James Toback lets Mike Tyson talk at length about his interesting life, beginning in Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York, a rough and tumble and drug and gang infested neighborhood. It was survival of the fittest at its lowest level.His rise after father figure and trainer Cus D'Amato makes him into a great boxer and eventually heavyweight champion is a compelling documentary; one of the best I have ever seen.Mr. Tyson is refreshingly candid and articulate about his many mistakes, he never makes excuses for his actions. The deep sadness after the death of Cus D'Amato when Tyson was 19 is the turning point in the former champs life, he was changed forever without his mentor. A sad story, but a very human one and a great film.

Director James Toback's insightful documentary "Tyson" does not pull back any punches on the controversial & eventful life of former heavyweight boxing champ Mike Tyson. The uppercut of this doc is that it investigates its subject matter solely featuring none other than Tyson himself. No one else besides Mike Tyson is featured in documentary disclosures throughout the flick. Tyson is not chicken to disclose his feelings on his contentious life including his: impoverished childhood, boxing mentor, rise to the top, rape conviction, prison experience, Buster downfall, "eary" cannibal craving, drug addiction, and a few more Tysonisms. Toback does not orchestrate the film as a 90-minute Tyson confession to glamorize Mike, but rather as an authentic perspective on a man whose self-centered behaviors knocked him down physically, mentally, and emotionally. The Mike Tyson bio footage revealed throughout the documentary accentuates Mike's revelations of his life. The film does not present Tyson in an altered state but in more of a self-realization state. Nevertheless, "Tyson" make you root for Mike Tyson to win the game of life, even through all its technicalities. Lesson of it all: "don't be like Mike" and Iron Mike is the first one to say it in this doc! My unanimous decision is that the documentary "Tyson" does deserve its viewing rounds. And that is no raging bulls*it! **** Good

This 2008 doc is rather telling and revealing as anyone who was a Tyson fan and remembers his fierce glory of the 80's will be taken back in time to the domination. Yet at the same time you as a viewer will feel the pain and breakdown of iron Mike. Anyone who followed his life knows that Tyson was a tortured soul. The 1995 HBO movie was a good biopic, yet here this doc is actual showings of real footage and most touching of all is the words from Iron Mike. All during the film starting from day one when he tells about his troubled and rough upbringing on the Brooklyn streets he had to be a thug to make it. It was the only real life that Mike knew.As he tells with each word the clips and footage is blended in nicely as the visuals give great meaning to Iron Mike's words. The story is all familiar just this time you get Tyson's take and many will judge for themselves I still don't feel sorry for him I do feel though that he was a tragic figure who was a product of a bad environmental upbringing. Yet many moments that you see along with Mike's words are touching especially as he describes his relationship with the man who found him and helped Mike start it all that's legendary trainer Cus D' Amato. As it was touching to see the footage of how he helped guide Mike along not only in the ring, but also take him in off the streets to a good home. Tyson even gets emotional as he describes the death of Cus that's even a moment you as the viewer feel touched with sadness. Because the first and only person to have every really loved Mike passes.Also uplifting is seeing the footage of when Mike captured the heavyweight title becoming the youngest champion of all time in the sport. Gradually along the way the pitfalls and traps are showed as Iron Mike opens up about them candid and very brash like as he calls manger Don King trash as clearly Mike feels he was a devil who wanted money. Mike openly talks about his marriage failure to actress and beauty queen Robin Givens as maybe he felt as said in his own words his lack of love and not being around or open to female companionship at an early age hurt his first love experience clearly Robin was bad lust. Along the way the high of money and fame eat away at Tyson as he said it contributed to his losing the title to Buster Douglas in 1990.Then more problems followed as his anger couldn't be controlled one thing after the other the 1991 rape conviction and prison sentence. To his ear biting incident of Evander, to his own saying that he no longer loved boxing. Overall great doc from James Toback it was nice to hear from Iron Mike in his own words clearly he said it himself he's a tragic and doomed man. Like him or not it was good to hear from a once tragic legend who for a short time ruled the boxing world and the footage was a great history blast from the past taking you back to his glory days of the 80's. "Tyson" is clearly one doc to check out that's especially if you were once a fan and remembered his days of being king more interesting was to hear his side of his rise and crash.

In the 80s and early 90s nearly everyone in the United States had an opinion of Mike Tyson. Chances are that if they did not watch boxing that opinion was very negative, but for those of us that did watch boxing we were a bit torn. Before the rape conviction, prison sentence, and subsequent ear biting (insert joke about 'Tyson being the hungrier fighter' here) we watched a boxer the likes of which we hadn't seen. A brilliant strategist, with speed, and power unrivaled in his era Mike Tyson was to boxing what Tiger Woods is to golf today. Furthermore he was nearly always the smaller fighter and we as a people tend to root for the little guy possibly because of our winning the Revolutionary War against Mother England. But then it happened, Mike Tyson was accused of rape and the downward spiral began. You couldn't help but want to see him continue competing, but if these allegations were indeed true how could you reconcile it? We all know what happened after that and chances are very few opinions of him improved.This documentary is Mike Tyson walking you through his life in his own words. From his troubled youth, to his start in armature boxing, all the way through his ultimate demise, with a lot of relationships sprinkled throughout. He takes very little responsibility for any his trials which probably won't help anyone's opinion of him, but listening to him tell his story was wonderful.It's a pity this documentary was filmed prior to the death of his daughter, I'd like to know how it happened from his perspective and how he dealt with it.