This is a beautiful, wonderful movie. It's told in Mann's usual
tense, cumulative style but has a new photographer, Emmanuel
Lubezki instead of Dante Spinotti. I think this is because, although Spinotti complements
Mann's icy-cold blue style, Lubezki has a warmer, more inviting look. And this helps the film
which has an absolutely fantastic, movietheatre-like dvd transfer.

What I felt this movie evoked was a real idea of what it was like
to be alive in the 1960s in the USA. Nobody can come near the
20th Century's greatest person but Will Smith and Mann make a good fist of it. The boxing scenes rival
"Raging Bull" and there could be no greater compliment than that.

Hey! It's also got a cool trailer for the new Spidey movie !

I was really disappointed with Ali. The direction was fine, but the screenplay was horrible. It should have been called Ali & The Muslims, since that's what most of the movie was about- which would be fine if there was a point to it. All it did was make him look stupid for being used & with all the time devoted to that storyline, they never explained why he would go against his family & everyone else (wifes, etc.) for this religion. No reasons for his conversion at all even though it affects everything he does. They show him with kids, but it's never clear whose kids they are (from which wife). Plus, there's a bunch of good actors in roles where they're onscreen alot without any information given about them or any sense of their character (Ron Silver & Jeffrey Wright). Will Smith was way overrated- he showed no range of emotions at all except cockiness (which seemed more Fresh Pince than Ali) & "I'm tough". Plus he looked ridiculous next to the other huge boxers. John Turturro was a much better Cosell in Monday Night Mayhem. I can't believe either of them were nominated. For a movie over 2 1/2 hours, there was no substance to it- just a faint aftertaste of the movie that could have been

I myself bought "Ali" dvd at the strength of Michael Mann as a director. I loved his past works namely "Last of the Mohicans," "Heat" and "The Insider."

I have heard really negative reviews about "Ali" and do understand why after watching it. Despite Mann's usual sense of bravado filmmaking, the story was all over the place and doesn't explain a lot about a lot of things.

Making a movie based on Muhammad Ali would be an overwhelming task in itself and I think the film failed due to its subject matter. There was just so much to show & so much to explain and the movie just kind of jumps from one event to another.

Michael Mann forgot to add "The Best Of" on the title. This movie was a waste of time. Spike Lee was right about this one.

Just wondering - which Spider-Man trailer is included on the Ali DVD?

I rented this over the weekend and had mixed feelings. I thought the film has a wonderful "look", but the story was definitely missing some elements.

COASTER! Anyone want to trade this half watched DVD??? It put me to sleep.

Rented it last week. I enjoyed it but nothing special although I thought the acting by Smith and Voigt was excellent - a good rental. No replay value to me though so I won't buy it.

I was really disappointed. I usually enjoy Michael Mann's films but I found this to be too slow and disjointed. The plot was all over the place and The movie had no pacing. The cinematography was good and the acting was great - Especially Voight ,Smith and Jamie Foxx .(but did we really need a love scene with Jada Pinkett-Smith)

I agree! This was a disappointment for me.



RVN

What a waste. When the script sucks, all the talent in the world apparently can't redeem it. There's just no 'center' to keep the movie going, no narrative but a series of random historical events from Ali's life thrown at you. Mann and Smith tried, but they needed a movie that made SENSE of Ali's life rather than just throwing it at you. The whole Malcolm X/Muslim stuff felt like it needed to be in another movie. Huge disappointment. And what crack was the Academy smoking to give Jon Voight a best supporting actor nod for his latex-drenched impersonation of Howard Cosell? For this the much better Steve Buscemi in 'Ghost World' was overlooked? Feh.

Can't comment on the DVD, since i have no interest in it. But as far as the movie goes, i was dispointted.

Did it seem like to anyone that movie ended really abuptly?

Jeez, I must be the only one to actually like this movie.
The form is supposed to be like a documentary, surely?
Fleeting, eavesdropping, not quite catching everything
and moving on to the next day, month, year. I agree it's
overlong and so is Heat, Insider and even the Thief.

It does end abruptly. In the book about the movie, there
are scenes of Will Smith and his children walking against
the backdrop of a beach or sea. That's not in the movie,
so perhaps we can look forward to an extended Director's
cut.

I am looking forward to swapping this title with something!!! That is about it!!!

Great directing,great acting(Fresh Prince has finally showed me he could act in this film)but thats as far as it goes,to much muslim topics,to much Malcom X(didnt we see a movie about him all ready?),and the story only shows his first belt and the belt he won after he beat Forman,I want a story about Ali from a young boy all the way up untill he got sick,in the movie there was nothing really that I didnt know all ready,in a 2 hour+ movie there should be some facts about Ali that many dont know,they didnt show his best battles in the ring with Frasior at all,besides the great acting this movie was a dud and this is the reason it bombed at the box office.

I thought the scene of Ali looking at the graffitti was one of the most heart-wrenching moments in a movie theatre.