The Great White Hype

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The Great White Hype

R

Released May 3, 1996

1h 30m

Comedy

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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.

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Chris Peachment

Daily Telegraph (UK)

There is some fly dialogue, but it's not a knockout.

Nov 28, 2017

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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

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

It starts out well, as a wicked satire on professional boxing, and then loses its energy, tires of juggling its characters and ends so abruptly at 91 minutes that it feels like the last reel is missing.

Rated: 2/4

Jan 1, 2000

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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

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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

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Tom Long

Santa Cruz Sentinel

A knock out, no question.

Dec 6, 2018

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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

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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

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Audience Member

a very good boxing movie with sam u l Jackeon

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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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

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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

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Audience Member

boxing fans can appreciate this comedy.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

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Reginald Hudlin

Director

Samuel L. Jackson

Rev. Fred Sultan

Jeff Goldblum

Mitchell Kane

Peter Berg

Terry Conklin

Jon Lovitz

Sol

Corbin Bernsen

Peter Prince

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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

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