Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows

1998 "The story of a man who believes in heroes, in a world where the anti-hero is king."
8.1| 1h33m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 20 December 1998 Released
Producted By: ARTE
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This documentary follows superstar Bret Hart during his last year in the WWF. The film documents the tensions that resulted in The Montreal Screwjob, one of the most controversial events in the history of professional wrestling, in which Vince McMahon, Shawn Micheals, and others, legitimately conspired behind the scenes to go against the script and remove Bret Hart as champion.

Genre

Documentary

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Director

Paul Jay

Production Companies

ARTE

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Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows Audience Reviews

Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Roman Sampson One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.
Mathilde the Guild Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
maddskilzz As a fan of Bret Hart i was excited to see this documentary. It took awhile for me to see it but, i finally had the chance to watch it. This is definitely a must see for any Bret Hart fan or any wrestling fan in general. The documentary begins one year before the controversial Survivor Series 1997 in Montreal and follows Bret around as he decides whether to jump ship over to WCW or to stay in the WWF as it was named at the time.The Montreal Screwjob is one of the main focuses of this film. Bret, who had recently signed a 20 year contract was told by Vince Mcmahon to try and get a deal with WCW. Bret who had been with the company for 14 years was about to leave the WWF for WCW, but before he could leave he had to lose the title. Bret not wanting to lose the title in his home country of Canada refused to lose the title to Shawn Michaels. The idea was for the match to end in disqualification and then Bret would forfeit the title the next night on the WWF's flagship show Monday Night RAW. Even with that suggestion Vince was still worried that Bret would show up on WCW's Monday Nitro with the WWF heavyweight title. This is where the ideas of a screw job finish were put into motion.During the match Shawn Michaels had Bret in his own hold the Sharpshooter. The plan was for Bret Hart to reverse the move and then member's of Bret Hart's Hart Foundation and Hunter Hearst Helmsly of D-X would come in and cause a disqualification. Instead when Michaels put Bret in the Sharpshooter, Earl Hebner who was referring the match and Vince, who had come down to ringside, called for the bell. It was then that Bret knew that he had been screwed. In a show of anger, Bret spit in the face of Vince McMahon and destroyed equipment near the ring. He also spelled the words "WCW" in the air.The documentary the went on to show footage of Bret asking Michaels if he knew anything about what just happened. Shawn Michaels completely denied knowing about anything. It was soon found out that he was indeed part of it.Reliving this moment 9 years after it happened seems just as shocking as it did in 1997. Bret Hart went on to wrestle in WCW, but never had the same success that he had in the WWF. Survivor Series 1997 was truly the end of a legacy.
ReevesBeckett "Wrestling with Shadows" started out as a documentary on Bret Hart, one of the top wrestlers of all time. What it ended up being was the behind the story of one of the most historical nights in pro wrestling. If you are a new fan, you have to see this movie. It outlines the exact moment that wrestling changed into what it is today. The events at the end of the movie are still being felt today in the wrestling ring. Want to know where Vince McMahon got his "evil" character- he got it here. How about the WWE Attitude- it's talked about here. Simply put, the best documentary on the sport.
batman_811 This is a documentary but if Hollywood bought this story and made it into a movie they don't have to change a single thing. It is about Bret Hart a man that loved the WWF more then anything . He gave his heart and soul to the WWF for over 14 years. But in 1997 Vince just didn't have the money to keep him in the WWF. So he told Bret that he should jump ship to the WCW ( World Championship Wrestling) and he wanted to get out of there 20 year contract. Bret told Vince if he had to he will join the WCW but his heart is in the WWF. But when he singed with the WCW Bret was the WWF world champion. And he didn't want to lose the title in his home Country Canada. So he asked Vince if he can make his match with Shawn Michaels a double draw. And Vince said that is fine with him. But while Bret was wrestling Shawn for the WWF world title Vince thought that Bret would go to Nitro the next night and trash the WWF much like former WWF women's champion Medusa did back in 1995. And if Bret would do that on WCW TV that would end the WWF once in for all since WCW was killing WWF over the Monday night ratings. So what Vince did was when Shawn was doing the sharpshooter ( what Bret thought was that he will turn around and do the sharpshooter to Shawn and then Triple H and Rick Rude will run down to the ring and double team on Bret and make Bret win by DQ) to Bret, Vince called for the bell and screwed Bret Hart. This really made Bret mad since Vince promised Bret that he did not have to drop the title that night. This movie is a most see for all wrestling fans. But if you hate wrestling it is also a great drama. The ending is great and it really takes a good look behind the scene in the wrestling world. 8 out of ten stars . This is the 2nd best documentary I ever saw. Best is Bowling for Co.
bluesyxx I was absolutely amazed when I caught this documentary on cable. Up until his point the behind the scenes of pro wrestling were just that, behind the scenes. The wrestling business is famously protected, any peek we get into it's inner workings is absolutely Amazing. As a life long wrestling fan, I consider this documentary be a one of a kind, an other wrestling fans who see this would have to agree. Also a look at the white hot Sunny, in all her splendor. Now having put this over from a wrestling standard. Let us examine the now infamous events of Montreal,when Bret screwed Bret. The events are caught by the camera following Bret around for his last year in the WWF. Bret Hart tries his best to be the hero here, and I believe he is, but can't help but feel that Bret is a master of hi craft, Vinny Mac is a master of his craft, if these two, and a few others wanted to, they could fool he world. I will withhold my own personal opinion as to if the events as they are portrayed here transpired as this documentary says, or not. Was it all a work? Did Bret really screw Bret? "Hitman Hart:Wrestling with Shadows" is but a mere piece of the puzzle. Conspiracy wrestling hounds like myself love this sort of thing, but the non-wrestling fan might also enjoy it for the sheer human drama, I give it a 9 out of 10. I took away a point because I don't know if I can really trust Bret, the master worker, and I am also a huge Shawn Michaels mark, HBK 4 life.