"Every time a wrestler releases a biographical DVD of their lives and careers, you will guarantee that I will own it within a few weeks. Although I wasn't even born when Bret Hart made it as a successful professional wrestler, he has become one of my favourites, so when he released this 3 disc biographical DVD, I just had to buy it! Well I do own nearly every wrestler's bio DVD's, so why miss out on The Hitman's?!"
●Who Is Bret Hart●
For those of you who don't know, Bret 'The Hitman' Hart, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, is one of the most talented professional wrestlers the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) has ever taken on, hence his long term tagline 'the best there was, the best there is and the best there ever will be'. He was already a successful well known wrestler before he joined the WWE; therefore the WWE gets credit for Bret's success! He is a son of Stu Hart, a legendary wrestler, promoter and trainer in the world of wrestling, who has launched the careers of many wrestlers including his sons, the two most popular being Bret and Owen Hart, The British Bulldog, Dynamite Kid, Chris Benoit and many more. Apart from having the surname Hart, Bret is also well known for his pink wrestling attire, pink circular sunglasses and his unique wrestling ability. For wrestling fans he is also known very well as a 'victim' of his former boss in the infamous 'Montreal Screwjob', making Bret even more popular before he left the WWE. Just before he was announced as an inductee in the WWE's 2006 Hall Of Fame, Bret released this 3 disc biographical DVD, which I start to review, below!
●Disc 1●
Disc one has Bret Hart telling us about his childhood, becoming a wrestler, personal life and career, with comments from many other of Bret's fellow wrestlers.
He begins talking about being born into the Hart family, which I mentioned before is the most respected family in the world of wrestling, due to Bret's father Stu. Bret was born to many brothers and sisters. All brothers became wrestlers, and all daughters married wrestlers. Fans of Bret's already know this, and already know a lot about Stu Hart, but Bret fills you in on what it was like growing up in Stu Hart's home.
Stu Hart owned Stampede Wrestling, the most famous federation to come out of Canada. Here he launched many well known wrestlers' careers, before Vince McMahon got a hold of them. Bret tells us about working for his father on Stampede Wrestling, and how he trained to be a wrestler.
Further into disc one, Bret tells us how he got into the WWE and the creation of the Hart Foundation, which for non wrestling fans was a clique that consisted of Bret Hart and 2 fellow colleagues, Jim Neidhart, one of Bret's Brother in laws, and Jimmy Hart, no relation.
Bret tells us about many other milestones in his career, including becoming the Intercontinental Champion, WWE Champion, his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin, losing the Intercontinental title to his much loved brother in law Davey Boy Smith, The British Bulldog, the New Hart Foundation which included Bret, Jim Neidhart, Brian Pillman, British Bulldog, Bret's brother in law and Owen Hart, Bret's brother.
Then comes the part which nearly everyone who bought the DVD wanted to hear Bret talk about - the very infamous Montreal Screwjob. For non wrestling fans reading this, the Montreal Screwjob at Survivor Series 1997 consisted of the CEO of the WWE, Vince McMahon, fellow superstar Shawn Michaels, and the very well known WWE referee Earl Hebner screwing Bret Hart out of his championship at the live PPV. Imagine going into a match knowing you are going to win, and then the referee calls the bell, legs it and you lose the title, without being pinned, without tapping out, without giving up! This wasn't a storyline, this was real life screwed up on live TV. Bret then tells us about his feelings towards Vince and Shawn Michaels, and goes on to tell us about his time in WCW, a rival wrestling company of the WWE.
Bret then turns to another topic the viewers of the DVD know that is coming. The death of his brother, Owen Hart. Bret gets very emotional talking about this, obviously, and it actually made me cry! You really feel for the guy, although he keeps strong, but you can sense his anger towards Vince McMahon, who had a part to do with Owen's death.
He also mentions his father's passing, which of course is a big loss not only by his family but in the world of professional wrestling.
●Disc 2●
Interviews:
9 short chapters of 'interviews' with Bret. They aren't really interviews; it's just Bret talking about a certain topic. These are:
>The origin of the name Dungeon, which is Stu Hart's basement where he trained all his wrestlers. Wrestlers and fans of wrestling know the basement as The Dungeon. >Being away from his family on Halloween. >How well the Hart Foundation got along. >Learning the sharpshooter, Bret's trademark move. >Owen Hart crank calling Stu Hart. >Family Tree, where he tells us the names of all his brothers and sisters, plus the sister's husbands, all well known wrestlers. >Learning The Ropes >Sunglasses. Talks about his famous pink sunglasses >Being A Villain. Talks about being a villain.
Tribute Videos:
>A tribute to Dean Hart, Bret's brother who passed away in 1990. >Tribute to wrestling colleagues that have passed away. These include, of course, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, along with Brian Pillman, Miss Elizabeth and many more of his close friends, who he misses.
Matches:
11 hand picked matches by Bret Hart. He says that these are his favourite matches of all time, and nearly all of them include The Hart Foundation, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog. Obviously, don't be expecting Bret vs. Shawn Michaels at Survivor Series!
●Disc 3●
Disc 3 has an extra 7 matches. Again some include Owen Hart, The British Bulldog and his submission match at WrestleMania 13 with Stone Cold Steve Austin.
●Overall●
I have many WWE Superstars DVD's and I am never unimpressed with any of them. But I knew even before buying this DVD that I would definitely not be disappointed with Bret Hart's. One thing I like about Bret apart from his wrestling ability is his respect for our country. He is part English, therefore has a lot of respect and always acknowledges and thanks the English. Bret revealed a lot about growing up in the Hart household with all his siblings, plus many wrestlers walking around his house all day. Having his thoughts on the Montreal Screwjob was interesting, of course Bret is the victim, so people side with him anyway. One thing that did annoy me is that because there is WWE footage, and the DVD is released as part on par with the company, Vince McMahon made an appearance at the beginning of the DVD saying how obliged he is to speak about Bret Hart's career on his DVD, and kind of apologizes about the past to us fans.
The extras on the DVD are ok, although I do think that there could have been a lot more of them on disc 2 along with what already exists. The matches on the DVD are very good. My favourite being Summerslam 1992 in London where Bret lost the Intercontinental Championship to his broher in law British Bulldog. Bret has always said in interviews that this is his all time favourite match, so I was glad that this was on there, as it is one of mine also.
Bret tells you all he can and the DVD is very interesting and informative of this wrestling legend. So if you are a fan of Bret Hart and don't own this DVD, then you should, because I recommend to all wrestling fans, whether you know Bret Hart or not.
The DVD is rated 15. It was released in the UK in January of 2006. I bought mine of EBay, brand new and sealed for £9, as it was £30 in shops when first released, so I did get a bargain. Amazon has dropped down to £24, £15 on Marketplace and Play.com for £24.
