The Best Movies And Documentaries About Mike Tyson, Ranked
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Vote up the Mike Tyson must-sees whether you're a boxing fan or not.
There was a time when the name “Mike Tyson” was everywhere. The boxer was knocking out opponents in the ring left and right while simultaneously making headlines with his outlandish behavior. Alongside his boxing fame, Tyson became well-known for his marriage to actress Robin Givens, his arrest and conviction for rape, and, of course, for literally taking a bite out of Evander Holyfield in 1997. Since Tyson left professional boxing, he took up acting and has remained in the limelight for any number of reasons, including his cannabis brand.
To understand how far Tyson has come, it's necessary to understand where he's been. For those who want to know more about Tyson's place in the annals of boxing, well, taking stock of his life and career is essential, and vice versa. And, as is often the case, movies and documentaries about Tyson are a great way to get to know him.
Put another way, before you face off against Tyson, you should climb in the ring with these film and TV projects about him first. The only question is, which ones are the best?
- 1
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (2013)
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Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth is recorded version of Tyson's one-man show in front of a live audience on a Broadway stage. Directed by Spike Lee, Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth gives Tyson a forum to comment on his life, career, and even on some footage of his past matches. Tyson details his personal and professional woes, supplemented by with images of his family and the like shown on a screen behind him.
Tyson also wrote a memoir called Undisputed Truth with Larry Sloman in 2013. The show (which was actually written by his wife, Kiki) perhaps emphasized the boxer's “sense of individuality and lack of desperation to please in any walk of life” more vividly than the book. In the end, reviewer Brian Tallerico walked away thinking,
[Tyson is] a man who is both relatable in his humanity and defiantly unique at the same time. He is a performer who is also facing his own emotional opponent in that spotlight. He is learning to love and be loved in return right in front of our eyes.
Variety's Brian Lowry was a bit less favorable, concluding Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth was “at best a split decision.”
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Tyson debuted on HBO on April 29, 1995. The TV film, based on the book Fire and Fear: The Inside Story of Iron Mike Tyson, portrays the life, boxing career, and legal woes of Mike Tyson, with Michael Jai White in the titular role. It was directed by Uli Edel and also starred George C. Scott as Cus D'Amato, boxing manager and trainer, and Paul Winfield as boxing promoter Don King. Archival footage, interviews, and photos were integrated into the film.
Reviews were mixed overall, but those looking for a feel-good flick that smooths over the edges will be disappointed, as this version, according to critics, is “depressing” and “no love letter to Mike.”
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The documentary Tyson by filmmaker James Toback offers a look at Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight world champion, as well as Mike Tyson, a man who continues to learn about himself. The documentary debuted at Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and was released widely on April 24, 2009.
With a mix of archival footage and fresh, contemporary interviews, Tyson brings the violence and emotion of boxing to the forefront. By highlighting Tyson's troubled upbringing and experiences with trainer Cus D'Amato, the documentary fully paints the context within which the boxer rose and fell.
There is a raw duality to Tyson that emerges, which reviewer A. O. Scott describes as largely thanks to the director:
Without the sympathetic presence of Mr. Toback, whom he has known for many years, it is unlikely that Mr. Tyson would have opened up in this way. And it is also likely that without Mr. Tyson's presence, the director would have been unlikely to restrain his own self-indulgent impulses.
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The Hulu miniseries Mike premiered on August 25, 2022, and with a total of eight episodes, it offers a slightly wider scope than a feature film in dramatizing the boxer's life. Created by Steven Rogers, it's an unauthorized project in a similar vein to his previous work dissecting an athlete with a controversial reputation, I, Tonya (several other collaborators also return from that film, including Craig Gillespie as director and Margot Robbie as executive producer).
Starring Trevante Rhodes as Mike Tyson, Russell Hornsby as promoter Don King, and Harvey Keitel as trainer and manager Cus D'Amato, Mike weaves through the fighter's early life into the days of his marriage, divorce, time in prison, and his shocking bout with Evander Holyfield. The miniseries culminates in a dramatized time of introspection and self-growth.
Critics like The Hollywood Reporter's Daniel Fienberg found Mike to be “a compassionate pat on the shoulder” to Tyson but “not a very perceptive one.” Tyson, for his part, said the unauthorized series “stole [his] life story and didn't pay [him].”
