Ali (DVD)

Born Cassius Clay, Muhammad Ali converted to Islam during the course of his boxing career, and turned his back on his Christian background and slave name. This was to colour much of his life outside of boxing; he divorced his first wife, for example, because although she converted to Islam herself, she refused to dress appropriately. He claimed that fighting in the Vietnam war was against his religious beliefs, leading to all sorts of trouble, including the possibility of a long prison sentence. Despite his personal life, however, he managed to stay on the top of his game in the boxing world, to become one of (if not the) greatest and most revered boxers this world has ...  Read the complete review

> Synopsis “Ali” is the biopic based on the life of legendary heavy weight boxer Muhammad Ali from the period 1964, where he clashed with the infamous Sonny Liston, through a decade to 1974 and the now famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight against George Foreman. > Opinion The first time I sat down to watch “Ali” I actually turned it off after about 15 minutes as it was nothing like what I expected. Not only did I expect a full biopic of his life from his early days but I also had become accustomed to the glitzy, highly polished biopics which Hollywood usually churns out and “Ali” is nothing of the sorts. Instead “Ali” ...  Read the complete review

If you like this review? He’ll go down in two. This is the movie to see. Will Smith is Mohammad Ali. I have been looking forward to this movie since I first heard of it. I was too young to appreciate the phenomenon that was and is Ali. I remember my father talking about the rumble in the jungle and the fact that the split glove saved Ali from what seemed like a certain beating. I knew that Ali was a boxer and that his catchphrase was “I am the greatest”. As kids, we would chant this to our vanquished opponents after a playground scuffle. But like so many people of my generation I was not aware of much more of the ...  Read the complete review

You have a list that starts with 'Manhunter', followed by 'The Last of the Mohicans', 'Heat' and then 'The Insider'. Sooner or later, you make this many films that are this good, you have to fail. Like a prizefighter constantly going back into the ring and getting a knock-out, you know that, in the end, Michael Mann, one of the most consistently interesting and intelligent of American filmmakers, he has to fail. And so, we come to 'Ali'. This is a film which could have, and perhaps should have been made by Spike Lee, with perhaps Denzel Washington (who has already played a boxer convincingly in 'The ...  Read the complete review

"Ali" is a 2001 biopic directed by Michael Mann and starring Will Smith as the legendary heavyweight champion. The film begins in 1964 with Ali's upset of the apparently unstoppable Sonny Liston and takes us through to 1974 and Ali's fight against the equally daunting George Foreman in Zaire. Along the way the film explores Ali's first marriage, his conversion to the Nation of Islam, friendship with Malcom X, ban from boxing for refusing to serve in Vietnam and - of course - his great rivalry with Joe Frazier. One of the problems with making an Ali biopic is that Ali's life was more outlandish and incredible than any film script. In a sense the ...  Read the complete review