Customer Reviews
STING LIKE A BEE 
2007-02-22
On its face it is hard to see how a cinematic treatment of the life of Muhammad Ali (played here by Will Smith), the great prizefighter, could adequately portray the life he actually led. But that is indeed the case here. For those who grew up with him in mid-20th century America it is a nostalgic look back. For those too young to have known his life story this is a good primer of why many considered him one of the greatest athletics of all time and one why, friend or foe, considered him one hell of a man.
I am not now nor was I then a fight fan. The part of Ali's career that interests me is his fight against black oppression, as he saw it. That in his youth he took a black separatist course joining the Nation of Islam in reaction to the rampart racism in America and American sports is understandable if not strategically the way forward for black liberation. The scenes with Malcolm X, who acted as something of a mentor, are among the best in the film.
Ali was a man not only with a sports mission but a political mission. That became quite apparent when he, despite damage to his career and to his financial interests, refused to be inducted into the military during the Vietnam War period. His reasoning was simple-he had no quarrel with the Vietnamese. Many lesser figures, who now head the American government, were not nearly so forthright and skipped around the decisive political and moral event of the baby boomer generation. Hats off to Ali. Hats off to a great liberation fighter, who stood up when it counted.
Ali 2007-01-06
The movie was in perfect shape. Although the outer case looked like someone jabbed it with a pin and scraped up with it the movie didn't have one scrach. That to me is all that matters I would buy from them again.
Okay 2006-12-29
The movie was good, but there were no special features on the DVD, and that disappointed me. Will Smith's performance was good, but not as good as Jamie Foxx's. The script didn't seem to let you 'inside' the feelings of Ali, except for his tears when Malcomn X was assassinated. This film made Bundini (Jamie Foxx) more real than Ali (Will Smith). But all in all, very worthwhile watching.
An interesting biopic not to be taken too seriously 
2006-10-06
Mann's "Ali" isn't a masterpiece by any means, but the cinematic car crash I expected to see didn't happen either. People like Spike Lee and those actually involved with Ali's life (Larry Holmes, Joe Frazier) have ripped this movie to pieces and the critics have ridiculed it mercilessly.
A lot of movies about national icons fail simply because they tackle figures that are larger than can be captured in the medium of film (Hoffa, The Doors, etc), and this is undeniably one of them--one of the more enjoyable ones, though.
Mario Van Peebles does his best, and I think pretty well, at playing Malcolm X, whose abandonment by Ali is shown very clearly in this film.
Will Smith is as good as he can be playing Muhammad Ali himself, and he captures that strange, childlike Southern tough guy voice damn near perfectly. Jon Voight is just covered in makeup as Cosell; he's unrecognizable, and I'm surprised he didn't suffocate. To give him any credit for his performance would be as meaningless as saying one of the monkeys in "Planet of the Apes" did a great job.
Even through the more labored, musically constipated scenes (Mann must have realized this couldn't be a success and tried to compensate by drowning some of it out with blues music of the period) are boring to the point of exhaustion--Ali running, Ali on the bus, Ali hearing that famous expression actually invented by him in Zaire ("Ali, bumaye!") to the point where we want to tell the Africans to shut up--there's an honesty to this movie that took courage.
Mann does not cover up the warts of his subject. Ali as womanizer, a confused young man who could be cruel at times, a man driven largely by unconscious impulses, all the unpleasant aspects of this enigmatic figure are here for everyone to see. There is no hero worship here, which is surprising.
The boxing scenes are what I took serious issue with. The gloves used by Ali and his opponents look like balloons, about 18 inches long, and the actual blows look so fake that they suggest aborted attempts at violent hugs rather than punches. (The Jerry Quarry fight is the worst. He just starts bleeding spontaneously after a few taps.)
This does show the heroic side of Ali, however whimsical, very well. His refusal to fight in Vietnam even at the urges of the Nation of Islam is portrayed as what it was; a heroic act with dire, irreversible consequences. Could you see Michael Jordan or Barry Bonds doing that if it meant losing money? Probably not. The courtroom scenes and Ali's stoic refusal to submit show the spiritual side of this gigantic and ill-fated man.
