Ali

Rating:
Summary: Just as good the second time! One woman's veiw*
Review: I knew from the first advertisement on television that this would be great. I could see it in the look on Will Smith's face. We were not disappointed. Will Smith's dedication to "become" Ali, is nothing short of amazing. We both grew up watching Ali in the news and in the ring. His sharp tongue infuriated my Grand Mother but intrigued & entertained me. Ali always had what it took to back up his mouth. This is true filming excellence, and Will Smith really takes and gives the shots. There are some things that can't be faked, and Will Smith did Ali the justice that he deserves. Also, the sound track envelopes you completely, making you feel the surge of the crowd and the energy of the moment. WOW. The only seats left in the theater were 4 rows from the front. Perfect. Almost "Ring Side." What a ride! Over too soon, we emerged from the theater pumped with adrenaline. We went to see it a second time. It's THAT GOOD.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT CASTING ! TERRIFIC ACTING! BEST MOVIE ABOUT ALI YET!!
Review: This is the best film done about Ali ever. Will Smith's performance at times was dead on perfect. There were moments where you saw Ali. Will Smith reminds you of what a charasmatic personality Ali was particularly in scenes when he is the boisterous and humorous Ali.

The film starts from Clay-Liston 1 and ends with Ali-Foreman. In between it depicts Ali-Liston 2 , Ali-Terrell , and Ali-Frazier 1(Frazier played by boxer James Toney). It focuses on his becoming a muslim , not going to Vietnam , and the relationships with his wives.

Jada Pinkett-Smith plays Ali's first wife Sonji , Nona M. Gaye (Marvin Gaye's daughter) plays his second wife Belinda and Michael Michelle plays his third wife Veronica. All three are very well cast in their roles. Their performances are effortlessly effective and all three look very beautiful.

Jamie Foxx does an amazing Bundini Brown. If you have ever heard Bundini Brown in an interview or seen his behavior in Ali's corner during fights then you will see that Foxx does a dead-on Bundini Brown. Foxx IS Bundini Brown. Jon Voight respectfully and realistically played Howard Cosell. Although under make-up his performance as Cosell is rich and humanistic. You didn't see a characature of Cosell but you saw the man. Voight and Smith together as Cosell and Ali excellently capture the rapport between the two icons. Even though Cosell essentially maintained his integrity as a tough reporter and interviewer with Ali there was an honest respect between them and it was well portrayed in the film. Look for those scenes.

Look for the scene when Ali storms out of the interrogation court room with reporters following him. The moment where Ali storms out while explaining to reporters his reasoning for not fighting in Vietnam got an applause from the movie audience. A terrific moment.

Mykelti Williamson plays a believable Don King. He pretty much perfects Don King's manner of speaking to a tee. Williamson proves he is a versatile actor. This is the same man that played Bubba in FORREST GUMP and here he is accurately portraying Don King. He even nailed the Don King laugh. Terrific stuff!

The only casting choice that makes me scratch my head is Paul Rodriguez as Dr. Ferdie Pacheco. I believe casting could have made a better choice to play "the fight doctor" than Paul Rodriguez even though he says little to nothing in the film. You have to look carefully to see that it is Rodriguez becuse its slightly difficult to recognize him.

Terrific performances all around in this film. Even if in some scenes you don't see Ali but see Will Smith his performance is still very good and there are great moments where he is extremely effective to the point that you see Ali and not Will Smith. The movie is over two hours thirty minutes but the time didn't bother me. I really enjoyed the film.

Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect
Review: This is one good movie. I expected a Pearl Harbor type disaster but Michael has shown why he is such a good director and Will Smith, such a good actor. So why I am saying almost perfect?
Well, the trouble starts if you know next to nothing about Ali.
By focusing on ten important years of Ali's life, a lot has been left out. What was Ali like as a boy ? Why did he start boxing ? Did he avenge his defeat by Joe Frazier ? For those who know a lot about Ali, there are questions like "what about the Thriller in Manila"? Surely Frazier was a lot more important than Foreman in the making of the Ali myth ? What about Floyd Patterson ? Why spend so much time on Malcolm X ?
The truth is this film could have been made in a million ways and it still would not have satisfied everyone. There is no way you can tell the Ali story,the full story, in under three hours of film. What there is, is a tribute to Michael Mann as a director. The casting was excellent and the fight sequences beautifully filmed. The last fight against Foreman was especially gripping and gasps echoed among the theater audience as Ali slugged it out with Foreman.
Some complain Will Smith does not capture the full essence of Ali. They complain there is not enough of the famous Ali wit on screen. Get this once and for all, no one can play Ali like Ali. After all said and done, Will Smith does a creditable job. Mann does not risk making a joke a minute picture and it's a wise decision.
I think it may have been the director's intention to leave the fans wanting more of Ali. I suggest you start with the award winning documentary "When we were Kings".

