Ali Overrated Or Not

[Bluenose]

I watched this last night after all the fuss about it and i,ve got to say this was not the film i was expecting to see.
Will Smith was great and John Voite was superb.
The problam for me was the direction by M.Mann.
To me(and i stress this it's only my opinon)he was the wrong director for the job, some secments made it lok like a pop video some parts had that miami vise feel to it.
This film would have been better handled by someone like Scorsesa.
Anyway like i said it's only my opinion.
Views Please. :confused:

[the coens brother]

overrated - i would agree!
im not a big fan of Mr Mann and i dont think he was right for this film.
would have been interesting to see what spike lee would have done with it!

the saving grace for this film was the well made fight sequences and the acting.
will smith was on top form and mr voight was really good in the role. on both occasion's i think they could have both won oscars in another year but with denzel and the mums fave mr crowe in best actor and literally all of the supporting actors they had little chance!!

i would say to everyone to watch this movie as it is good - just not the great film we were expecting!

[SvenL]

I really didn't like Will Smith playing Ali.
He just doesn't look like Ali - no matter how much he works out.
What's next ? Schwarzenegger playing Chaplin ?

[Panavision]

I think most folks don't like it, not overrated at all. Will Smith did a good job with the material, but the script wasn't there. I learnt little about ALI, I was bemused as to why he's such a celebrated human being after watching it.

[CookieMonster]

While i dont agree with mann,i would not have wanted lee,he would have turned an interesting story with some segements of race relations into another preachy white guilt trip like he does for every film.

[McMikey]

I thought this was a big step down for Mann. I really enjoyed the Insider and heat but this to me seemed to be more of a sports montage in the middle of a Rocky film. Anyone seen that episode of South Park where Stan (I think) has to get good at skiing really fast so they sing the song "We're gonna need a sports montage" :D . Anyway I think I was expecting a lot from this film, I'm just wondering what Man will be doing next. Oh I thought that Will Smith was fine as Ali.

[McD]

I'm not sure if I'd say overrated because the reception (including on here) was lukewarm at best. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't that good either - I'd certainly never watch it again.

[Idle Child]

well, i diagree entirely. I thought if anything it's an underrated movie. I think it's a flawed modern masterpiece. I've never seen boxing fights depicted so savage on the silver screen in a film before. Each punch connected, each one hurt. Kudos to Will Smith and other boxers. Talk about Raging Bull or Rocky all you like, but in my opinion it's time to throw those out and use Mann's movie as the template for boxing movies to come. It had a finese and sublely that just had me smiling with delight. I loved it.

I can understand why people wouldn't like it though, as it does drag for the first hour as Ali's story gets bogged down in the black panther/malcolm X diatribe which doesn't play well.. but once that's over with, the film really takes off and Mann's direction is just beautiful and poetic to watch. It's a slow burner and i gues you have to be in the mood for it, as it's drama out of the ring, and realistic action inside. It'll be doing the rounds in my player as soon as i get my mits on a copy..

Ali was a film that restored my faith in movies. It blew me away at the cinema. And I'm not ashamed to say that at all.. excellent film.

[GrossePointeJack]

I remember Harry Knowles at Aint it Cool summed it up best for me when he said the film felt like a rough cut, the editing is choppy and some sequences go on far longer than they need to - if i remember Roger Ebert said a similar thing, that the film does indeed feel like it's still going through the editing stages - and that pretty much sums the film up for me to be honest - Smith was fantastic and that was about it.

Spike Lee would've made the film much more of a race issue than it needed to be to be honest, and as much as i like Lee i do feel that it would've been bogged down with too much emphasis on Ali being black when it really wouldn't have been neccasary.

[MARKMAN]

The movie failed for me, and I say this as a Michael Mann fan - his pacing and stylings (if you excuse "The Last of the Mohicans) is very laid back and suited perfectly films like "Manhunter", "Heat" and "The Insider". However, with "Ali" I think he got it wrong.

Ali's life deserves to be so much more than long, languid shots that serve nothing other than increasing the running time of the film. The performances were excellent, I really believed Smith in this film, perhaps his greatest moment since "6 Degrees of Separation" oh so many years ago. Voight was dependable and unrecognisable - much like in "Pearl Harbor".

Performances alone can not save a film though, and the script and Mann's direction were all wrong for this. It kind of makes you wish that the Barry Sonnenfeld version had gone ahead:eek:

[sweevo]

I quite enjoyed the film myself. Nothing spectacular but it kept me interested for the duration of the film. Each to their own... :)

[Goblin]

I thought it was boring ... the fight scenes were good but the film dragged. I preferred watching Ali - An American Hero on Sky Moviemax :D

[andyp2]

I really liked it because it didnt kiss his ass like some of the other movies did.

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned "I was bemused as to why he's such a celebrated human being after watching it". I kinda think that was the point, he was a great boxer but he was only human and he made mistakes and bedded a lot of women - ALI showed the human side of him rather than just the rumble in the jungle.

Dont get me wrong i like stuff like that but if MrMann was trying to show ALI from an angle other than a fanboy one then he succeeded. I think a lot of people expected Rocky 6 when thensaw it and hence were disappointed.

disclaimer:
All of the above is my opinion - remember they are like a-holes, everybody has one :)

[RDNZL]

Pretty lackustre despite some fine acting.

It was certainly a good move to concentrate on a restricted time period, but to omit story elements like the Olympic Gold medal, Henry Cooper dumping Ali on his ass (I know it means more to the Brits but even so it still an iconic image), the Thrilla In Manila etc & then tip-toe around those they decided to retain was disappointing to say the least.

One to file along with MALCOLM X under missed opportunities.

[Nimak]

I was bored stiff watching this film NOT what i expected.. I expected some decent Boxing sequences but where crap..
Ah well i don't know what the fuss was about.. :(

[Bluenose]

The reason i said overrated was the fact the some film and DVD mags raved on about it.
As for M.Mann I hope he picks up a good scrip soon or he could be back doing miami vice the new breed.

[DarioMann]

well, i diagree entirely. I thought if anything it's an underrated movie. I think it's a flawed modern masterpiece. I've never seen boxing fights depicted so savage on the silver screen in a film before. Each punch connected, each one hurt. Kudos to Will Smith and other boxers. Talk about Raging Bull or Rocky all you like, but in my opinion it's time to throw those out and use Mann's movie as the template for boxing movies to come. It had a finese and sublely that just had me smiling with delight. I loved it.

Mann's direction is just beautiful and poetic to watch. It's a slow burner and i gues you have to be in the mood for it, as it's drama out of the ring, and realistic action inside. It'll be doing the rounds in my player as soon as i get my mits on a copy..

Ali was a film that restored my faith in movies. It blew me away at the cinema. And I'm not ashamed to say that at all.. excellent film.

I agree.
A beautiful film,and as usual with Mann,the direction,cinematography and acting are very good.
Underrated film.

[sleep4ever]

A film I still consider to be one of the most boring I've sat through at the cinema, and thats no exaggeration.

Offered to leave half way through to my friend I had coerced into going to see it. Even now we joke about it

I love Michael Mann films, especially Collateral, but Ali was terrible.

How can you make a boring film about such a charasmatic person?

[fayraz]

How can you make a boring film about such a charasmatic person?

Depicting Ali is very hard and Will Smith did a good job, but you can never beat listening and watching the real man in action!

The Greatest - Ali :thumbs: