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DVD Ali - The Director's Cut
Ali is a rush of charm, violence, and well-crafted mythmaking sure to enthrall. From the unforgettable surge of the opening--a 10-minute montage of sheer brilliance where formative scenes from the early life of Cassius Clay float along on the rapture of a live performance by Sam Cooke in a Harlem nightclub--through to Muhammad Ali's departure for Zaire to fight George Foreman, Michael Mann's homage is mostly crisp and fleet-footed. As Clay/Ali, Will Smith acquits himself marvelously due in large part to his uncanny re-creation of Ali's most famous weapon, his mesmerizing voice. Indeed, the best scenes throughout showcase Ali's verbal rather than pugilistic sparring; whether with his entourage (notably Jamie Foxx), Howard Cosell (Jon Voight), or Don King (Mykelti Williamson), Michael Mann's Ali has the same authoritative wit and ability to surprise that so disarmed the public. The news conferences and behind-the-scenes banter are exquisitely re-created; not so Ali's flaws. Mann's attempt to depict Ali's womanizing, his dubious affiliation with the Nation of Islam, and his insatiable need for the spotlight seems halfhearted and laborious in comparison to the film's enlivened adoration of its subject. As the sluggish second half of the film betrays, Ali is at its impressionistic best when it's in awe rather than when it explains. --Fionn Meade
Will Smith and Michael Mann take on Muhammed Ali with maximum perfection. The movie never fails. It tells the story of the rise of the greatest athlete that ever lived into the boxing world, his victories in both the Rumble In The Jungle and Thrilla In Manilla, his funny confrontations with Howard Cosell, who is remarkably impersonated and portayed by Jon Voight, and his many wives, which Ali refers to as a "weakness towards women".
The only weakness about this DVD is the extra features segment...there are no features! I sure would have liked to see a behind the scenes segment, or an interview with Will or Ali himself with their thoughts regarding the movie. The music video by R Kelly would have also been nice to have here. But the film which is almost 3 hours is a great viewing experience.
With one star off the rating for an empty DVD, Ali is the one of the strongest films out there today.
I'd highly recommend the special edition DVD that I hope Columbia Pictures is planning to release soon.
But until then, this DVD version is a must-have!
Almost perfect
This is one good movie. I expected a Pearl Harbor type disaster but Michael has shown why he is such a good director and Will Smith, such a good actor. So why I am saying almost perfect? Well, the trouble starts if you know next to nothing about Ali. By focusing on ten important years of Ali's life, a lot has been left out. What was Ali like as a boy ? Why did he start boxing ? Did he avenge his defeat by Joe Frazier ? For those who know a lot about Ali, there are questions like "what about the Thriller in Manila"? Surely Frazier was a lot more important than Foreman in the making of the Ali myth ? What about Floyd Patterson ? Why spend so much time on Malcolm X ? The truth is this film could have been made in a million ways and it still would not have satisfied everyone. There is no way you can tell the Ali story,the full story, in under three hours of film. What there is, is a tribute to Michael Mann as a director. The casting was excellent and the fight sequences beautifully filmed. The last fight against Foreman was especially gripping and gasps echoed among the theater audience as Ali slugged it out with Foreman. Some complain Will Smith does not capture the full essence of Ali. They complain there is not enough of the famous Ali wit on screen. Get this once and for all, no one can play Ali like Ali. After all said and done, Will Smith does a creditable job. Mann does not risk making a joke a minute picture and it's a wise decision. I think it may have been the director's intention to leave the fans wanting more of Ali. I suggest you start with the award winning documentary "When we were Kings".
Mann's Underrated Take on Legendary Boxer
When Ali was released in 2001 it received decidedly mixed reviews. While Will Smith was praised for his impressive physical transformation into legendary boxer Muhammed Ali, the film itself was criticized for revealing nothing new about the man. Herein lies the problem that Michael Mann and company faced: how do you shed new light on one of the most documented historical figures of the 20th Century? Like he did with The Last of the Mohicans, Mann has revisited Ali again on DVD with a new cut of the film. He's taken out approximately 20 minutes of footage and put 30 minutes of previously unseen footage back in. The effect? Hard to tell unless you've seen the film many times but Mann claims that the politics of the times are more the focus this time around.
