MOVIE

STARS : Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles & Jeffrey Wright

If the phrase “Fly Like A Butterfly and Sting Like A Bee” doesn’t mean anything to you then chances are that you’ve never heard of the one and only Muhammad Ali.

I had no idea what to expect when watching this film and have walked away stunned at the simplicity of the film, Ali’s plight and how much goes on in just 2 1/2 hours of viewing. Michael Mann is a director in his prime and this film is no exception.

The film covers a suprisingly short time frame of about 10 years, from 1964 until the infamous “Rumble In The Jungle” where the film concludes.

The film explores Ali in his prime which is the way it’s best to remember him and not the Parkinsons riddled shell of a man he is now. It covers his influences, his conversion to the Muslim faith, his major fights, his loves and his passions.

It also explores in a large amount of detail the the biggest decision he ever made which was his refusal to join the US Army upon being inducted and consequences of this choice. It affected his life in so many ways and he was lucky to recover.

Some of those who influenced young Ali came, to me at least, as something of a suprise as I really didn’t have much knowledge of Ali prior to watching this film. which among others included none other than Malcolm X (Van Peebles), Elijah Muhammed and Don King. The main acts in the fight scenes are Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier and George Foreman. The actors who portray these legendary fighters are actually world class boxers in their own right which adds even more belief to the film.

What may suprise many is the very strong religious overtones that are present throughout the film. This is the key element to the film and faithfully captures Ali’s beliefs.

Watch It If You Enjoyed :Any of Michael Mann’s other films such as Heat, The Insider or The Last Of The Mohicans.

Verdict : Excellent

THE EXTRAS

DISC 2 contains all the extras.

* The Making Of Ali (28 mins): How do you do justice to the athlete dubbed “The Greatest Of The 20th Century”? The answer, very carefully. This half hour making of demonstrates the amount of effort that went on in bringing the story of Ali to the big screen. from Will Smith’s amazing make-over which involved 6 hours a day for a year, to Michael Mann’s dedication to the help from those who know Ali best. There is a huge amount of interviews, a lot of behind the scenes footage and the behind the scenes efforts from the cast and crew.

* Rove Live Interview : This is a 14 minute interview with Will Smith recorded back in March this year just after the Academy Award nominations had been announced. The interview is the usual lighthearted banter that you would expect from Rove and since Will Smith has always been a good interviewee this is an enjoyable interview and not the usual run of the mill questions.

* Theatrical Trailer

* Biographies : You can SELECT from the following cast members Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright and Mykelti Williamson. Michael Mann is also present. Each contains some text info as well as their respective filmographies.

* Muhammed Ali - The Greatest Milestones : This is an indepth timeline on Muhammad and covers all his fights and everything that went on in his personal life. It really is amazing reading.

The one noticable absentee was a Director’s Commentary which should have been here.

CONCLUSION

Will Smith turns in a performance that is his best yet, even when including Six Degrees Of Seperation and his capture of the essence of Ali has to be seen to be belived. Superb.

With thanks to Village Roadshow, Ali is available to buy or rent from August 14