Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Payno I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

dee.reid The name "Muhammad Ali" is a name that I grew up hearing a lot, yet knowing nothing about the man whose name it belonged to. Over time, I grew to know that Muhammad Ali was – is – arguably the greatest professional boxer the world has ever seen. But again, this is something that I just heard, but never knew for myself. A few years ago for a Christmas present, I got "Ali Rap," a collection of famous sayings and quips by Muhammad Ali, and then I finally got an idea of one of the greatest human beings to ever grace the Earth.A year ago, I re-watched the 2001 biopic "Ali," which featured Will Smith as Muhammad Ali; I'd first seen the film around the time of its release on home video back in 2002 and was quite dazzled, and inspired, by it. Seeing the film again, after having read extensively of Ali's background, his career (he won 56 out of 61 fights total!!!), Islamic faith, family (especially daughter Laila Ali, who was undefeated in her career lasting 24 fights in total!!!), social activism and legacy as a sports and black-American civil rights icon, I had come to the conclusion that Muhammad Ali's title as "the Greatest" was rightfully earned.Now hear I am at the 2014 documentary "I Am Ali." Clare Lewins, the writer and director, had quite a task before her to make this film, having to cover seven decades in the life of the former Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., in just a 112-minue feature-length running time. To this end, she achieved her goal. You can read about Muhammad Ali's life story online, in books or magazines or watch the film "Ali," but at some point you want to hear the truth from the man himself, or those who know him most intimately.This latter part is where "I Am Ali" comes in.While one could be disappointed in the fact that the Champ himself never makes an appearance on-screen, we do hear his voice (in taped conversations dating all the way back to the '60s and '70s) and see him in archival footage in his younger days and prime as a heavyweight boxing champion. Instead, his life story is told through these audio recordings and archival footage, and new interviews with his friends (musicians Sir Tom Jones and Kris Kristofferson, and NFL great Jim Brown), associates (trainer Angelo Dundee, manager Gene Kilroy and graphic designer George Lois, the latter of whom designed a world-famous 1968 "Esquire" magazine cover of Ali), family (daughters Maryum and Hana, chiefly, but also his older brother and son), and even former rivals (such as George Foreman, whom Ali defeated in 1974 to become the world heavyweight champion for the second time in the famed "Rumble in the Jungle").Muhammad Ali has lived an extraordinary life for many to follow. Like any documentary, it not only covers his beautiful life and achievements, it of course also doesn't hide the darker aspects of his journey, including his fierce opposition to the Vietnam War (which cost him his title, and four years of his life – his prime time as a fighter, many have said), and his marital infidelity (which saw him sire nine children from at least three different women), and in his failure to patch up his relationship with close friend and fellow civil rights icon Malcolm X (who was murdered in 1965). All participants – including his ex-wife Veronica Porsche – are quite honest and blunt with their statements and don't hold anything back.I wish I could describe more about this amazing documentary, but really, it must be seen in order to get the full picture.10/10

