Rating: 
Summary: disappointing
Review: could have been much better if scorcese had directed it. check out raging bull a much better boxing bio from martin scorcese. i expected a lot more from ali. it dosent show enough of his amazing boxing career and as for his life outside the ring it could do a better job there to. except for his stand against the us government the film is very sketchy and blurry. will smith is not to convincing as ali. there are some good performances though. jamie fox is excellent as bundini brown. jon voight is very good as howard cossel. casting real life pro fighter and former world champion james toney as joe frazier was a smart move but hes underused in the film. the fight scenes especially ali vs foreman are well done. in short its ok but could have been much better
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: How could a film about Muhammad Ali be so excruciatingly slow, dull, and boring? Right from the word go, Michael Mann subjects the viewer to a string of pointless, drawn-out scenes which have about as much direction as a music video (indeed, this film has an ever-present soundtrack). This is one film that really feels like it's going nowhere. Will Smith's Ali is also a very muted character. When Ali's famous words, "No Viet Cong ever called me 'nigger'," come out, in what feels more like an impersonation of Mike Tyson than Muhammad Ali, the film has created little context to give such a bold statement any force.Perhaps having seen many times the excellent documentary film, "When We Were Kings," had an effect on how I viewed Mann's film. Despite its limited running time and narrower scope, When We Were Kings has a clear plot, creates a real sense of occasion, and leaves you with a stronger impression of who Ali was. It would be fair to say I was expecting something similar from Mann's film but with a wider scope. Whatever Mann's "Ali" was trying to be, it is a film that is not worthy of its subject.
Rating:
Summary: Uh, what happened?...
Review: I think Michael Mann forgot to have something happen in this movie. This film is about 120 minutes of slow-motion training shots, 20 minutes of actual boxing and 20 minutes of actual story. Muhammad Ali is an interesting person with a fascinating story, so why only tell part of it? Why stop after he returns to the ring? You've given the movie no real ending or closure. Aside from this, the performances are great. Will Smith is at his best as Ali and John Voight is wonderful as Cosell. I just wish there was more fist in "Ali's" punch.
Rating: 
Summary: What can I say....
Review: This was a good movie, it had some good details and did have a lot of good points. Will Smith was basically the best actor to play Ali, I really cant think of anyone else who could really fit the role. Smith's size wasn't that great for the movie, he was always shorter then the other fighter's, in the movie Ali is shorter then Liston, in reality he was taller. In the movie he's skinnier and shorter then Frazier, in reality Ali was taller and weighed more. In the movie he is tiny compared to George Foreman, in reality he was almost exactly the same size. Sometimes Will Smith does seem to really capture the Ali character, sometimes he's just Will Smith. His voice was a little to deep, but he did do a generally good job in imitating Ali's famous voice. In a lot of movies based on true stories the actor will end up exaggerating the person he is trying to portray, in Ali however Will Smith no matter what he could do was no where near as shocking and exciting as Ali was. The fight scenes where good, but when I say good I mean it look's realistic, but they where completely different from the real fights. In Ali-Liston I, the actor who plays Liston does look pretty much like Liston did. Will Smith really doesn't, and really wouldn't be able to, capture how quick and agile Clay (He doesn't become Muhammad Ali until a little after he fight's Liston) was, they would have been better off just showing clips of the real fight rather then trying to recreate it. After the first round, the movie shows Liston continually hitting Clay after the bell, and Angelo Dundee Ali's trainer says that Liston is hitting after the bell etc. making Liston look like he was cheating and hitting after the bell on purpose. In reality, Clay and Liston continued fighting after the bell because apparently they couldn't hear the bell, it took about 10 seconds for the referee to hear the bell and stop the round. Then at the end of the fight Will Smith really isn't able to capture the moment of how crazy Clay went after winning the championship. The next fight was between Liston and Ali, from what I remember about Ali-Liston II the fight scene was accurate. The next fight with Terrell is pretty acurate. The next fight was Ali vs. Quarry, which was pretty good