Cassius Clay was a white US anti-salvery leader from Kentucky. He established the anti-slavery publication the True American. His office had to be turned into a virtual arsenal to repel peo-slavery raiders until he had to move to Cincinnati then Louisville.

The great American boxer who had been named Cassius Clay by his parents to honor the authentic American spirit of that white dude in the mid 1800's, changed his name to honor whatever it is Muslims honor (the Nation of Islam version). Anyway, there have been quite a bit a vintage footage and Ali was quite a character in his day.

There is a movie based on his life coming on Christmas Day. But Will Smith, the goofy nerdy guy plays Ali. Ali's daughter could probably pound him. Too bad someone like Apollo Creed or Mr T didn't get the part. Maybe they are going to try for a sensitive, delicate Ali. Either way, I hope it does the real deal, Ali, justice.

You know, for years I admired Ali greatly.

He stood up for his principles and always gave a great time.

Frazier wasn't a slouch either, he could take a punch like no man I've ever seen.

I remember rooting for Ali during the fight. I was in Vietnam at the time, and the room was pretty much split down the middle on who would win. The Northern Yankees, Black and White, were for Ali, and the Southerners, Black and White were for Frazier. Interesting to say the least.

However, recently I viewed a documentary on HBO called Ali-Frazier 1. It went on about the division of the country at the time, which I remember well, and how it played out in this boxing match.

According to this documentary, Frazier was HURT by Ali calling him "Uncle Tom" "gorillia" and other racial names. Frazier had actually campaigned hard, "Tom-ed" if you will, to get Ali's ****ing boxing license back after it was taken away! Frazier had even "lent" Ali a couple thousand dollars while he was destitute during the court appearences. Needless to say, Ali came across as a big prick in my eyes from this documentary. As great as his actions were both in and out of the ring (other than joining the racist Nation of Islam, but he eventually spoke against them) these new aspects of his personality, his using of Frazier for his own gain without Frazier's consent was quite telling. I always believed Frazier was a willing participant in those arguments. Guess I was wrong.

The movie "Ali" is very good. Will Smith does an excellent job believe it or not and is as good an actor as any right now. IMHO the movie does a good job of putting into context the man and the boxer as it related to what the world and the US was going through at the time. I was moved on several occasions during the film. Very entertaining and some may find it informative.

OK, I might be saying this because I don't know anything behind the history of the movie, but I thought it was very non-entertaining. The acting, grade A. I mean, when the movie started, Will Smith was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air in my eyes. By the end, he was Muhammad Ali, a champion boxer. Just a really, really good acting performance by Smith. Wow. But the movie dragged. And dragged. But like I said, maybe cuz I don't really know the history behind the story. And I never knew Malcolm X and Ali were buddies. Does anyone know if the movie's protrayal of their relationship is accurate?

Originally posted by ResidentRice
OK, I might be saying this because I don't know anything behind the history of the movie, but I thought it was very non-entertaining. The acting, grade A. I mean, when the movie started, Will Smith was the Fresh Prince of Bel Air in my eyes. By the end, he was Muhammad Ali, a champion boxer. Just a really, really good acting performance by Smith. Wow. But the movie dragged. And dragged. But like I said, maybe cuz I don't really know the history behind the story. And I never knew Malcolm X and Ali were buddies. Does anyone know if the movie's protrayal of their relationship is accurate?

Ali's relationship with Malcom is fairly well documented, it is talked about in the Autobiography of Malcom X (a must read).
I can see where some may think the movie was too long or dragged a bit and I that is usually my biggest complaint about films these days, they are too long for no good reason. Even with that I still feel that it was a very good movie. Some people could never be entertained by a movie like this, some people could never be entertained by "Schindler's List" which IMO is an awesome movie that is long as hell. I guess it just depends on what you are in the mood for or what your expectations are for an entertaining film.