There is an audio commentary by writer/director Michael Mann. He does an excellent job of putting the film into its historical context. The director clearly did his homework and points out who everyone is and the significance of the events depicted in the movie which is a nice consideration for viewers not familiar with this particular period of time. This is an extremely informative track and Mann contributes many very thoughtful observations over the course of the movie.
"The Making of Ali" is a 29-minute featurette that originally aired on HBO. It is slightly better than your average electronic press kit and features some decent on the set footage and interview sound bites with Mann and various members of the cast.
Ali eschews the traditional docudrama for a more impressionistic take on the man and life. Mann's film may not say anything new about the famous boxer, but it does depict an exciting ten years of his life in a masterful and richly evocative fashion. This DVD features an excellent transfer of the movie with an aggressive 5.1 surround soundtrack and is definitely worth purchasing for Mann fans for his audio commentary alone.
An effective exercise in "confined cinema," Panic Room is a finely crafted thriller that ultimately transcends the thinness of its premise. David Koepp's screenplay is basically Wait Until Dark on steroids, so director David Fincher (Seven, The Game) compensates with elaborate CGI-assisted camera moves, jazzing up his visuals while a relocated New York divorcée (Jodie Foster) and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) fight for their lives against a trio of tenacious burglars (Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam) in their new Manhattan townhouse. They're safe in a customized, impenetrable "panic room," but the burglars want what's in the room's safe, so mother and daughter (and Koepp and Fincher) must find clever ways to turn the tables and persevere.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Jodie Foster - Kristen Stewart Director(s): David Fincher DVD Release Date: Released the 30 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Just as Do the Right Thing was the capstone of Spike Lee's earlier career, Malcolm X marked the next milestone in the filmmaker's artistic maturity. It seemed everything Lee had done up to that point was to prepare him for this epic biography of America's fiery civil-rights leader, who is superbly played by Oscar-nominated Denzel Washington, from his early days as a zoot-suited hustler known as "Detroit Red" to his spiritual maturity after his pilgrimage to Mecca, as a Black Muslim by the name of El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. Do the Right Thing climaxed with the photographic images of Malcolm X and Dr. Martin Luther King engulfed by flames of rage; Malcolm X explores the genesis and evolution of that rage over Malcolm's lifetime, and how these two great... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Denzel Washington - Angela Bassett Director(s): Spike Lee DVD Release Date: Released the 18 January 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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A powerhouse performance by Denzel Washington fuels this brutal urban police drama, in which a rookie narcotics cop learns the hard way that even good cops can go very, very bad. Washington plays veteran detective Alonzo Harris, a self-proclaimed "wolf among wolves," eager to teach his rookie partner Jake (Ethan Hawke) that normal rules don't apply on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Caught in a web of deception, Jake watches with escalating horror as Alonzo uses his badge (and the support of his superiors) to justify a self-righteous policy of corruption. In stark contrast to most of his previous work, Denzel unleashes his dark side with fearlessness and fury, and the result is excellence without compromise. Director Antoine Fuqua (The Replacement Killers) won't score any points... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Denzel Washington - Ethan Hawke Director(s): Antoine Fuqua DVD Release Date: Released the 01 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Superior acting, writing, and direction are on impressive display in the critically acclaimed Mystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by L.A. Confidential Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston--played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon--drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present. These dual tragedies arouse a vicious cycle of suspicion, guilt, and repressed anxieties, primed to explode with devastating and unpredictable results. Eastwood is perfectly in tune with this brooding material, giving his flawless cast... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Kevin Bacon DVD Release Date: Released the 08 June 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Sean Penn and Benecio Del Toro, two of the most gripping actors around, play wildly different men linked through a grieving woman (Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive, The Ring) in 21 Grams. Del Toro (Traffic, The Usual Suspects) delves deep into the role of an ex-con turned born-again Christian, a deeply conflicted man struggling to set right a terrible accident, even at the expense of his family. Penn (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) captures a cynical, philandering professor in dire need of a heart transplant, which he gets from the death of Watts' husband. 21 Grams slips back in forth in time, creating an intricate emotional web out of the past and the present that slowly draws these three together; the result is remarkably fluid and... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Sean Penn - Naomi Watts - Benicio Del Toro Director(s): Alejandro González Iñárritu DVD Release Date: Released the 16 March 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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