama.
If you thought the drama inside the ring was something special, just wait until you see what goes on behind closed doors.
A five-time WWF champion, Bret Hart is forced by company chairman Vince McMahon to flee to a rival company in WCW after he refuses to meet his demands monetarily or creatively. It’s not that Hart wants to go, it’s more like he’s trying to keep his family’s best interests at heart, while keeping his legacy intact. Upset with what the company is doing with his character, Hart thinks he’s leaving the WWF on his own turns when McMahon throws a curveball that ends up creating one of the most important moments in the history of the sport.
Looking back now, it’s fair to say that McMahon had to sacrifice the career of one of his biggest stars in order to create his villainous television persona and get his company back on track. Nevertheless, in spite of his motives to save his company, you’ll never feel his pain. Instead, you’ll choose the side of Hart, who never saw the changes in the sport that occurred in the late ’90s coming. An excellent wrestler, but a product of the golden era of the sport, where athleticism easily beat out charisma, Hart was a traditionalist that was never as dominant in WCW as he was in the WWF.
Extremely charismatic in his own right, Hart could have easily done the things that McMahon wanted him to and continued to blaze a trail in the sport. That, however, would have meant him becoming a puppet and a man who would have been going against his morals to survive in the only field he’s ever worked in.
That’s obviously wasn’t the verse Hart wanted to leave in the play of professional wrestling and as a result, you see a man fighting so hard for what he believes in, against forces that he can not begin to contend with, all the while, fighting the demons of his childhood and the thoughts of what his future has in store for him.
If he only knew.
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