Comments Thread For: Facing Ali: A Thorough Review

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

By Thomas Gerbasi - These days, if you want a quick ‘no’ from a film studio, tell them you want to put together a boxing film. If you’re looking for an even quicker boot from the office, tell them you want to make a documentary about Muhammad Ali.

And it’s not that the life and times of ‘The Greatest’ don’t make for compelling viewing; it’s just that in the years since Ali first entered the world’s consciousness as an Olympic Gold medalist in 1960, his story has been told so many times through film, books, and magazine and newspaper articles that there is really nothing left to be said.

Producer Derik Murray, whose work over the last 20 years includes many critically acclaimed sports documentaries, probably would have agreed with that sentiment, at least until he picked up Stephen Brunt’s 2003 book “Facing Ali”, which told the former heavyweight champ’s story through the eyes of the men who fought him. It was a brilliant and unique concept for a book, and Murray thought that a film would also achieve the same purpose. [Click Here To Read More]

[STILL_DETOX]

i still gotta watch this

[20/20vision]

Actually just read the book not too long ago, Brunt's a great sportswriter (even if he is forced to discuss hockey too often) and did an amazing job tying together who these guys are 20+ years later after fighting Ali and what effect he had on their lives. Gotta check out the DVD when it's released.

[cybertiledude]

Can't wait to see it.

[Access_Denied]

Ali Shmali ..... next

[bunce101]

sounds decent, i'm really looking for assault in the ring

[edgarg]

Muhammed Ali as The Greatest...... hmm

I don't know if I've ever written in about this before, probably not, but I have to place on record my long-felt sincere feeling about Muhammed Ali. I am so sick of that sobriquet "The Greatest", that I wish all the crap written about "The Greatest" would crawl away into a corner and disappear.

Ali was NOT, by any means really the greatest fighter, but I am constantly astonished, and have been for so many years that what originally began as a PR piece of crap came to be believed as being absolute truth. He was lucky he was around during a time when all the good fighters were too old, or too old and not that good anyway.

We've seen written time and time again that Ali's win over Big Cat Cleveland Williams, was showing Ali at his peak........

But what is NEVER mentioned was that Williams was VERY slow, and this was his first fight, since coming back from death, having been shot by a policeman, losing a kidney about 6 feet of intestine, his spleen etc. He was in the hospital at the point of death for over 6 months, before slowly beginning to recover.

The irony of the tragedy was that the cop had pulled him over whilst he was driving an auto, and, thinking that Williams was going to take out a gun, instead of his driving licence, shot him in the abdomen. The doctors said that it was only the huge mass of stomach muscle that Williams had, which saved his life.

So, in fact, poor washed-up Williams never had a chance in that fight, not to mention that he'd been already belted out by Sonny Liston, in 2 rounds, TWICE, before the shooting, and when he was a lot better.

It was Ali himself, repeat HIMSELF, who called himself "The Greatest". It wasn't a title bestowed on him by genuine boxing experts of the period, it was just part of his PR crap to get himself recognised, and baloneyed into good, well paying fights. And kept repeating it over and over, eventually finding a new public who believed him. And, of course, he was a little nuts, poorly educated, and very narcissisistic.

There were comments by writers, [I recall a couple] wondering how much time every day he wasted looking at himself in the mirror and telling himself how great and how handsome he was.

There were also opinions by boxing experts who unanimously said that Ali did so many things wrong, which he got away with because if his fast footwork, but which, when he got a bit older, and slower, would get him into deep waters.

And.................that's exactly what happened, and for years now, he's been paying the price........................ poor guy.

Just my opinion.

[bbwoof2000]

Actually just read the book not too long ago, Brunt's a great sportswriter (even if he is forced to discuss hockey too often) and did an amazing job tying together who these guys are 20+ years later after fighting Ali and what effect he had on their lives. Gotta check out the DVD when it's released.

It's available now at Amazon.com from $8.49 (used) to $20.00 (new) I just ordered a used one. I'm anxious to see what Frazier and Terrell say about Ali since they hated him a lot more than the other fighters.

[Chaos]

I don't know if I've ever written in about this before, probably not, but I have to place on record my long-felt sincere feeling about Muhammed Ali. I am so sick of that sobriquet "The Greatest", that I wish all the crap written about "The Greatest" would crawl away into a corner and disappear.

Ali was NOT, by any means really the greatest fighter, but I am constantly astonished, and have been for so many years that what originally began as a PR piece of crap came to be believed as being absolute truth. He was lucky he was around during a time when all the good fighters were too old, or too old and not that good anyway.

We've seen written time and time again that Ali's win over Big Cat Cleveland Williams, was showing Ali at his peak........

But what is NEVER mentioned was that Williams was VERY slow, and this was his first fight, since coming back from death, having been shot by a policeman, losing a kidney about 6 feet of intestine, his spleen etc. He was in the hospital at the point of death for over 6 months, before slowly beginning to recover.

The irony of the tragedy was that the cop had pulled him over whilst he was driving an auto, and, thinking that Williams was going to take out a gun, instead of his driving licence, shot him in the abdomen. The doctors said that it was only the huge mass of stomach muscle that Williams had, which saved his life.

So, in fact, poor washed-up Williams never had a chance in that fight, not to mention that he'd been already belted out by Sonny Liston, in 2 rounds, TWICE, before the shooting, and when he was a lot better.

It was Ali himself, repeat HIMSELF, who called himself "The Greatest". It wasn't a title bestowed on him by genuine boxing experts of the period, it was just part of his PR crap to get himself recognised, and baloneyed into good, well paying fights. And kept repeating it over and over, eventually finding a new public who believed him. And, of course, he was a little nuts, poorly educated, and very narcissisistic.

There were comments by writers, [I recall a couple] wondering how much time every day he wasted looking at himself in the mirror and telling himself how great and how handsome he was.

There were also opinions by boxing experts who unanimously said that Ali did so many things wrong, which he got away with because if his fast footwork, but which, when he got a bit older, and slower, would get him into deep waters.

And.................that's exactly what happened, and for years now, he's been paying the price........................ poor guy.

Just my opinion.

So Liston, Foreman, Norton, Frazier "were too old, or too old and not that good anyway" when Ali beat them?

[jkaisen41]

sounds decent, i'm really looking for assault in the ring

I've seen both... both are good... Assault in the Ring and Facing Ali...

Facing Ali is also not the typical Ali movie where he gets praised by writers or anything... his opponents tell the stories of their live... at which timeframe they fought him etc. Of course it is about Ali but it as much as it is also about his opponents...

@Edgard... the Cleveland Williams fight is not his best fight. If they say that it shows him at his peak... they mean his skills... nobody says that Cleveland Williams is his signature win or anything... it was just a beatiful display of boxing skills the way Ali interpreted them... the other thing is your opinion... but to tell you the truth... if Ali hasn't the right to call himself the Greatest who else does... technique wise he was beatiful to watch... in his prime he was so sharp... his jab was great on top of that he was not a good boxer he was also a warrior... his chin took everything... his heart dude, his character... I don't know who else should be the greatest if not him... he of course had the personality to go with it... even though he said some bad things who were really bad and nothing that a human being should say, his cheating on wifes etc... That's all true... but he also meant a lot to a lot of ppl... I think he touched enough lives so that he can be forgiven for that...

Happy holidays