ESPN's 30 for 30 - One Night in Vegas

[Wooderson]

ESPN's 30 for 30 - One Night in Vegas
Directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood

Premiers tonight @ 7:00 p.m. on ESPN

On the evening of Sept. 7, 1996, Mike Tyson, the WBC heavyweight champion, attempted to take Bruce Seldon’s WBA title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. At this point in his career, Tyson’s fights had become somewhat of a cultural phenomenon, where the ever present hype of the professional boxing scene would come face to face with the worlds of big business, Hollywood, and hip hop. Sitting ringside was controversial rapper Tupac Shakur. Shakur and Tyson were friends, a feeling of kinship linked them as each rose to stardom from poverty only to be thrown in prison. Following Tyson’s victory, Shakur and “Iron Mike” were to celebrate at an after party, but the rap star never arrived. Shakur was brutally gunned down later that night, and the scene in Las Vegas quickly turned from would-be celebratory revelry to ill fated and inopportune tragedy. Director Reggie Bythewood, with the full cooperation of Mike Tyson, will tell not only the story of that infamous night but of the remarkable friendship between Tyson and Tupac.

[bedeviledegg]

Can't wait for this one. I thought last week's Little League one was flat, but in general, I find these documentaries more interesting than most things on TV.

[TouchdownTexas]

How do you want it....

[chillywillywall]

anyone know where i can watch these online?

[spankytoes]

Fuck Biggie!

[mez2]

ain't nutin but a gangsta party.

[Mitch Cumsteen]

I was in Vegas that night. Pure craziness.

[BigOrange]

definitely going to watch this.

[EddieMoney]

I like how celebrities can be 'friends' simply from hanging out a few times and a prison visit. The biggest things they had in common is that they signed bad deals with pimps (Tupac to Suge Knight, Tyson to Don King) and were completely whored out... oh, and they were both rapists.

The only thing this show accomplished was it raised an easy to answer question... were Tupac's untimely death and Tyson's inability to ever capture another title tragic events or destiny based on how they carried themselves. These two guys were arrogant hot heads who exemplified what people hated about their respective professions.

[SizzleChest]

This was not one of the better 30 for 30's. Bottom 25%, imo.

[BigOrange]

yeah that wasn't very good.

[mycoxaphlopin]

I like how celebrities can be 'friends' simply from hanging out a few times and a prison visit. The biggest things they had in common is that they signed bad deals with pimps (Tupac to Suge Knight, Tyson to Don King) and were completely whored out... oh, and they were both rapists.

The only thing this show accomplished was it raised an easy to answer question... were Tupac's untimely death and Tyson's inability to ever capture another title tragic events or destiny based on how they carried themselves. These two guys were arrogant hot heads who exemplified what people hated about their respective professions.

I never understood the fascination with Tupac. Just a thug who liked to rap.

[EddieMoney]

I'd have to say the only decent part was after Mickey Rourke got done talking about drinking champagne with mike tyson with their shirts off in a club where they were planning on jumping some guy who may or may not have done something to Rourke's wife and they ended up not beating his ass was my business partner saying "cool story bro."

[EddieMoney]

I never understood the fascination with Tupac. Just a thug who liked to rap.

I never understood the fascination with (insert random 'misunderstood' celebrity). Just a thug who like to rap/hoop/box/run/

[H34TX]

Tupac was one of the best ever - top 5. But if you hate rap (understandable) then you won't appreciate it.

[Soul Glo]

Yeah that basically sucked

[EddieMoney]

Tupac was one of the best ever - top 5. But if you hate rap (understandable) then you won't appreciate it.

Pretty sure there have been some darn fine Tupac documentaries (and if not I'm sure someone could make one)... this crap had comic book drawings spliced with random interviews with Maya Angelou (as played by Morgan Freeman), Al Sharpton, Mickey Rourke, and other clueless and irrelevant people. Oh and the kids yelling at the camera while standing in the boxing ring was a nice touch. And by 'nice' I mean fucking shitty.

I know Tupac is in fact dead because he would shoot whoever was responsible for making that and whoever was responsible for allowing it on TV.

[Blotto]

The last two episodes have sucked ass. They need to pick it up, but I dont have high hopes for the next one....."Unmatched" - The friendship and rivalry of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

[neverwenttoUT]

Had high hopes for this one but it was very underwhelming. I am finding the the ones I think are the best are the ones I don't necessarily have high expectations for or is something that doesn't originally interest me. I guess the less you know about the situation the better it will be. I would have to say so far off the top of my head my favorite is the "The Two Escobars"

[BigOrange]

i haven't watched many of these but the two that have really stood out to me were "run ricky run" and the oj simpson one.

[scottsins]

I never understood the fascination with Tupac. Just a thug who liked to rap.

You have no idea what you are talking about if you think this.

[gs1]

Ah yes the night of my fourteenth birthday. Good thing I had read a (bad) review and tonight's showing confirmed that review. I had seen the trailer too, which was the first 90 seconds of the film. Even with that, the worst was when they brought Suge on. C'mon son!

[gs1]

I hear the OJ one being praised consistently but I've only had the chance to see the first 35 minutes or so. From what I saw it was good. I think the best one that I've seen is easily "Two Escobars". After that "Run Ricky Run" stood out for me.

[mycoxaphlopin]

You have no idea what you are talking about if you think this.

