User reviews

It was a privilege to attend the World Premiere of this new documentary at the 2010 London Film Festival. Director Stevan Riley has made an exhilarating piece that describes the events which led to the West Indies cricket team rising from also-rans in the early 1970s to a fearsome, all-conquering force by end of the decade, and at the same time becoming cultural icons who inspired a generation of black people still struggling to emerge from a history of slavery and oppression.

The story is told entirely from the West Indians' point of view, and in their own words - this is not so much a discussion as a celebration of an inarguably glorious period of sporting history. The list of contributors is a cricketing hall-of-fame roll call: Richards, Lloyd, Holding, Roberts, Greenidge, Haynes, Garner and more are joined by other significant names from Caribbean culture. All are hugely entertaining orators who could easily have kept this relatively short production going for another 3 hours.

This is a film that should appeal to cricket fans, sports fans, and those not remotely interested in sport. A film full of entirely new interviews and perspectives will please the already-initiated, but the wider significance of this cricketing success make it accessible, and vital, viewing for everyone.

When i was growing up , the West Indies were the greatest cricket team in the world. I remember the great Viv Richards smacking the ball all over the place and the " Blackwash" tour of 1985 when The West Indies thrashed us 5-0 but i wasn't aware of the history of what happened years before then.

Fire in Babylon is a fantastic documentary film that charts the history of how and why these fantastic sportsman remain legends in West Indian sporting and cultural history.

This is the story told from the point of view of the players and some West Indian musicians and famous personalities. It's a mixture if interviews interspersed with some fantastic old footage.

These men had a grudge and not just a cricket grudge. They wanted revenge for history and i don't think the English realised it - in fact i know we didn't.

A group of people like these come along once in a lifetime and "Fire In Babylon" documents what they did perfectly.

Great Stuff.

This would be it. A very, very good example of the documentary film art, I think. I was a child in the 70s, and loved watching the matches and players referred to in this film, but had no idea what was going on off the pitch.

Of course the film makers have a point of view they are promoting, but since it's one that was NEVER heard elsewhere, it is certainly fair that they take the chance to provide a different context and some background to the very widely promoted views of the Windies pace attack of the time. The clear connection between the socio-political environment and the players' motivation was fascinating, and the graphic illustration of the shameless and shameful racism and colonial bigotry was illuminating. I can't recommend this film highly enough to any fan of sports documentaries.

It is a good watch for a cricket fan especially. But being a documentary, using wrong facts is enough to put off a lot of people who are able to catch the inaccuracy. And this documentary does it on more than one occasion.

In one of the matches in the 1976 series between WI and India, several Indian batsman were injured and had to retire hurt! Stevan Riley uses this fact and presents that Indians were demolished in the series by a fearsome WI team (when in fact the series was 2-1 in favor of WI and India had won one of the matches on back of a record 4th inning chase of 404 that was broken only in 2003 says a lot).

A more glaring inaccuracy: Stevan uses the video footage of a 1981 incident to depict that Indians could not face WI in 1975-76 series and walked off the field declaring their innings. The video footage is of an incident in Australia when Sunil Gavaskar threw tantrums on being given out lbw (possibly incorrectly) against Lillee and was walking off with his partner in disgust!

For a documentary to depict inaccurate facts is big turn off! It would have been OK if it was some 'masala' movie but definitely not for a documentary which claims to document some true incidents.

An excellent snapshot of an era in which the West Indies turned cricket's traditional order on its head and gave it all a soundtrack too through reggae music. It is told almost entirely through the viewpoint of the team members with the occasional burst of pride from musicians and poets, mainly through song and notably Bunny Wailer provides some excellent insight into the pride the islands took in their united team.

There was plenty said about the team by the (foreign to them) press and commentators as they raced to the top of test cricket but not so much credit so I think the film's solely West Indies angle is justified. The film also explores the legacy of prejudice that the West Indies team did much to expose. Corporal Jones always maintained that "they don't like it up them" and Holding, Garner, Roberts and Croft proved that it was true of us too. Croft's decision to tour Apartheid South Africa is given to the viewer to judge. Respect was earned and cricket changed with it. It may be a one sided view but you leave with no doubt that the helmet-less and pad-scant men that stood up to such bowling were brave souls too.

Great music, audience maturity respected, wince-inducing footage, some laughs and Sir Vivian Richards. An hour and a half well spent for me.

Let me start off by saying that I am a big cricket fan, and was looking forward to this very eagerly. I was very excited to get hold of a copy. It started off pretty well... It showed great potential by showing what was happening in the field, but then gradually, as the movie progressed, it began focusing more on the politics and other drama than cricket. That disappointed me the most! And of course, this is very much biased from the West Indies perspective. All the facts are not stated. Just the facts that support WI is put up. So overall, a disappointment! I had high expectations on a documentary/movie about cricket, with me being a big fan of Cricket!

