Mohammad Ali, what can be said that has not already been said, he 'floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee'. I did not grow up watching Ali fights I was too young, but I do think that he every much as great as they say he is.
The film depicts Ali's success in boxing between the 60's and 70's. The film concentrates on his major fights entwined with the political imbalance at the time, especially that involving the black radical movement i.e. that 'Nation of Islam' and one of its most prominent speakers Malcolm x.
I think the film was very well done as a kind of visual tool, it allowed the viewer for me to feel some of the pressures Ali felt and the battles he had to go through within his personal life as well as his boxing career. In the movie Ali is depicted as a man very much in love with, what he does mainly boxing. There were other insights in the movie which centred on his religious and political beliefs, such as he denounced his name, because it was to him a symbol of slavery given to him by the slave master that governed his family; Cassius Clay changed to Mohammad Ali. The film had a professional feel about it, as though done as a well done documentary. I think Michael Mann the director was spot of with the screen textures, music and visuals he used, the film had an old 60's feel but still maintained a new feel to it. I do think they could have concentrated more on Ali's fights though as the main subject area, at times I thought I was watching Malcolm X. There are only three major fights feature, which were all will known ones, even I knew most of them from past information about the fighter, they are the Sonny Liston fight which Ali won at only 22 to become heavy weight champ: Joe Fraser fight which Ali lost and the famous 'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman. Will Smith acts as Mohammad Ali and he does a very good job it sounds like he has the accent and spirit of Ali down to a 'T'. He also put on some pounds for the role and trained, which did not do his career any harm.
In all this a good watch I think if you want a basic understanding or knowledge of what Ali was about. If you want a viewing of most of his fights this probably is not for you, you would be better advised to rent an Ali greatest fight video. This film did have that Hollywood style about it, I think this was due to two things; the spirit of Ali's real life character he is a very charismatic person and it almost sounds like he is reciting poetry when he is speaking, which was beautiful done by Will smith in this role I might add; Secondly just Michael Mann's ability to make dramatic films.
Some of my favourite quotes from the film before Ali was to fight George Foreman he said
" I will hit George Foreman so many times he will think he is surrounded"
And a quote in an interview,
" That man is so ugly the sweat runs off his head backwards to get away from his face"
Great watch! Cast -
Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Giancarlo Esposito, Jeffrey Wright, Nona Gaye
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 2003 - Action/Adventure - Director: Jonathon Mostow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristinna Loken, David Andrews
Production Year: 2002 - Action/Adventure - Director: Vincenzo Natali - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring:Lucy Liu, David Hewlett, Anne Marie Scheffler, Joseph Scoren, Matthew Sharp, Jeremy Northam
When i rented this i thought oh lord Will Smith the geizer playing one of sports greatest athletes will spell disaster but how very old/film noir the film looked i loved the bit when he runs in Africa with the local village kids,the rumble in the jungle gosh brilliantly depicted in the film and Malcolm X's assasination was deeply horrifying i found in the film,a brilliant review with all the nesesary detail and info.,well done(-:
smcccc 24.08.2005 00:34
Very good review.
jade_in_nexus 23.08.2005 19:33
fan of other will smith films but am not sure whether the topic of this film would be enough to put me off. good review just the same. Kim:)
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1964--when he took the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston--to 1974, when he took it back from George Foreman in Zaire. Along the way, the film looks ...
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Aliis a substantial biopic that follows the career of Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali from ... more
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Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 3 to 5 weeks...
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![Ali [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78534986.jpg "Ali [DVD] [2002]")
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