Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10963 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-07-05
• Rating: Exempt
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 132 minutes

Synopsis
Provides an insight into the world of wrestling as a film crew accompany Bret 'Hitman' Hart for one year.

Customer Reviews

informative
Wrestling with shadows is a documentary following the wwe champ at the time breat hart for one year and happens to get another insight into the events of the famous montreal screwjob when bret was robbed of the title as vince mcmahon took the belt of bret by forcing bret to lose in canada when he didnt actually lose,we all know the story.
This documentary follows bret around,gives us insight into his private life and spends time with his wife and kids and his parents and siblings,there is a honesty about what you see which some documentaries dont always capture.
The timing of this feature coincides with a tricky situation in the life of the hitman,his contract is running out and vince cant pay him much but wants to tie him to a 20 year contract taking him to his 60th birthday,hitman wouldnt be wrestling at that juncture but a wage packet would be assured,on the flipside ted turner wcw is offering bret $3,000,000 a year to jump ship which bret isnt that excited about but he wants security for his family,even though he is far from broke so dont break down and cry just yet.
The events in montreal are well covered here and bret even wears a wire to a meeting with vince which proves that he agreed to the ending bret offered him for the match with shawn,this makes for riveting viewing and in the end this is a solid and sometimes exciting expose of the backstage events of a massive company,some of which vince would never have wanted us to see.
Towards the end of this it gets a bit too soppy for its own good with bret and his family in particular but this is still a good way of understanding that there is more to wrestling than simply wrestling.

Changed my opinion of the Hitman
I was a fan of Bret Hart and knew vaguely about the Montreal screwjob, and so bought this to get some more insight in this controversial and infamous moment. A lot of people will disagree, but after seeing this I think bret screwed Bret. He had become so full of himself that he wouldn't drop the belt to Shawn Michaels in Canada at the Survivor series 97. This to me seems unprofessional, as Bret should not of let his personal conflicts with HBK get in the way. Granted, it was still wrong how he was lied and cheated that way. Other things that disapoint me are the when Bret insults Shawn, yeah Shawn may have been an arrogant egomaniac back then, but again, it seems unprofessional. Worst of all, he picks apart the greatest angle in WWF history, the Attitude Era, and he is definately wrong there, as amny fans would agree. All in all, a pretty weak documentary.

Excellent
I am not a Bret Hart fan, but I must admit I found this DVD one of the best wrestling films I have seen. It is biographical which is first class as it shows the man as he is and is simply not the usual "best matches" sort of stuff. He came across as a wonderful father with a most supportive wife, who sadly divorced him in spite of his attempts at reconcilliation.
A question I am frequently asked is about the Montreal screw-job. I straight away after this DVD went on to read Shawn Michael's book and I recommend that viewers of this DVD do likewise and make their own mind's up.
Most enjoyable - don't be afraid to get it - you will not be disappointed.