Bobby Fischer Against The World details
| Formats: | Ex DVD, Blu-ray |
|---|---|
| Director: | Liz Garbus |
| Genre: | Documentary - History |
| Studio: | LACE GROUP |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Bobby Fischer Against The World |
Ex Feature |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 33 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | 12 Sep 2011 |
| Main languages: | English |
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LOVEFiLM Review
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By Tom Charity from LOVEFiLMYou don't need to understand chess to find this documentary fascinating.
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Most helpful review
Too many glaring omissions
By amulk (6 reviews) , 01 Jan 2012[Highly rated reviewer]
[Highly rated reviewer]
This was a satisfactory but by no means definitive story on the life of Bobby Fischer. I was disappointed not so much by what was in the film but what was excluded. The most glaring omission is the lack of any kind of input from Boris Spassky, his opponent in the historic 1972 World Championship game, and again in his 'comeback' in 1992. There is very little discussion about his chess playing style and what made him such an intimidating opponent. From his final years, no mention is made at all of his time in Hungary where he apparently got to know the Polgars. It would have been fascinating to hear from Judit Polgar about both Bobby Fischer the chess player and Bobby Fischer the man.Such are the myths about Fischer's chess playing abilities that there were people who still believed that Fischer was capable of winning back the Championship even in his sixties. It would have been interesting to say the least, to hear Judit Polgar's opinions on such matters.
I hope we get to see the final word on Fischer some day, but this just was not it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(5)Chess Mania – The Sexing Up of Chess and Some Great Views of Iceland
By Tish2 (141 reviews) from London , 23 Jan 2013[Highly rated reviewer]
I know very little about chess but still found this documentary to be of great interest. The personal story of Bobby Fischer is very involving and includes many interviews with him, as well as strangely atmospheric footage of the World Chess Championship, which was held in Iceland in 1972. Stylistically this is quite a straightforward film, with talking heads aplenty, but with so much information to fit in it is preferable that content should win over style. For example we learn that his mother was a political activist and that the CIA held personal files on her, and that Bobby Fischer was of key use to the American government in their cold war fight against the Russians. He was also an egotist and in 1992 broke a UN embargo against playing any sporting event in Yugoslavia, and remained an exile from the United States for the rest of his life. He also rejected his own Jewish background, adopting extremist anti-Semitic views. I have to take this film at face value as I have no other knowledge of Fischer to go on, but overall it is a testimony to flawed genius, the fleeting nature of fame and the fragility of mental health. Oh yes, and on a lighter note this movie about chess mania also includes some great views of Iceland.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Too many glaring omissions
By amulk (6 reviews) , 01 Jan 2012[Highly rated reviewer]
This was a satisfactory but by no means definitive story on the life of Bobby Fischer. I was disappointed not so much by what was in the film but what was excluded. The most glaring omission is the lack of any kind of input from Boris Spassky, his opponent in the historic 1972 World Championship game, and again in his 'comeback' in 1992. There is very little discussion about his chess playing style and what made him such an intimidating opponent. From his final years, no mention is made at all of his time in Hungary where he apparently got to know the Polgars. It would have been fascinating to hear from Judit Polgar about both Bobby Fischer the chess player and Bobby Fischer the man.Such are the myths about Fischer's chess playing abilities that there were people who still believed that Fischer was capable of winning back the Championship even in his sixties. It would have been interesting to say the least, to hear Judit Polgar's opinions on such matters.
I hope we get to see the final word on Fischer some day, but this just was not it.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Fascinating but flawed genius
By CulturalTalesofTwoCities (19 reviews) from Manchester , 02 Nov 2011When I was 8 years old I remember the world, (well John Craven’s Newsround and my chess mad Dad at least), being gripped by the 1972 World Chess Championship in Iceland. I know it sounds a bit unlikely now but chess was big news back then, and this was billed as a Cold War show down between the prevailing world champion the Russian Boris Spassky, and the dashing young enigmatic American genius Bobby Fischer. A fascinating documentary about Fischer directed by Liz Garbus, which was on at cinemas for about two seconds earlier this year, has just been released on DVD.
This is a gripping but disturbing story, as the young Bobby starts his chess career at the age of 6, and pretty much plays chess to the exclusion of everything else in his life from then on. Fischer was born to a Jewish single mother and grew up in Brooklyn. From this film Regina, his mother, seems to have been a pretty intense character too, and as her only son grew up, they clashed more and more. They both reportedly had obsessive compulsive character traits, which may have helped Bobby to become a chess legend, but didn’t exactly represent a recipe for his future happiness.
The film charts the progress of extraordinary World Chess Championships, to which it was not clear up until the eleventh hour whether or not Fischer would even bother to turn up. Shots of Spassky waiting ever more impatiently to see if his chess rival from the USA would show are amazing. And as you may know, Fischer not only showed up, but triumphed in a tense and tightly fought contest which represented so much more than a chess game between these two unofficial representatives of the two then dominant world super powers.
After this victory Fischer’s life spiralled into an ever more tragic downward trajectory. His genius was his greatest strength and also his fatal flaw. He descended into a very strange anti Semitic shadow of his former self – strange and very sad considering his own background. He became a recluse and was only welcome in one country in the whole world, Iceland, the scene of his triumph years before. And even there he was barely tolerated before his lonely and untimely death. This film tells his fascinating story, and whilst not being an easy watch, does remind us that being a genius is not all it’s cracked up to be.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Twisted genius
By Scott Thompson from London, England , 18 Sep 2011Fascinating documentary about genius/madman Bobby Fischer. The title is no understatement - he really did see it as him against the world (commies, jews, US authorities, his mother etc etc, the man had a grudge against everyone). It's not an easy watch as much of Fischer's behaviour was appalling, mental illness or no mental illness, and it's a bit US-centric. Best chess player of all time? Nah, that was Kasparov, right? Still, it's a brilliantly put together character study and a riveting look at the convoluted world of chess.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Bobby Fischer - Completely flawed genius.
By RedValleyJohn (136 reviews) from Biggleswade , 28 Jun 2011I have never learnt to play chess and i still have absolutely no desire to do so but i can totally appreciate the skill and intelligence involved in playing the game . This film maybe encapsulates perfectly the affect that chess can have have on certain people who maybe are not the full ticket.
This fascinating documentary revolves around the life of American Chess player Bobby Fischer. A man who comes across as being a complete arse hole. Even at the hight of his powers he seemed to do his best to be disliked and versuccessfullyll at he he was.
The highlight of his career was his match up with the Russian , Boris Spassky , the current word champion. Spassky comes across as the perfect gentleman while Fischer is the complete opposite. He disrupts the showdown several times , siting money or camera positional problems but it all this goes to show is what a nasty piece of work Fischer really was.
I really enjoyed this film but i would have liked to have seen more coverage of the Spassky / Fischer match up.
The story starts so well but then it feels far too rushed.
The conclusion of the film is sad but not at all unHistoricallyistoritough it tought me a lot about maybe the most famous Chess player off all time , Bobby Fischer , even if he was the type of guy you would cross the street from if actually saw him.- Was this review helpful to you?
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