Ali

Rating:
Summary: The Greatest on the Greatest
Review: Michael Mann's Ali is the best portrait of this man I have seen to date. A courageous casting choice of Will Smith in the role of Ali was a stroke of genius. I would put this film right up there with SHADOW BOXERS, the incredible award-wining documentary about women's boxing which focuses on the closest thing to an Ali that exisits in women's boxing, the charismatic, insightful and gorgeous women's champ Lucia Rijker.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to make a great film about a great man.
Review: Some films are made great by their by action, others by being a great story, others by the soundtrack or special effects. This movie like a few others was made by one characterization. Will Smith IS Muhammad Ali, primarily because he has worked to make Ali's voice and inflections his own. It is an incredibly convincing performance, and to the reviewer who said that Smith could not capture Ali, I ask whom he would suggest instead? It is hard for me to disagree more with another Amazon[.com] colleague, and I would instead concur with another reviewer who noted this film shows the ability to have a single Oscar-caliber performance in a film which even the biggest fans acknowledge is not likely to be the best film of the year.

I guess the real challenge accepted and dealt with admirably by Director Michael Mann comes with making a film about not just someone we all know, but THE most recognized person in the world.. How can this story be told in just two hours? As some of the detractors have made clear, this is a tough task. But Mann did a great job, in my opinion.

Where to start this story; and where to end it? No mention of the young boy's going to learn to box after some neighborhood kids humiliate him by stealing his bicycle. No mention (rather surprisingly) of his Olympic gold medal and the even more significant return to the States where he threw his medal into a river in protest of racial mistreatment. And even once we get that issue resolved, where to end this saga? How about Summer, 1996 in Atlanta, with the Champ holding the Olympic torch (or even better, at a preliminary boxing match in those same Olympics when an incredibly bitter Joe Frazier was, when introduced, met by cheers of "Ali, Ali!"). This is by no means a criticism, because this one incredible life is far too large to capture in one movie.

Those who lament the lack of great boxing misunderstand what the film and Ali were all about. He transcended his sport in a manner that no athlete has in the past fifty years (and perhaps ever). America in the 1960's, racism, and the draft were far larger issues and more formidable competitors for him than Liston, Frazier, Foreman could have been if he had to fight all three one after the other! If all he had done was fight and defeat them, he would have been just one more name in the record books. This leads to my only real substantive lament: While the "Rumble in the Jungle" was a singular and a true epic event, I think the three Frazier bouts were the greatest one-on-one competitions in the history of sport, and were among the defining moments of their respective careers. For this reason, I would have like to have seen more time devoted to that relationship.

Great supporting actors. Before seeing this, I could not imagine Jon Voight as Howard Cosell (just like Will Smith, Voight also made this role his own merely with the use of tonal inflection). Ditto the efforts of Jamie Foxx as Drew Bundini Brown. Mario Van Peebles would have been memorable as Malcolm X, but for the fact that we ALL know that he could never again be portrayed after the efforts of Denzel Washington.

Just like the Man himself, some people liked him, and some people hated him. Not surprisingly, the reviews turned our correspondingly. It is, as noted a better than respectful telling of the life of a great figure in the history of America. For my money it was worthwhile, and I enjoyed it more the second and third time.

Rating:
Summary: Ali - can't get any better
Review: I don't think that, for most people, this film will ever measure up to the real Muhammad Ali. Muhammad Ali was so reveared and admired as a human being that people are expecting this outstanding film to blow your mind away. It sure blew my mind away, but for some reason alot of people in the world says it didn't do that. "It was boring and long and drawn out." Not really! I would dare say that Muhammad Ali, while on the set, told Michael Mann exactly what was going during every part of his life. Maybe what we see as "Long and Drawn out" might avtually be the REAL way it happened.

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.