Churchill once said, of his memoirs of WW2. "This is not history, this is my case"The same can be said for Fire in Babylon - it is brilliant, moving and a must watch for anyone who loves the game of cricket. But it is one side's story.Some of these examples have already been covered by previous reviewers, but I'll add my take :The West Indies were one all with India in '76, when they caught them on an unsafe pitch and basically bowled bodyline. The Indians are no cowards. They held their own in a hostile environment.The traditional bogan VB-fueled abuse at the MCG is not particularly racial. Botham's paternity has been questioned on many occasions, as has Hadlee's supposed inter-species sexual predilictions. To act offended and then half an hour later say "if you cannot stand the heat - get out" is a bit hypocritical. Alvin Kalicharran was not mentioned. No-one would know that he was WI's best batsman in the mid 70s, and captained them when the rest went off to make money on the Packer circus.Which leads to -> there was a bit of Black-Asian tension in the WI in the 70s, and a feeling that some good Asian West Indians were being marginalised by the new regime. Some of those Asians joined the rebel team to South Africa. Maybe they felt "seriously embodied" with their struggling brothers and sisters in Uganda.For the sake of fairness, Tony Greig's grovelling crawl back to the pavilion could have been mentioned - he did publicly admit what an idiot he'd been. He made his amends by helping sign up the West Indies up to WSC thereby getting them the pay they deserved. Went on to become good friends with Michael Holding.It's a great story, but more Disney than Documentary.

This would be it. A very, very good example of the documentary film art, I think. I was a child in the 70s, and loved watching the matches and players referred to in this film, but had no idea what was going on off the pitch.Of course the film makers have a point of view they are promoting, but since it's one that was NEVER heard elsewhere, it is certainly fair that they take the chance to provide a different context and some background to the very widely promoted views of the Windies pace attack of the time. The clear connection between the socio-political environment and the players' motivation was fascinating, and the graphic illustration of the shameless and shameful racism and colonial bigotry was illuminating. I can't recommend this film highly enough to any fan of sports documentaries.

I had heard much about Windies cricket of the 70's and 80's. I had never understood why they were so aggressive. I had not understood how they became such great sporting giants. I think I know now. 11 guys from different islands form a team that makes them known around the globe. They left a legacy unparalleled to date in any sports. The people of Windies are proud of their Cricket. And why not they produced a team and legends that will live for ever in the pages of history. This documentary should be an example for other sports and nations as well. The only thing that could have made the movie more powerful would have been more video highlights, more action. Congrats to Stevan Riley for producing a wonderful movie.

Steven Riley's documentary starts with highlights of some fierce fast bowling and batsmen crumpling to the ground. Those violent but fulgurant images straightaway set the enthralling tone for the entire 80 minutes. This documentary tells us the true story of a social-rebellion by a cricket team. Riley very deftly manages to showcase the transformation of the West Indies Test Cricket Team from entertaining but lacking substance " calypso cricketers" to become vehement combatants.Documentary starts with the turbulent 60s and early 70s with racism in the world at its zenith and the West Indies Cricket struggling even to make a palpable mark in International Cricket. They don't have a leader in their team who can unite all the Caribbean players from different islands under one flag of West Indies. Not much time has passed since their liberation from the British colonial rule and the remnants from the colonial rule are still visible in all the islands of Caribbean. Citizens of all the Caribbean islands are still oppressed and they all need something to hold on to, something they can be proud of, something they can all boast without ignominy as being purely Caribbean. Enters, one of the best captains of Test Cricket History "Clive Llyod", who after the disastrous 1975 tour of Australia resolves to embrace the merciless tactics of their vitriol-hurling adversaries (Australians) for their own realization and thus starts one of the greatest transformations ever in sports history.The narration takes us through the formative years of West Indies test Cricket strengthening themselves as a veritable world power. From the calamitous Australian tour of 1975 to renowned "Blackwash" england tour of 1984, it shows all the political and the social ups and downs of West Indies cricket and its impact on the Caribbean society.Riley, while showing us all the political & racism related facets of those years and their impact on West Indies cricket, astutely manages to keep the prime focus on the strengths of West Indies Cricket. Documentary deftly and instructively tell us the about the unsubduable Viv Richards as their batting lynchpin, ferocious Pace Quartet as their bowling arsenal & Clive Llyod as their inspiring leader. Random musical numbers infuse a kind of Caribbean vitality to the documentary. The part describing the nicknames & strengths of the Fearsome Foursome "Roberts, Garner, Holding and Marshall" was simply awe-inspiring. These 80 minutes germinated a serious respect for Sir Vivian Richards in me not only as a batsman but also as a human being. Only down side with the documentary is Riley's exaggerated depiction of apartheid and racism in some shots.In a nutshell, this is the story of one of the greatest test teams ever, a team which wanted to beat their former masters in their own game and if you are a big fan of the game of cricket, you sure can't afford to miss this one.My Rating: 8/10, Not to be missed.P.S: Personally, I think " Whispering Death" is one of the coolest nicknames in sports history.