and the actor who played Quarry was a pretty good look alike. The next fight was horrific. The actor who they got to portray Frazier looked nothing like Frazier, at all. In another movie this wouldn't matter, but this is a Boxing movie based on real events, so details like the person's height and weight are important. The guy who played Frazier was 2 times bigger then Will Smith, in reality Ali was 4 inches taller and 10 IBS. heavier then Frazier. The next fight was even worse, I cannot describe what a distortion it was. The next fight, the Rumble in the Jungle, was between Ali and Foreman. I guess what they were trying to do was show the suprise of the Ropa Dope and how it confused the viewers of the fight and made it look early on that Ali was getting beat on, but as the fight went on people began to realize that Ali was trying to tire Foreman. But in the movie it look's like George Foreman just beats on Ali until the last round then Ali get's lucky comes back and knocks him out. In real life, Ali beats on Foreman for 8 rounds, then finaly end's it by catching Foreman with a combination. Now, the actor who plays George Foreman looks like Foreman, and would have been a great choice except he was about 10 inches taller then Will Smith and weighed about 40 pounds more then him. In reality, Ali and Foreman where the same height and Foreman weighed just a few pounds more. If you want to get a good idea of how awful the fight scenes where, get "Ali's Greatest Fight's," watch Clay-Liston and Ali-Foreman and you will see what I mean, and you will also see Joe Frazier in the Thrilla in Manila (which wasn't in the movie) and will see the disproportionate size of Ali and Frazier. The next problem was the movie scrambled up a lot of stuff. In the movie before Ali fight's "Frazier" Ali goes on Howard Cossel's show and does this big rhyme "Ali swings with his left, Ali swings with his right..." But he actually used that rhyme for Liston, not for Frazier. Jimmy Ellis was the broadcaster at Clay-Liston, but in the movie they get Howard Cossel for it (The actor who played Cossel was a really good look alike, the guy who played Liston and the guy who played Cossel where very good, the one who played Foreman was also good, except he was seven times bigger then he was supposed to be.) In the movie Ali and his second wife break up after the Foreman fight, in reality they broke up after Ali-Frazier III, the Thrilla in Manila. Now, if you bothered to read this entire Review you might be asking "If this movie was such a distortion, why did you give it 4 stars?" I give it 4 stars because it was a good movie, Smith was a good choice, it simply wasn't that accurate. They should remake this movie, make Smith gain 25 pounds, shrink the guy who plays Foreman, get a different guy to play Frazier, make it more history based, and instead of remaking the fight scenes they should just show clips of the actual fights.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: I have not walked out of a movie since "Time Bandits". This one was awful- I had no interest in how it ended- Will Smith was fair but the story lacked substance. What a a disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Cast delivers, but it is no knockout
Review: This is a tough movie to not be very enthusastic about. It is the story of an American icon, his flaws and heroics on display for all to see. It has a terrific cast, including Will Smith as Ali, Jon Voight as Howard Cosell, and Ron Silver and Jamie Foxx as the two men supporting the great champ in his corner. So I want to really love this movie, but I can't. The acting is terrific, but the movie does not move as well as it should. The Director, Michael Mann gives us some interesting style moves, but I think fails to get us inside Ali. I guess if you liked his film Heat, you will like this one as well, because it is the same style of filmmaking. I still think The Insider and Last of the Mohicans are his best work. Smith deserved the Oscar nomination for his performance here and he continues to expand the expectations we have for him. The disc itself is also not what it should be. A poor selection of extras is included with the movie. It continues to amaze me that they release these discs without the extras that the public would enjoy. There is an amazing amount of terrific items that could have been included about Ali, boxing, even the role of TV in sports. My advice is, if you love the movie, wait for the special edition, if there is one, before you buy this.
Rating:
Summary: The perfect role for Smith
Review: The guy can't act, sing or dance. So to cast him as a boxer who took one punch too many is believable. Can't Will Smith just disappear like DJ Jazzy Jeff. I'm so sick of him. Dang peanut head.
Rating:
Summary: Good while it lasts, but why couldn't it have been more?