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

A documentary by Stevan Riley, charting the rise of the West Inides cricket team during the late 1970s and early 1980s, from their humiliating defeat in Australia in 1975, which spurred them on to form an electrifying team that took on the likes of England and India, lifting the hopes of a people and a nation, from the sturdy leadership of Clive Lloyd, onto the enigmatic Viv Richards.

In documentary terms, Fire in Babylon is a relatively unremarkable effort, not playing out in any way that really breaks from genre conventions or offers anything you haven't seen before. However, the natural colour and vibrancy of the culture it's telling the story of manages to give it a real life and soul of it's own, that is in itself something different. ***

This movie captures the spirit of the times and invokes a nostalgia for all those who grew up in that period. The West Indies team of the 70s and 80s had the most naturally talented and passionate players cricket has seen. With their hard work and an unyielding approach to victory, they more than made up for their lack of resources. This made them the most exciting team to watch. In fact a lot of people of my generation lost interest in cricket with the decline of the West Indies. This movie reignites that fire inside.

Where this movie falters is giving too much focus on fast bowling. The West Indians were also great batsmen. Very little of it was covered except Richards. They were also athletic fielders and had great mental strength. Their victory over Australia was not just about intimidating bowling but was also about getting comfortable against Lillee and Thompson.

First of all, the movies has little to do with Cricket. If you are not a cricket fan, there is very little you will understand anyway. If you are cricket fan, there is nothing for you in it.

Secondly, it bends facts.

Yes, they lost to Australia 5-1 in 75. But the series was a good one. West Indies had won the 2nd test by an innings. WI had Roberts and Holding. They could have played the same game the Aussies did.

Now they talk about using the short pitched stuff against the Indians because they were at the receiving ends down under. That is not a fact. In that series in 76, WI won the first test. India won the second coming from behind and scoring 418/4 or something like that. Both Gavaskar and Vishwanath scored centuries. That was too much for WI to stomach. What they did in Kingston was disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful. All they did was to bowl bouncers on a track tailor made for their bowlers. They did not spare the tailenders. The crowd screamed for blood.

They were not as nice as they project themselves to be. They were perhaps the greatest cricket team. But one of the ugliest. It was a good thing India got its revenge in the 83 World Cup.

First off a warning! "Fire in Babylon" is for TEST MATCH CRICKET connoisseurs. If T20, IPL, ODI is your ball game then you are better off staying away from this documentary.

Having said that "FIB" is not just about cricket; even if you have just a passing interest in the game you can still enjoy it as the film is about issues as eclectic as the rise of Black power in sports, Racism,Rastafarian culture, the unification of Caribbean islands which appear as just drops in an mass of water on the world map as West Indies, commercialization of sports and leadership.

For me and for a lot of other viewers it could just be once in a life time opportunity to watch your childhood cricket heroes come alive on celluloid screen. Or just to experience the phenomenon of what it was like for a team to dominate a sport/any sport for 15 years like no other team did before or after.

The film chronicles the transformation of West Indian Cricket team from a bunch of calypso style cricketers (entertaining and talented losers) to world beaters and how once West Indians started dominating the sport it gave the self belief to other black people that they were second to none irrespective of what sport they were playing What Tommie Smith started with Black Power Salute at the podium of 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City reached its pinnacle with the release of Nelson Mandela from South African prison. The film touches upon these and other history altering moments such as use of 4 pronged genuine pace attack as a weapon of annihilation on cricket pitch, Bob Marley's influence on Viv Richards' batting, Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket and how it changed the very soul of the game. Cricket, here, is simply the centerpiece of a much broader emancipation process.

Best part of the movie is that even though West Indies were 2 time world champs in One day cricket, the movie makes no reference to it.

Maybe 87 minutes is too short a runtime, however I would have liked to see a bit more of Malcolm Marshall. In my opinion, he was no less (if not better) than Michael Holding and Andy Roberts. Its hard to imagine a line up of Caribbean greats without Marshall spearheading the pace attack.

Catches win matches and the world beating West Indians too were an outsanding fielding unit comprising of live wires Clive Lloyd,Viv Richards and Gus Logie. There is absolutely no mention of this aspect.

I have watched umpteen Bollywood movies (with the exception of "Lagaan") based on cricket which made me hate the game but finally here is a movie that made me fall in love with cricket all over again.

Cricket, a game so vast and important, have really lost it's way in past few decades. This documentary definitely shows the impact of cricket in colonies, and the psychology behind the sport in it's early modern days.

West Indies were champions, and this sporting lead is way bigger than many we have seen in other sports over the years. Cricket is underrated and these stories are getting the brunt of it, as they really struggle to get a reach.

As time progresses, it would be even more important to remember the colonial past as it will keep being distinct, and that will stop so many people from reaching their peak.