Ed-Shullivan People can say what they want about Muhummad Ali (Marcellus Cassius Clay) and as he once said himself "They say that the Concorde jet may soon be retired, but jets will continue to fly, and once I retire boxers will continue to box, but they will always remember the Greatest". Ali's legacy is more than what he was able to accomplish in the ring over a 21 year (1960-1981) professional boxing career. Ali's legacy will live on through the many books and documentaries such as I Am Ali. This documentary on the life and legend of Muhummad Ali was developed with the contributions of Ali's personal audio library. It certainly reflects the extraordinary appeal that Ali exuded with not only his loyal fans, but more importantly with his children, his wives and even his greatest and toughest opponents. Ali liked to tape his telephone conversations with his children when he was away from them, and he told his children when they were older that they would grow to appreciate these intimate conversations by telephone with the passing of time and with their own maturity. My own personal opinion on why Ali may have taped these intimate telephone conversations with his children was because he may have been weary that just like the fate that struck great men such as Martin Luther King, the Kennedy brothers and even John Lennon, Ali may have feared that his mortality was imminent and that he could be assassinated at any time for his outspokenness against the war in Vietnam, for his love and pride for his black heritage and for finding the Muslim religion. Thank goodness for the worlds people that Ali continued to fight, and he continued to send his message and share his love and passion for family, as this documentary reflects. As his children said in this film, my father Ali may have fathered many children from different wives, and girlfriends, but he never hid his infidelities and he insisted that all his children periodically meet with one another for family gatherings when he was not boxing or training. Even his ex-wives expressed their love for Ali and that he was a man apart from all others. And what he said he meant.I have watched countless hours of historical footage on Ali and although this may not be as good a documentary as the 1997 documentary Muhummad Ali The Whole Story, I still gleaned new information about this boxing legend regarding the great respect opponents such as Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Cleveland Brown football icon Jim Brown had for Ali. George Foreman's comments about his "rumble in the jungle" in Zaire Africa are priceless. George explains that during this fight he pounded on Ali mercilessly for six rounds (and George was in his fighting prime) and what does Ali do at the start of the seventh round? He whispers in George's ear during a clench, "is that all you got George?". George tells the camera now that "yeah, that was just about all I had" and then he laughs about the incident. These are the insights that many Ali fans love to hear about and this film has several that are worth watching from the mouths of his family members and closest friends. Ali is to this day still the most recognizable face around the world, and even with his speech impediment caused by 30 plus years of living with the debilitating Parkinson disease Ali still makes personal appearances when he is feeling up to it. Everyone seems to have a story or two about Muhummad Ali, a memory from bygone years of a great fight such as the Thrilla in Manila, or the Rumble in the Jungle, but one day hopefully while Ali is still alive one of the major movie or television studios will agree to produce a deserving 10-12 part mini series on the life of Cassius Marcellus Clay/Muhummad Ali from his early childhood, through his 21 year boxing career, and his subsequent living with Parkinson disease. I believe this mini-series would break all previous television viewing records.I rate this documentary an 8 out of 10. Ali is who he is, but in many peoples' minds Ali "IS" and always will be "The Greatest!"

Mano Well Of course some can argue whether Ali was that so great or not (each one has your own conclusion), but the main point here is that this is really a very good movie and worth to be watched.The movie is very educational for those who just arrived from Mars and know nothing about that remarkable character, and very enjoyable to the ones already familiar with Ali's career. Whatever it is your case, the movie will catch your attention by covering some important moments of Ali's career mixed with some of his personal life. Throughout the film, there are testimonies of people who were present in the life of Muhammad Ali during his time as a great heavyweight fighter in boxing. This includes coaches, editors, journalists and family members, describing memorable passages of the life of Ali at that time.Beyond that, there is no way to deny he was one of the greatest figures from the past century, far beyond the sport scenario, and with a great story above all.

WallyDee First of all if you decide to watch this documentary, don't expect to see lots of action and/or lots of footage from the dozens of fights from the legend known as ''Muhammed Ali''That being said, what can you expect? Well......lots of dialog about the former heavyweight champion, coming from a lot of people who were either very close to him or had a lot of influence on him, his life or his career for example from his ex wife, his children and even his former boxing rival ''George Forman''. There were samples from audio tapes which he himself recorded from telephone conversations he had with his at the time young daughters scattered all over this documentary. There were moments when the documentary was on the edge of losing its momentum, but fortunately every time that started to happen it immediately picked up its speed again by showing us an old clip from an interview with the fighter which were easily the best parts in the documentary. Simply because of the overly charismatic manner and cockiness in which he presents himself as he is OBVIOUSLY known for. They do address a couple of fights from his career that had a huge influence on the boxing history.With those things in mind its easy to say that you can prepare yourself for a very personal and intimate experience about the boxer's life. Everything this documentary is trying to accomplish it succeeds in every way if you ask me. Its quite admirable to see and learn about all the people this man has inspired and still continues to inspire to this day in his life and how much love this man has for life itself.