The American Gladiators Documentary, a two-part 30 for 30 ESPN film directed by Ben Berman, takes an unconventional approach to the epic tale of the famed reality-competition show. From its humble beginnings in small-town Erie, PA to international stardom, the show's most charismatic figures finally tell their stories. But what begins as a traditional sports documentary soon gives way to bigger themes of greed, divergent narratives, and ultimately questions how history itself is written.
The American Gladiators Documentary
ESPN Films 30 for 30 and Vice Studios two-part film
Hot Docs premiere
Director: Ben Berman
Co-Director: Kirk Johnson
Editors: Jack Price, Rejh Cabrera, Mark Harrison, Adam Ridley, Carter Gunn, Ben Berman
Press
”[The American Gladiators Documentary’s] simple title intentionally belies a story rife with irony and wickedly sharp turns that ends up interrogating the filmmaking process itself. Director Benjamin Berman turns what was widely derided as barbaric spectacle into fodder for postmodern tragicomedy. This is a witty, mischievous, inventive but ultimately quite sad work, a worthy entry in ESPN’s enduring and consistently intelligent doc series.”
“The American Gladiators Documentary is partially an exercise in amused nostalgia and partially an industrious comedic shell game, a director chronicling his own process of trying to make a film that is complicated by his evasive primary subject. Taken on those playful terms, The American Gladiators Documentary is consistently entertaining across its three hours.”
“In some ways, the '90s-era TV show American Gladiators may seem like a strange subject for a hard-hitting documentary — and a strange topic to qualify as one of the best films at this year's festival. But in a Vice partnership with ESPN, co-directors Ben Berman and Kirk Johnson accomplished the impossible.”
— CBC News