AKA Cassius Clay DVD

Advantages: Gives insight into the life of ALI
Disadvantages: None, really

...WILL SMITH is an excellent actor. I can see why he was nominated for an academy award as a lead actor. I had a hard time thinking he was not ALI. He had the walk, the talk and the mannerisms I remember very little about ALI except that he was a great boxer. All my memories of him are recent. When I think of ALI, I think of the man whose body is riddled with a crippling disease. A man who has trouble walking. Not the determined, arrogant, but seemingly gentle man portrayed in this movie. I vaguely remember him not going in to the Army, and thought him just another draft-dodger. I did not understand his disgust at killing when he seemed so violent in the ring. The movie takes you through ALI’s early life. His first fight in the ring as Cassius Clay, his conversion to the Nation of Islam. His friendship with Malcolm X... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Excellent portrait charting Ali's life ...
Disadvantages: He had a few fights too many...

..."ALI" - 2 Disc DVD "It's hard to be humble, when you're as great as I am"! "I'm not the greatest; I'm the double greatest. Not only do I knock 'em out, I pick the round. " Some people can't abide the man ... thought he was arrogant, abrasive and a whole host of other such expressions. My Dad is one of them, but for me, he's a legend and as a BIG fight fan, I appreciate the context in which many of his comments and shenanigans were aimed. Even if I was good enough myself to be professional and lived in his period, I am glad I am a welterweight! Just leaves the likes of Ricky Hatton for me then ... dohh!! As the Beastie Boys would lament, Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Clay, certainly had the "skills to pay the bills!". There have been a number of movies made down the years charting the life and history of the famous Louisville... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful

Advantages: Acting fantastic, great cinematography, realistic fight scenes
Disadvantages: I didn't watch it sooner

.... "Ali" opens in 1964 as young Cassius Clay is training for a heavyweight championship bout against Sonny Liston. Scenes of singer Sam Cooke performing before a black audience are brilliantly intercut with scenes of Clay's training. Soon we meet Clay's quirky pal Bundini Brown (Jamie Foxx) and his trainer Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver), and we learn that Clay is spending time with Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles). It's not long before the movie reenacts most of the historic bout between the challenger Clay and the current champ Liston, who comes in as a 7-to-1 favorite. But Clay batters Liston so badly in the sixth round that he won't come out of his corner for the seventh, making Clay at age 22 the new heavyweight champion of the world. Shortly after winning the championship, Clay joins the Black Muslim movement and becomes known as Muhammad Ali. He... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful