Freedom's Fury
Freedom's Fury
| 05 April 2008 (USA)
Freedom's Fury Trailers

A documentary on the 1956 Olympic semifinal water polo match between Hungary and Russia. Held in Australia, the match occurred as Russian forces were in Budapest, stomping out a popular revolt.

Reviews
Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.
Kamila Bell This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Abegail Noëlle While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.
MartinHafer Considering that the events in this documentary took place in 1956, most people out there (including myself) were not alive at the time and only know of the events through history books....if folks bother to read them. I am old enough, however, to remember much of the Cold War and when the US and USSR were at each other's throats--so the context for "Freedom's Fury" is something I do understand. But, with lots of young folks who were born after the fall of the Iron Curtain, much of this film might come as a surprise--and it's a wonderful history lesson about these tense times.Mark Spitz (yes, THAT Mark Spitz) narrates this documentary about the 1956 Hungarian Olympic Water Polo team and their match-up with the Soviet Union's team. However, before discussing this, the film spends a lot of time explaining the failed 1956 Hungarian revolt against the Soviets. All of the information is well presented--with the usual interviews and film footage. And, in addition to talking about these events, the film ends by showing a reunion of the team--along with a few members of the old Soviet team. I really liked this part--especially since it provided a bit of hope and a nice conclusion to the documentary. Overall, very well done, interesting, uplifting and well worth your time.
mwartoad I just came across this at the library. I am a big fan of documentaries and I have to say that this one is excellently made. The pacing is great. I love how they link the huge (Revolution) to the what seems less important ( a water polo match). I love this lack of separation. They really show well the consequences of living under a dictatorship and oppression. Also well shown is how a popular movement of regular people can make a difference. I also learned much about water polo and I much more interested than I ever was before.It is also a wonderfully paced and well edited piece. Great musical score. I also love that they are very fair and show all perspectives on the uprising. I really learned much that I did not know about this event.Having said this there are some bones I have to pick with them.A very minor one is that they make it look like the civil rights movement was inspired by this. That there would have been no civil rights movement without this uprising. Definitely, not true. The civil rights movement was going on long before 1956. I have also read nothing on the subject of civil rights that shows that they were directly inspired by Budapest.One big thing that was missing was the effect of the match had on a recently crushed people. That was a segment that should have been in there. Maybe some interview questions from the people in prison of what they felt when they found out about the results of the match.Having made these criticism, I still have to say that this a fantastic film. The positives outweigh the negatives by a huge margin. Not only, is this worth seeing, it worth seeing again and again. Definitely worth owning.
welshNick True story of the brutal clash between Hungary and USSR in the water polo pool at the 1956 Olympics. As the Soviet tanks were suppressing the peoples' uprising in Hungary, the Water Polo team decided to give the population something to cheer about by kicking the Soviets ass in the water polo pool. Narrated by Mark Spitz this wonderful film, with much archive footage, tells the story of that clash. It includes interviews with the surviving players and shows what the Hungarian people went through. The team gave the people at home the one thing that the USSR had tried to take away ..... HOPE. Everyone should see this film, not just sports buffs and I urge everyone, if they get the chance, to visit Budapest. Like a lot of Eastern Europe, it is a beautiful City and the people are most friendly.
Jeff Beachnau Very interesting documentary about the Hungarian water polo team that defeated the Soviet Union in the semi finals of the 1956 Olympics, and the Hungarian uprising against the Soviets that was going on at the same time. I had no idea any of this took place, so it was a very informative documentary. All of the surviving Hungarian team members were interviewed as well as some of the Soviet members and they told about their experiences before, during, and after the match.It was well made and well edited, the film-making did a great job with all of the material they had to go through to put it together.Produced by Lucy Liu and Quentin Tarantino and narrated by world famous swimmer Mark Spitz, I hope this film gets a wider release so that many people can learn about this amazing story.