Ali(2001)

Name: Ali
Director: Michael Mann
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Released: Dec 25, 2001
Cast: Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver

Sony Pictures Releasing

R
Rated R for some language and brief violence
2h 37m

Release Date: Dec 25, 2001 | Wide

90%
75%
B+
6.7

A biography of sports legend Muhammad Ali, focusing on his triumphs and controversies between 1964 and 1974.

Note:

Releases

Original Release | Dec 25, 2001

View Advanced Data

Current Showtimes

orround

Sat Jun 13
Sun Jun 14
Mon Jun 15
Tue Jun 16
Wed Jun 17
Thu Jun 18
Fri Jun 19

Director & Top Cast

Michael Mann
Director

Will Smith
Actor

Jamie Foxx
Actor

Jon Voight
Actor

Mario Van Peebles
Actor

Ron Silver
Actor

Jeffrey Wright

Actor

Mykelti Williamson

Actor

Jada Pinkett Smith

Actor

Nona Gaye

Actor

Michael Michele

Actor

Joe Morton

Actor

Paul Rodriguez

Actor

Bruce McGill

Actor

Barry Shabaka Henley

Actor

Giancarlo Esposito

Actor

Laurence Mason

Actor

LeVar Burton

Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English,French,Swahili

Summaries

Storyline

Muhammad Ali , focusing on his triumphs and controversies between 1964 and 1974. In 1964, a brash new pro boxer, Cassius Clay, explodes on to the scene. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sports with his proud, public self confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. To his credit, he sets out to prove that with his highly agile and forceful style soon making him a formidable boxer who claims the heavyweight championship. His personal life is no less noteworthy with his allegiance to the Nation of Islam, his friendship with the controversial Malcolm X, and his abandonment of his slave name in favor of Muhammad Ali stirring up controversy. Yet, at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test when the military draft rules are changed, making him eligible for military induction during the Vietnam War. Ali refuses to submit on principle to cooperate in a war for a racist nation that treated his people so poorly. The cost of that stand is high as he finds himself unable to legally box in his own country while his case is contested in court. What follows is a battle for a man who would sacrifice so much for what he believes in and a comeback that cemented his legend as one of the great sports figures of all time. — Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com) Notoriously obsessive director Michael Mann and star Will Smith devoted nearly two years and over 100 million dollars from the coffers of Columbia Pictures and other financiers to creating this biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife (Jada Pinkett-Smith), converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman (Charles Shufford) in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle." In his travels, Ali becomes a symbol of power to disenfranchised African-Americans everywhere and meets such luminaries as Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), Martin Luther King Jr. (LeVar Burton) and Maya Angelou (Martha Edgerton). Muhammad Ali from 1964 to 1974, told in three braided threads. The boxer: from becoming champion to regaining the championship. Religion and politics: Cassius Clay becomes a Black Muslim, truncates a friendship with Malcolm X, perhaps is Elijah Muhammad's pawn, refuses induction into the US military, and faces a five year prison sentence while his case goes to the Supreme Court. Family: he marries twice and by 1974 marriage two is strained, defends his white trainer, has a brother in Bundini Brown, and is wily with Howard Cosell. Throughout, Ali keeps his own counsel: in the ring, at the induction center when he won't step forward, and in friendship, love, and victory. —