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

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant
Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.
Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
DJJOEINC Hit-man Hart :Wrestling With Shadows Yes I have seen it- amazing look behind the curtain of Pro Wrestling- Hit-man Hart Wrestling With Shadows- the thing is Bret immersed himself into his wrestling character and lost his objectivity- so when he was supposed to do the honors and give over the belt he did not- sure Vince lied to him- but given the voliatility of the times(the women's champ had gone over to WCW and threw the WWF belt into the trash,WCW & WWF were in a war,etc.) Vince made the only decision he could make for his family business.The thing was filmed before Owen's death. The Hart Foundation, a WWF stable in 1997 has been cursed- The British Bulldog,Owen Hart and Brian Pillman have all passed away and Bret is now retired due to reoccurring concusions...also seek out the excellent Bret Hart 3 DVD comp from the WWE
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.
vegeta_6969 I saw this movie a long time ago. It was told from Bret's Hart's perspective about his history in the WWF up until the screw job that was performed. It was an interesting documentary looking back on his past and some of his past matches. I will definitely say that Bret Hart was the best wrestler of the time. I don't think that there was anyone on the wrestling roster that could outstrategize Hart in a match. Plus he took every match seriously. That's definitely what made him the best wrestler.I will never respect Vince Mcmahon for what he did to him. It was a public humiliation and no one, especially Bret, deserves to be screwed like that. Bret spitting on Vince had proved that there something was going on backstage. He lost a real diamond in the rough when he got rid of Hart. It was even worse when Goldberg kicked him over the side of the head and forced him to retire because of a stroke he suffered.On the other hand: I can understand why Vince did what he did. I found some reasons as to why I think Vince screwed him.1. Even though Bret's matches were still good, all he did was complain. In fact before a match he would complain during his promo's killing the hype of a good match. He was really never entertaining to listen to.2. Vince wanted him to respect the tradition that a wrestler loses in his last match. Bret thought he was more special than the rest of the people so he didn't want to lose. No one would have had any less respect for Hart, even if he had lost in his home country. Besides it's not like he was losing in his own hometown.3. It's possible that Vince also assumed Eric Bischoff and Bret could have been plotting to steal the WWF belt from Vince and use it to some obscene purpose, like what Alundra Blaze did with the WWF women's championship. Personally, I don't think Bret would have agreed to do something like that, but given his position, I don't think that McMahon could afford to take that chance.If there is anyone I feel sorry for in all of this, it's Shawn Michaels, HHH, and Earl Hebner. They were the unlucky 3 that were caught in the middle of this issue that was strictly between Hart and McMahon.Overall the movie itself is 8 out of 10. I still think the situation is ridiculous. If Hart would actually pull his head out of his ass and see his own mistakes, I'd probably have more respect for him. It seem's to me all he does now is just degrade everyone who talks about him in a negative manner. I thought Flair had some accurate points about him in his book. Not to which are completely unbiased, but Bret put up an article that degraded Flair's credibility. I know that he has suffered a lot of losses and that the passing's of Stu Hart, Owen, and the British Bulldog have made him all the more bitter about wrestling, but he has got to let the past go. If he cannot let go of his pride than I guess he proved Vince's words about him, right all along. Bret did screw Bret.
edgehead89 I really enjoyed this movie. It shows alot of th events leading up to the montreal skrew job and it also touches on Brets personal life. I think this movie really shows what a wresler has to go through and how it affects them.If you like the HITMAN or just love wrestling...pick this up. Its Great.