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- 5
Mike Tyson: The Knockout (2021)
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A two-part documentary that aired on ABC in May and June 2021, Mike Tyson: The Knockout includes four hours of content about Tyson's rise, fall, and rebirth in the boxing world. By traversing the highs and lows of Tyson's career, the documentary necessarily explores his personal life and reputation as well.
The first part of the documentary event emphasizes Tyson's emergence as “The Baddest Man on the Planet” as well as his bouts with the likes of Michael Spinks and Buster Douglas. Tyson's troubled marriage to (and eventual divorce from) actress Robin Givens is also explored. Then, the second part looks at Tyson's time in prison, substance abuse issues, and efforts at redemption. Interviews with the boxer's friends, critics, former opponents, and others accompany a one-on-one conversation with Tyson himself.
What reviewer Brian Lowry took away from Mike Tyson: The Knockout was much more than information about Tyson, however. Lowry noted:
If The Knockout makes one thing clear, it's that the media rode the Tyson roller coaster for all that it was worth. While nobody really asked for this latest rematch, its insights regarding Tyson's story - reflecting both the era during which he thrived, and how it looks with the benefit of hindsight - isn't quite a knockout, but it wins on points.
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ESPN Inside Access: Mike Tyson (2008)
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Just over three hours in length, ESPN Inside Access: Mike Tyson specifically analyzes at the boxer's career by focusing on six fights that took place between 1985 and 1990. The documentary tracks his impressive rise to heavyweight champion, up through his unexpected loss to underdog Buster Douglas.
Footage from those bouts accompanies the exploration of his relationships, legal woes, and mental health issues, all part of the ESPN SportsCentury episode about Tyson.
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- 7
Mike Tyson: Fists of Iron (2020)
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Mike Tyson: Fists of Iron is brief as documentaries go, only 52 minutes in length, and serves as an overview to the boxer's early life and controversial career. Narrated by Ozzie Smith, the documentary doesn't hold back when it comes to details about Tyson's traumatic childhood. The documentary uses quotes from interviews with Tyson (from magazines, podcasts, and television) alongside narrated dramatizations.
One key point in Mike Tyson: Fists of Iron is Tyson's role in carrying on the legacy of earlier boxers, namely Muhammad Ali.
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Autobiography: Mike Tyson (2019)
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The 2019 documentary Autobiography: Mike Tyson includes extensive comments and remarks from Tyson while integrating interviews from throughout his career. Tyson talks specifically about his affinity for pigeons, animals that brought him calm and comfort as a child. This affection for pigeons has continued into Tyson's adult life.
Unfiltered also talks to the athlete's childhood friends, authors, and family members, including his wife, Kiki. Toward the end of the documentary, Tyson's dedication to mentorship is highlighted.
In making Autobiography: Mike Tyson, director David Michaels drew upon his work on an earlier documentary series called Beyond the Glory. This effort from 2019, according to IndieWire's Kate Erbland, fails to deliver anything confrontational but instead echoes the same “glossed over” approach.
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While Don King: Only in America doesn't only talk about Mike Tyson, it dramatizes the life and career of boxing promoter Don King, including his influence on fighters like Tyson. Don King: Only in America stars Ving Rhames as King, with Cliff Couser appearing as Tyson.
Despite the overall “shapeless” nature of the story, in depicting the story of how King came to represent Tyson, the film takes “an unusually harsh view of their subject… painting him as a first-rate con artist who essentially bled his fighters dry.”
This was the purported reality for Tyson, who sued King for fraud in 1998.
Climbing in the ring?- 10
Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson (1993)
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Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson was filmed in 1991 and released two years later. Director Barbara Kopple focused on Tyson's early boxing career as well as the boxer's relationships with trainer Cus D'Amato and manager Jim Jacobs. Kopple documents Tyson's struggles with his temper and presents his efforts to “channel his aggressions into positive conduct.”
Reviewer Ken Tucker from Entertainment Weekly noted Kopple's approach to Tyson and his past, both of which attest to his complex legacy:
Kopple gives Tyson credit for his talent and skill as a boxer and provides a context for the violence in his life, but she doesn’t cut him any slack for his rape of beauty contestant Desiree Washington in Indianapolis in 1991. The director also provides the pop-cultural framework for Tyson's conviction and the six-year sentence he's now serving, including a chilling clip from a rally in support of Tyson in which Louis Farrakhan defends the boxer by hectoring the women in his audience.
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