Rating:
Summary: Great film
Review: This is a long film, but worth it. Will Smith is great as Muhammed Ali. The film covers Ali's whole life. I am anxiously awaiting for the DVD. What a compliment to film!

Rating:
Summary: That feeling you get
Review: Like everyone else out there I have not yet seen the actully ALI movie staring Will Smith, and Jamie Fox. But after seeing a few trailers, and reading a few director/actor notes, I can fairely say that this movie will stand alone, in this new century of movies. Its that feeling you get when you first set eyes on someone beautyful, when you get your frist kiss from that very person that made you swoon, the day you fist laied eyes on them. The feeling that makes you grine from ear to ear. I got this feeling when i was sitting in the theather waiting to watch rushour2, a film by the way left me asking myself: Why cant jakie chan get a partner that complains 90% less than what chris tucker did. There i was watching movie preview after movie preview, all giveing people the action apeal that so many movies do these days. When there it was. IT took me about a minute to figure out who was playing the role of ALI, In the flim ...but i knew it was ALI. Then i saw it, a Classic image of will smith came up on the screen and a smile came over my face. Will smith portrays The "Great one" (ALI) like nobody else could have done. With the classic lines like "Im a bad, bad man" and "Im only 23 years old, i dont got a mark on my face!" I wanted to jump out of my seat and Yell "FINALY". finally, something real, final a story about a great man, played by a great man!" ALI, promises to be a wonderful, entertaining movie, with an eaqualy fulfilling story. I will be the first one inline for this movie. for the generation that never had the privalage of wittnessing Ali's greatness, This movie will give them an understanding and vison unlike any of his fights ever did. Not only will one get to see the fighter, but the man behind the gloves, And what made him.... "the greatest"

Rating:
Summary: Ali Bumaye
Review: Ali - The Director's Cut, takes about 20 or so minutes out of the original movie and adds about 28 minutes of new footage back into the movie. According to Michael Mann, both versions are truly director's cuts, and this one simply emphasizes the politics a bit more. This is what a director's cut should be. A true redo of the movie, not adding in an extended scene or two to get an "unrated" DVD to sell more.

Will Smith gives an incredibly powerful performance as Cassius Clay, aka Muhammed Ali. Mario Van Peebles does a great job as Malcom X, and Jamie Foxx is wonderful as Bundini. The movie shows how Ali was manipulated by his management, but also how he stuck to his beliefs.

Will Smith delivers the line so convincingly, it's amazingly powerful and heartfelt. Not only the lines, but Will also took real punches in the movie. They hired professional boxers to play Frazier, Sonny Liston, and and George Foreman, who were allowed to throw real punches at Will but stop at incapacitating him. The realism shows in the boxing scenes. The movie ends at the Rumble in the Jungle, an excellent place to end the story of Ali. We all know the sadness that followed later in life, but there's no need to go into it in the movie.

If you enjoyed the original version of Ali, definitely check it out.

Rating:
Summary: A TKO
Review: When I first heard that Hollywood was doing a biopic on the life of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, I thought it was a good idea, who's time had come. Although, Ali's boxing career had been in its latter stages, by the time I was old enough to notice such things, Ali transcends the sport. Even people who have never watched a boxing match in their life knows who Ali is. The fact that the film was being directed by one of my favorite filmmakers, Michael Mann, was also anorher plus. When I saw the film during its theatrical release, I thought it was a b it better than some of the very mixed reviews suggested. When the movie was originally released on DVD, I was disappointed at the lack of any commentary or extras, the director's cut disc, addresses those issues.

With wit and an athletic genius, that oozed confidence, with both defiance and inner grace, Muhammad Ali (Will Smith) forever changed the American landscape. Ali took on any and all opponents, inside and ouside of the ring. The law, conventions, the status quo, all got a taste of him - not to mention any fists put in front of him. Ali both ignited and mirrored the conflicts of his time and ours to become one of the most admired fighters in the world.