I may not know a lot about rap, but I do know Tupac was a punk ass thug.

[Meursault]

It coulda been better, but Pac is my mang, mang.

[mycoxaphlopin]

I guess my edit time was alloted. Just wanted to point out I do like NWA, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Ice T, and Dr. Dre from that era.

That's all I have to say about that.

[HenryJames]

Should have made it about NBA All Star weekend.

[Lechuza]

I started it last night, but did not make it past the opening monologue or whatever the hell that was. Will delete later. I'm looking forward to the episode on Tim Richmond in October.

[Soul Glo]

the 2 poets in the boxing ring made me hit mute multiple times. and the comic book angle was dumb

[attorney512]

much too cartoonish, had great potential, tried to be too artistic .. fail

[CaptainEd]

the 2 poets in the boxing ring made me hit mute multiple times. and the comic book angle was dumb

i did the exact same thing. very underwhelming and it offered no new details to either of their stories.

[Bundaberg Bob]

Had high hopes for this one but it was very underwhelming. I am finding the the ones I think are the best are the ones I don't necessarily have high expectations for or is something that doesn't originally interest me. I guess the less you know about the situation the better it will be. I would have to say so far off the top of my head my favorite is the "The Two Escobars"

Yeah, "The Two Escobars" was by far the best.

[In10se D]

I guess my edit time was alloted. Just wanted to point out I do like NWA, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Ice T, and Dr. Dre from that era.

That's all I have to say about that.

So you hate Tupac for being a punk ass thug but you like Eazy E and those others who were thugs too? Doesn't make any sense

[jonblaze]

Seriously some wack logic mycoxa... Anyway, I thought it was enjoyable. Eddie$'s points on them and celebrities in general being friends are interesting but sometimes all it takes some random coincidence. They both clearly chose some bad paths but seemed to feel each other's pain/troubles imo. This plays into the whole rappers wanting to be athletes and athletes trying (wanting) to be rappers. Pretty neat to hear how 2pac laid that intro track down for the fight as well.

Also, how can yall ever knock hearing Iron Mike interviews??? Pure gold, literally wit his teeth.

[mez2]

The last two episodes have sucked ass. They need to pick it up, but I dont have high hopes for the next one....."Unmatched" - The friendship and rivalry of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova.

do they scissor?

[TouchdownTexas]

Eazy E vs. AIDS
Advantage: AIDS

Tupac vs. Automatic Weapons
Advantage: Automatic Weapons

[kevwun]

The little league one wasn't bad. Last night's episode and the one about Jordan sucked. The summary for next week sounds like a fucking lifetime movie. The story of two women's struggle to overcome being awesome at tennis.

[bedeviledegg]

What a let down. What was that comic book crap? I also hit mute with the spoken word. They should have let the story be the focus of the film instead.

[jonblaze]

The comic book may have tried to tie the whole "Mike and 2pac were superheros" story in but I can admit that it didn't really work too well. The spoken word stuff was just, well... spoken word stuff

[Ankf00]

So you hate Tupac for being a punk ass thug but you like Eazy E and those others who were thugs too? Doesn't make any sense

the point was that he doesn't have anything against the music, just that he doesn't get the whole glorification of the dead thug who used to make good music.

[spankytoes]

I fail to see the connection that Tyson had with 2Pac. So they shared a hug the night Tyson won and 2Pac was shot? An hour is a hell of a lot of time to expand on that.

Oh, and my favorite is still "The U" because I wallow in hatred.

[Surly Bevo]

The one in the future on SMU scandal and Dallas at the time could be entertaining

[NorthLoop]

I fail to see the connection that Tyson had with 2Pac. So they shared a hug the night Tyson won and 2Pac was shot? An hour is a hell of a lot of time to expand on that.

Oh, and my favorite is still "The U" because I wallow in hatred.

it was quite a bit more than "just a hug" ... they had visited eachother in prison and were friends

[Beef]

It was terrible.

[Mr.Dolemite]

The whole "slam poetry" comic book shit got old quick.

[PilotsError]

A documentary on Tyson would have been a fantastic hour and a half. Making it about one night and tying in Tupac was just retarded.

[Mitch Cumsteen]

That was unbelievably lousy and disappointing. They completely overlooked the societal forces at work. At that time, a Tyson fight in Vegas brought out every thug, pimp, gangster, and wannabe gangster in the country. We were hanging out in the MGM before the fight and it was a complete freakshow. The tension in the air was palpable. People talking shit to each other. People bumping into each other. You just felt like something was going down that night. Of course, all of this is mixed with the usual Vegas shit like random celebrities and hookers. It was nuts.

[In10se D]

the point was that he doesn't have anything against the music, just that he doesn't get the whole glorification of the dead thug who used to make good music.

He implied he doesn't like tupac because he was a punk ass thug, then proceeded to name off several other punk ass thugs that he claims to like.

That would be like you saying you hate the backstreet boys cause they're gay but then saying you love insync.

[mycoxaphlopin]

He implied he doesn't like tupac because he was a punk ass thug, then proceeded to name off several other punk ass thugs that he claims to like.

That would be like you saying you hate the backstreet boys cause they're gay but then saying you love insync.

Eddie Money said it better than myself. What he said.

[Wooderson]

FYI, this comes on again in a week, 9/30 @ 8:00 p.m. on ESPN2. After that, doesn't repeat for a while.