Personally, I was glad that Mann stopped with Ali's last moment of real magic, the knockout of the ferocious George Foreman. I wouldn't doubt that this is what Ali wanted and I wouldn't want to seem them stuff Smith's cheeks and making him look like the cadaverous shell of himself that he was getting beaten on by bums like Trevor Berbick.
This is worth watching as a primer on Ali's life and an exciting movie.
Why? 
2006-01-18
While the film did a positive thing by refocusing the public's attention onto a key persona of the World's Stage, I did not approve of this movie. And the reason why is that this theatrical tragedy portrayed the real Ali who possessed a for-the-most-part soft-spoken and somewhat shy demeanor and was adoreed by the ladies on a sex symbol scale with a loud-mouthed, vainglorious person who reminded me of some of the negro punks who I attended an integrated school with. So why ruin Ali's reputation over the making of this piece of trash in return for a quick buck. Missed being treacherous on a Judas scale by a fine hair. Couldn't even mention that Muhammad was so good-hearted, how could anyone ask him to kill anybody! So F^^K the movie, S^^K Me Director, & DUCK Me Actor
Float like a butterfy, sting like a bee. 
2008-04-03
Ali DVD
Will Smith is eerily like Ali. It's like Cassiuss Clay is playing himself. I remember watching Clay fight in the Olympics and Smith has him down pat. I'd admired Ali for being willing to go to prison for his convictions instead of fleeing to Canada like all the other bed-wetting, Mommas boys who opposed the War in Viet Nam. Jon Voight is good as Howard Cosell, who was a nobody until he weaseled his way into Ali's life. I understand that Smith and Voight both received Academy Award nominations for their roles in this move. I wonder how Smith "bulked up" for this role.
Highly recommended for fans of Will Smith, Jon Voight, boxing the way it use to be, and Cassius Clay, aka Mohammed Ali.
Gunner April, 2008
Good film that could have been great 2008-03-25
Ali is a good film that could have been great. Will Smith plays Ali with great passiond vigor. Micheal Mann direction and cinematography is some the best work he has ever done, but the film drags in its second half and ends on a dry note. I think the film should ahve covered Ali's whole life not just ten years that were covered in the film. Until The Purusit Of Happyness, this was Will Smith's best performance as he gives the auidence the charmisa and charm that he displayed in Six Degrees Of Seperation. Ali is by no mean's a GREAT film but it is a good one.
Better than average Bio-pic 2007-12-09
While it obviously could be referred to as a boxing picture, this nice Michael Mann biographical effort is more a character study of the one of the most charismatic figures ever to step into the squared circle. Mr. Mann shifts gears appropriately from his heavy action yarns (Thief, Last of the Mohicans, Heat) to provide an insightful look into the life of this legendary boxer as Will Smith pulls off the title role rather well yet regrettably holds back much of the wit, humor and unpredictable antics Ali was known for. As a result, viewer's eyes actually will be more fixated on the dynamite supporting cast including Ron Silver as Ali's longtime trainer Angelo Dundee and Mario Van Peebles playing a formidable Malcolm X. Both of these memorable characters are only to be outdone by an almost unrecognizable Jon Voight as he dons the patented yellow ABC sport jacket and gives an incredible, Oscar nominated performance as the exuberant and controversial Howard Cosell who always seemed to be where Ali roamed the globe. While the film does span 10 years of the famous boxer's life, the major disappointment of the film is the 157 minute which could have been shortened by needles/monotonous training footage sequences.
Ali 2007-08-02
Rather disappointing film about the life and times of the famous boxer. The name Cassius Clay (his real name) is never brought about. Also a downer was that it seemed to center more on Malcom X later in the movie than Clay himself. It was funny seeing a young Don King represented but instead of getting to know the man, the viewer is bandied about with constant themes of racism, the draft and other pieces of the 1960s. I know that is a part of his life but personally I really did not enjoy it, instead of feeling like I was viewing his life, I was viewing the life around him. Will Smith is cast as Ali but honestly, they portray the man as if he could only talk when ranting about how great he was with "float like a butterfly/sting like a bee" and "I am the greatest" being punched at me over and over again. I must say again, this film is more about the life and times that happened around Ali than about his personal life or boxing legacy.
truth be told, i cant wait for "toothless: the leon spinks story" 
2007-03-24
a quarter century before, muhammad ali HIMSELF made a legendarily bad biopic of his life. he was better than will smith.