Review: I was never alive back when Muhammad Ali was king of the world in the boxing arenas, but I've watched a good number of his fights on a great channel called Classic Sports Network. I was always impressed with his skills as a fighter and his cheekiness and trash talking was usually humorous. In other words, I'm a Muhammad Ali fan. I rented "Ali" after hearing all the praise that it's received from the start, even though I'm usually not a fan of biographical movies. During and after watching the movie, I had feelings that resided on both sides of the spectrum. The movie lasts about two and a half hours. During those two and a half hours, the movie is entertaining and it may even show you some things you didn't know about Muhammad Ali (I learned some new things). On top of all that, Will Smith does a really good job of portraying Muhammad Ali's old personality (harsh sense of humor, saying anything and everything he wants, etc.), while also fighting like the classic boxer (yep, you'll even see the famous shuffling of the feet). However, when the movie was over, it left me disappointed. One, it mainly just shows the things that Muhammad Ali went through during parts of his boxing career. What did Cassius Clay grow up doing? What were his parents and siblings like? How has he adjusted to life after getting Parkinson's disease? And the list could go on and on for several more lines. On top of that, it's not even comprehensive when it comes to his boxing career; it doesn't even mention many fights such as those against Larry Holmes. Pretty much, the movie ends all of a sudden and it will leave you asking many questions. It's a prime example of a film with a MAJOR cliffhanger involved. But like I said, it is a good movie and it's entertaining while it lasts. If you're a boxing or Muhammad Ali fan, I would recommend renting "Ali" before buying it.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Movie - DVD [is bad].
Review: There's nothing special about this DVD. Nothing extra, nothing but the movie. Don't waste your money on it. Instead, wait for the special edition that's bound to come out in the months ahead that'll have everything this doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: "And the challenger... er, um, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?"
Review: I'm sorry, but I just couldn't resist that one. I been wanting to say that ever since this movie first came out. All jokes aside though, Will Smith really does turn in a pretty convincing performance as one of the most exciting and provocative figures in history. The heart and passion he put into his performance is clearly evident, and that's something you just have to admire. And I honestly wish I could base my opinion solely on his performance, so I could give the overall movie a higher rating, but, alas, a real fan or critic just can't fairly do that, so I'm forced to look at it all wich doesn't measure up unfortunately. After all the hype surrounding this movie, dating all the way back to when it was in the development process and the talk in the rumor mill of all the training that Smith was undergoing to muscle up and really tackle the role, I just had really high expectations for it. But, the finished product is just less-than-stellar. And most of this is due to an incredibly choppy and confusing script. One of the big problems with the writing is that it leaves several crucial points unresolved, for example it never goes into depth about the failures of Ali's first two marriages. Instead it breezes right by the problems and tensions as if they're just trivial little facts. This belies another problem in this movie which is the chronological order of events. It's not that it doesn't follow the chronological order of Ali's life, but it never lets us know EXACTLY WHERE we're at. We're given a date of 1964 at the beginning, but after that nothing. Are we just s'posed to figure it out for ourselves or be able to follow along well enough to know when a year goes by, two years? And Smith doesn't really age at all over the course of the film so that makes it even more difficult. So that aspect of it really aggravated me. Most of the cast have good chemistry together, and a few of the supporting players actually turn in excellent work as well, particularly Jaimie Fox as "Bundini" Brown, and John Voight, who gave an incredibly authentic performance as Howard Cossell. Nona Gaye's breakthrough performance as Ali's second wife Belinda, is quite admirable considering she was given very little to work with. Basically, a few re-writes in the script and maybe a different director would've suited this movie just fine. That's not to say that Michael Mann hacked 'Ali' up for all it was worth; it's a very beautiful-looking film, using popular music from the '60s and '70s quite well to heighten the emotions of some scenes as well as give an authentic aura of the time period, but the overall feeling is style over substance. I like Mann as a director, he's done good work in the past with movies like 'Heat' and the widely-acclaimed 'The Insider', but he just wasn't the right man for the job. The only two moments of the film which really grabbed my attention were Ali's emotional reaction upon hearing of Malcolm X's death, and the final boxing match in Zaire with George Foreman, so I'd say to at least rent the movie for those scenes alone, as well as to see some of the great performances. Just don't expect to be totally grabbed by it all. The DVD has basically no features, which kind of surprised me, but didn't really bother me, since I don't really care about the details of how this film was made. All I would've cared about is maybe seeing some interviews with the real Ali, and maybe some television archives of some of his boxing matches and press conferences. Now, don't let my dryness fool ya, this is NOT by any means a terrible movie. It's just it could've been much, MUCH better.
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