☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

The Great White Hype

Play trailer Poster for The Great White Hype R Released May 3, 1996 1h 30m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
42% Tomatometer 24 Reviews 35% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Boxing promoter the Rev. Fred Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson) decides the best way to revive public interest in his top client's matches is to create a white challenger to his black champion, James The Grim Reaper Roper (Damon Wayans). With no white boxers available, he creates one out of dim grunge rocker Terry Conklin (Peter Berg), who once defeated Roper at an amateur match. But while Conklin trains hard, Roper slacks off, endangering Sultan's carefully staged comeback.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

The Great White Hype

Critics Reviews

View More (24)
Chris Peachment Daily Telegraph (UK) There is some fly dialogue, but it's not a knockout. Nov 28, 2017 Full Review Daniel Fienberg Zap2it.com The joke is often funny and the actors all look like they're having fun, but it's still a one-joke movie that falls short of its potential Rated: 2/5 Sep 10, 2005 Full Review Susan Wloszczyna USA Today As satire, Hype dares to play the race card but folds too soon. Rated: 2/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Justin Brown Medium Popcorn Not the worst but very far from being a serviceable film. I doubt there was really a script for this based on the ramblings of the actors in every scene. Rated: 1/4 Feb 24, 2022 Full Review Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn This was one of the worst sports movies I have seen. This was so joyless I almost wish I had just read the Wikipedia page instead of spending 90 minutes watching this... Rated: 1/4 Feb 24, 2022 Full Review Tom Long Santa Cruz Sentinel A knock out, no question. Dec 6, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (161)
Audience Member EASILY one of the most underrated comedies/movies of all time. Really, darkly hilarious with an all-star cast. Not sure what all the critical are talking about. Great White Hype also aged remarkably well for a 30 year old comedy. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/16/25 Full Review Audience Member This surprisingly humorous satire targets racism, specifically in professional boxing, and showcases how it has been packaged and sold back to the population to divide, entertain, and enflame emotions, all with the goal of making the biggest profit for whoever is doing the selling. Peter Berg and Jamie Foxx probably got the most laughs from me but the quality of this cast definitely was a surprise. This won't be a memorable film or one I'd likely rewatch but the short run time made for quick and diverting comedy that definitely, and sadly, did not feel over 25 years old. Samuel L. Jackson Binge: Jackson and the costume department must have had a blast here, with his outfits and hair styles what I will likely most remember about this movie. His character, the stereotypical bombastic and unaplogetically self serving boxing promoter, also looked pretty fun to play and is a role it is easy to imagine Jackson taking to quite easily and excelling at. SLJ January #22 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Audience Member a very good boxing movie with sam u l Jackeon Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member One of my all time favorite movies of any genre, definitely top 5 sports movie of all time. Yes, it is a satire, and it works every step of the way. Knockout performances by the entire cast; pun unintended. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member A very relevant film to share that has a shout out to Dolemite. GOOGLE: No fear SM radio program Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member boxing fans can appreciate this comedy. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Great White Hype

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Reginald Hudlin

Director

Samuel L. Jackson

Rev. Fred Sultan

Jeff Goldblum

Mitchell Kane

Peter Berg

Terry Conklin

Jon Lovitz

Sol

Corbin Bernsen

Peter Prince

More Like This

View All
White Men Can't Jump 75% 69% White Men Can't Jump Watchlist My Cousin Vinny 85% 87% My Cousin Vinny Watchlist The Full Monty 96% 79% The Full Monty Watchlist Tin Cup 74% 65% Tin Cup Watchlist Say It Isn't So 9% 32% Say It Isn't So Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

The Great White Hype

The Great White Hype (1996) The Great White Hype (1996) The Great White Hype (1996) The Great White Hype (1996) The Great White Hype (1996) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Boxing promoter the Rev. Fred Sultan (Samuel L. Jackson) decides the best way to revive public interest in his top client's matches is to create a white challenger to his black champion, James The Grim Reaper Roper (Damon Wayans). With no white boxers available, he creates one out of dim grunge rocker Terry Conklin (Peter Berg), who once defeated Roper at an amateur match. But while Conklin trains hard, Roper slacks off, endangering Sultan's carefully staged comeback.
Director
Reginald Hudlin
Producer
Fred Berner, Joshua Donen
Screenwriter
Tony Hendra, Ron Shelton
Distributor
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation
Production Co
Fred Berner Films, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 3, 1996, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 9, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$7.8M
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Surround
Most Popular at Home Now