I thought Smith aquited himself very well with his performance as Ali. I was impressed by his ability to not come off like someone doing an exaggerated comedic turn. His transformation may not be 100% spot on, it doesn't have to be, to work out well. I compare how Smith works here, to the way Anthony Hopkins became his own version of Richard Nixon, in that film. Comedian Jamie Foxx, as Drew Brown, should have won the Oscar for his work. Foxx is pitch perfect, showing a dramatic side, he obviously kept well hidden. Jon Voight goes almost unrecognized as controversial sportscaster Howard Cosell, not quite as dynamic playing Malcolm X as Denzel Washington was, Mario Van Peebles is still pretty good, as is Mykelti Williamson playing boxing promoter Don King. Technically, Mann's film is nearly pefect. The director's cut includes a total of eight minutes that have been restored or re-edited. In a subtle way, the new version adds another layer to the story.

The audio commentary from Mann is very well done. The track is engaging, insightful, and never lags. Like the commentary for Manhunter, it's great to listen to Mann discuss how he does his things here as well. The exclusive making-of documentary is basically an HBO First Look for Ali. It's good to see on set footage though.

Ali is an even better film with the inserted/changed footage. Fans and admirers of Mann should pick this up. Anyone else should see it for the performance of Foxx.

Rating:
Summary: WHO REALLY WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?
Review: Will Smith proved to be spiritually lost when he appeared on Oprah to promote his "ALI" movie. He told the audience that there were more books written about Muhammed Ali than Jesus. Hey Will, First let me tell you that Jesus only put out one book, "The Bible" and second EVERY knee will bow (Romans 14:11) and call Jesus Lord, not Muhammed Ali. One more thing, if Ali is so great then why did your movie BOMB at the Box Office while "The Passion of the Christ" broke records? I guess you were mistaken about who people are more interested in. Can Muhammed Ali save you from your sins? Maybe instead of doing a movie called "I Robot" you can do one called "I REPENT." Remember that PRIDE comes before a FALL! WHO REALLY WAS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME?

Rating:
Summary: decent, amazing fight scene camera angles
Review: The best part of this movie was the camera angles in the fight scenes, but otherwise the plot is slow and tedious at best.

Does anyone know what the song is that is in th trailer for Ali on the DVD?

Rating:
Summary: Michael Mann's visual poem on the life of the champ
Review: The ad campaign for "Ali" focused on Will Smith's Oscar nominated portrayal of Muhammed Ali, but in the end I found this to really be director Michael Mann's film. Like "The Last of the Mohicans," this is also a film where the leading man looks intently while the music surges. Mann has always been enamored of letting music carry a moment (first evidenced by his use of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" for the climatic scene of "Manhunter") and "Ali" is certainly no exception. The film begins with a montage of Cassius Clay out running as part of his training for his first title fight with Sonny Liston mixed with images of formative influences on Clay growing up and Sam Cooke (David Elliott) performing in a Harlem nightclub. Unfortunately, the film never reaches this high initial peak again during the rest of the film.

"Ali" is not a traditional biopic in that those who know little about the champ's life are not going to understand what is going on. The strategy of mouthing off at every opportunity to convince Liston that the young Cassius Clay was psychotic or the "rope a dope" tactic that Ali used to defeat George Foreman (Charles Shufford), are implicit at best. In this regard the film clearly works better with those who know enough of Ali's life to fill in the pieces (the scene where Ali ane Joe Frazier (James Toney) drive around in a car together planning their first fight was one of the film's few revelations for me). Mann creates something of a patterned mosaic, where there are fights, women, and interviews with Howard Cosell (Jon Voight), while Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles) and Martin Luther King, Jr. are gunned down. What cuts through this is Ali's refusal to be drafted into the Army to go and fight in Vietnam. At the end of the film as Ali trains for the "Rumble in Jungle" his run through the streets of Zaire reprises the opening but the repetition rings hollow.

There are scenes where Smith gets to spout off some of Ali's wonderful rants, but it is clearly established that this is not the "real" Ali. The moments in the film when we think we glimpse the real man are, paradoxically, not those in which he is talking but those in which he is quiet, his eyes taking in the world around him and leaving it to us to figure out what is going on in his mind. If there is any moment in the film where Ali is laid bared it is when he is punishing Ernie Terrell (Alfred Cole) for having called him Clay: Ali refuses to finish his opponent off, hitting Terrell again and again, repeatedly shouting "What's my name?"

I also want to take Mann to task for having reduced the first fight with Frazier to the end of the fight, choosing to omit the shocking image of Ali on the canvas, wearing those shoes with the tassels. Especially since this is a film that takes the time to give the audience a sense in the final fight of how long Ali let Foreman pound on him against the ropes, waiting for the right moment. Fortunately, a lot of the film's faults are covered by Smith's performance, which has been deservedly praised for avoiding the pitfalls of caricature. Ali's legion of fans will enjoy this film more than others, but in the end "Ali" falls short of being as epic as the man himself.