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Columbia Pictures
Forward Pass
Overbrook Entertainment
Not part of a collection.
Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.
In 1964, a brash, new pro boxer, fresh from his Olympic gold medal victory, explodes onto the scene: Cassius Clay. Bold and outspoken, he cuts an entirely new image for African Americans in sport with his proud public self-confidence and his unapologetic belief that he is the greatest boxer of all time. Yet at the top of his game, both Ali's personal and professional lives face the ultimate test.
CinemaSerf
Feb 1, 2024 · via TMDB
There are flashes of the legendary Muhammad Ali wit and quick-thinking delivery peppered throughout this otherwise rather long and ponderous story of the life of Cassius Clay from relative poverty through to his mastery of not just the boxing ring but of the television media that, at that point, fed successfully from this truly global sport. It's Will Smith who takes centre stage after his gold medal victory at the Tokyo Olympiad in 1964 and like many other pugilists in history, his character offers the down-trodden, working class, an inspiration. With sweat, tears and hard work he can escape the ghetto and have his fame and fortune, so why not them? What Michael Mann now proceeds to do is offer us a biopic of this man - of his peccadilloes, his religious beliefs, his persecution by the government when he refuses to be drafted to Vietnam and of some of his friendships with the great and the good of the equal rights movement that were gaining in prominence and effectiveness under the likes of Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles). We are presented with a plausibly flawed individual, but one who is a proud and savvy man who knows just how to push the buttons to keeps his life-blood's publicity machine going. To that end, here, Smith is well supported by Jamie Foxx's "Bundini", the long-suffering Angelo Dundee (Ron Silver) and by Jon Voight as his follicularly challenged media foil from ABC television - Howard Cosell. It's Smith that rather underwhelms. He delivers the set-pieces well enough, presumably he could rehearse them - but the rest of his persona is all rather weak, undercooked and I felt really over-written. There's way too much melodrama and speculation and not enough of what made the man an household name (and favourite) in the first place - his fighting. For such a rich source this is all rather meandering and lacking in substance. Maybe we could have directors cut - only 45 minutes shorter?
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Will Smith
Muhammad Ali / Cassius Clay
Jamie Foxx
Drew 'Bundini' Brown
Jon Voight
Howard Cosell
Mario Van Peebles
Malcolm X
Ron Silver
Angelo Dundee
Jeffrey Wright
Howard Bingham
Mykelti Williamson
Don King
Jada Pinkett Smith
Sonji Roi
Nona Gaye
Belinda Ali
Michael Michele
Veronica Porche
Joe Morton
Chauncey Eskridge
Paul Rodríguez
Dr. Ferdie Pacheco
Bruce McGill
Bradley
Barry Shabaka Henley
Herbert Muhammad
Giancarlo Esposito
Cassius Clay, Sr.
Laurence Mason
Luis Sarria
LeVar Burton
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Albert Hall
Elijah Muhammad
David Cubitt
Robert Lipsyte
Ted Levine
Joe Smiley
Candy Ann Brown
Odessa
Shari Watson
Woman Singer
Malick Bowens
Joseph Mobutu
James Toney
'Smokin' Joe Frazier
Rufus Dorsey
Floyd Paterson
David Haines
Rudy Clay / Rahaman Ali
Victoria Dillard
Betty Shabazz
Brad Greenquist
Marlin Thomas
Morgana Van Peebles
Malcolm X's Daughter
Maestro Harrell
Young Cassius Clay
William Utay
The Doctor
Kim Robillard
Jimmy Cannon
David Purdham
Madison Square Garden Announcer
Gailard Sartain
Gordon Davidson
Wade Williams
Lieutenant Jerome Claridge
Guy Van Swearingen
Induction FBI Man
Marc Grapey
Bob Arum
Herb Mitchell
Boxing Commissioner
Eddie Bo Smith Jr.
Malcolm's Bodyguard
Ron O.J. Parson
Death Newsman
Ellis Williams
Family Photo Man
John Gleeson Connolly
Assistant Director
Jack Reiss
Referee Arthur Mercante
Chico Benymon
Hampton House Announcer
Ronald A. DiNicola
Prosecutor
Steven Randazzo
Reporter
Ray Bokhour
Reporter
Leonard Termo
Madison Square Garden Reporter
Johnny Ortiz
Madison Square Garden Reporter
Jim Gray
New York Reporter
Natalie Carter
Harlem Neighbor
Kim Taylor-Coleman
Lana Shabazz
Christian Stolte
Miami Cop
Sylvaine Strike
ORTF Interviewer
Graham Hopkins
London Banker
Daniel Janks
CIA Man
Michael Dorn
Black Pilot
Dan Robbertse
Reporter in Zaire
Graham Clarke
Reporter in Zaire
John Myhre
Production Design
Ray Conchado
Set Dresser
Emmanuel Lubezki
Director of Photography
Marlene Stewart
Costume Design
Joel Kramer
Stunt Coordinator
Michael Mann
Director
Lynzee Klingman
Editor
Stephen E. Rivkin
Editor
William Goldenberg
Editor
Victoria Thomas
Casting
Graham King
Executive Producer
A. Kitman Ho
Producer
Jon Peters
Producer
Michael Mann
Producer
Thomas Hayslip
Production Supervisor
Kevin De La Noy
Unit Production Manager
Shaughnessy Hare
Assistant Sound Editor
Lisa Gerrard
Original Music Composer
Craig Henighan
Sound Effects Editor
Andy Nelson
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Anna Behlmer
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Gregory King
Supervising Sound Editor
Christopher Wilkinson
Screenplay
Eric Roth
Screenplay
Michael Mann
Screenplay
Stephen J. Rivele
Screenplay
Gregory Allen Howard
Story
Heat
Andrei Rublev
Dog Day Afternoon
Do the Right Thing
Boyz n the Hood
The Last Samurai
The Last Emperor
Cinderella Man
Birdman of Alcatraz
The Experiment
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Minari
Dead Man Walking
Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl
Sleepless in Seattle
The Bodyguard
Jawbone
Paradise for the Damned
The Creep Behind the Camera
Supesharu ressun: Hentai sei-kyôiku
Million Dollar Baby
Raging Bull
Southpaw
Brian Banks
The Harder They Fall
Boyka: Undisputed IV
Father Stu
Magazine Dreams
The Survivor
Hands of Stone
Girlfight
Triumph of the Spirit
Jungleland
Play Dirty
The Quest
Chuck
Jawbone
Prizefighter: The Life of Jem Belcher
Salvable
The Cut
Dec 10, 2001
Jun 1, 2004
Director's Cut DVD
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Versus
Sign in to play →
Stripper Wives
1999
Sally's Beauty Spot
1990
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
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