In the end, it's about sports, but the bigger theme is definitely human emotions, and fast bowling. Fast bowling is the most dangerous thing on a cricket field, and the sport is getting more and more difficult for them as the new ruled keep trimming the value of bowlers.

So, I believe that every cricketer, and decision maker should see this and learn the game from these legends.

Fire In Babylon is a documentary about the West Indian cricket team and their rise from cricketing lightweights to world dominators. There are elements of the film that are superb - its linking the teams determination to succeed to historical oppression, and the significance of the team to the region of the West Indies, provide insights that resonate. Furthermore, the film has selected a fantastic group of West Indians to interview - their passion for the team, outlined through story-telling and song, help the viewer to really see how much this team meant to its fans.

The problem with the film is that it only thinly describes the historical facts. As a cricket fan who knows little of this period, I still feel that I understand very little of the test matches that the West Indies played throughout its dominant period. The great innings, the great bowling spells, comebacks and sledging battles are only breezed over, and as a result the viewer is left with the sense of understanding the side to be dominant through its ferocious bowling attack, but understanding little of the actual games themselves.

Despite this it's a fantastic documentary and highly recommended.

Great cricket show. Way better than that stuffy body line one

As a lifelong cricket maniac, this is my jam. Have not even blinked once throughout the movie. The only regret I have about this movie/documentary is that they didn't show the last of the WI greats and my fav of all time, Sir Curtly. And Walsh and Co neither. Such a traet to watch that was. Hats off.

Being a huge fan of the game, i watched the trailer some time back and have that in my watch list. I got hold of the copy last week and watched yesterday. I must say, it took me by surprise. I am not saying it is a very well made documentary from cricket point of view, but what i meant to say is, its nothing there for its target audience which are "Cricket Fans" as far as cricket is concern.

Now the best part of the documentary is when it starts. The humiliating tour of WI to Aus, in 75. That is what put the things in motion and what followed was exactly what Aussies did to them in that particular tour. Right after that, the tour of India (I enjoyed that a lot) where India refused to play was an horrific but beautiful account from history at least from pace bowling point of view.

Comes the later part and it really disappoints as it shifts the focus from cricket to something else. Some less important if you are not a WI and a cricket fan, The altering egos and the politics. This is where it really gets messy. Now the point here is not what happen at that time, but what it yields after 10/15 years. Now if we take a look at WI they are at the rock bottom and its really hard to believe that it is the same country which produced legends of the game.

A documentary on the West Indies cricket team's rise to being the best in the world, and one of the greatest cricket teams the world has ever seen, in the late-1970s and how they maintained that invincibility in the 1980s. Among the interviewees are key members of that team, including Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Colin Croft, Joel Garner and Deryck Murray.

The West Indies cricket team of the late-1970s to early-1990s would be a candidate for greatest cricket team of all time. It was unbeaten in Test series from 1980 to 1995 and possessed an aura of invincibility. The players in that team include some all-time greats, many of whom are interviewed in this documentary.

The documentary does the team and the players' achievements great justice, showing how the West Indies learned from previous experiences to become a much tougher side and how once on top they didn't let the crown slip.

While the interviews with the players are great, the interviews with everyday West Indians highlight what the team's accomplishments meant to them. This said, the non-player interviews are also the only negative part of the film as some don't add anything and are quite unnecessary.

Set against a backdrop of colonial history and superiority, this is a cracking documentary that depicts the rise and sustained success of the West Indies cricket team that started in the 1970s and prevailed for over a decade. Using some remarkably good quality, and well researched, archive footage accompanied by some interesting quotes from many of the (now knighted) team members, Stevan Riley brings to life a wonderfully enigmatic story of ropey pitches, of lethal bowling, of just how this "gentleman's" game ended up with just too much at stake for both the Caribbean players and their, usually, English counterparts - to take on the chin. The rivalry is well illustrated and this features an impressively comprehensive list of contributors whose insight into both sides of the game - that was little short of war, in many eyes - is enthralling. I'm a Scot, ergo I'm no great cricket lover and the sight of the English team losing is unlikely to cause me to lose sleep - but this works hard to create a balance. It demonstrates how skill and determination made these Test matches the stuff of sporting legend from both team's perspectives. This really is well worth ninety minutes of your time, regardless of your interest in the sport - it shows the emergence from empire in a positive and often victorious fashion.

This documentary is just not for any cricket lover, but for someone who romanticizes with the game, particularly, with the Caribbean style. The documentary goes on to depict the stories behind those sensational victories of the great team of West Indies, throughput the 70's and 80's. The stories of fighting against colonialism, racism, prejudices, authoritarianism and divisional tactics of politicians, and how, the cricket team and its Captain Sir Clive Lloyd, goes on to win the game for his people, both, on and off field, by bringing the team together, through the thicks and thins.

PS: Micheal Holding's and Sir Vivian Richards' narration adds beauty to the whole experience. Long live Caribbean Cricket!