Ali film movie trailer review at The Z Review

Status: Released
Released by Columbia Pictures

ETA: December 2001

Plot - Biopic of Muhammed Ali. Michael Mann (Heat, Manhunter, The Insider) is at the helm of this biopic with Will Smith as the legend himself. Jad Pinkett-Smith, Smith's rel life wife will also star in the film as Ali's first wife Sonji Roi back when he was Cassius Clay. Also joining them in the impressive cast list are Mario Van Peebles (Posse, New Jack City), Ron Silver, Jamie Foxx, Mykelti Williamson and Jon Voight.

Read Our Review!

Got or found a scoop on Ali? Email me now!

Latest Updates

9/1/02
Just received an email from 'Blair' who has reviewed Ali. It hit US cinemas on Christmas Day and will be released over here in the UK in February.

"Will Smith is quite good. He delivers the best acting in his life. He’s got the look, the style, the talk and the walk; but he doesn’t capture the magic, the charisma, that made Ali so special. The best performances of the movie come from Jamie Foxx as Drew 'Bundini' Brown, and from Jon Voight as Howard Cossell. I really would’ve liked to see more of the relationship between Cossell and Ali." Read our full review.

13/12/01
BBC Online have some pics and a report from the world premiere of Ali that took place on Tuesday at The Empire, Leicester Square, London. Click to visit the site. Sky News also covered the event, their website features a full video report available to download in Windows Media. Check that one out too.

5/12/01
With Ali due out in the US in a few days time, the hype is reaching its peak and reviews are starting to come in. I'll have a bigger update on Ali in a few days and i'll post links to the trailers, but here's a review from Aint It Cool to keep you going.

22/7/01

Image (c) Columbia

There are some new pictures online from Ali. The first on the left is one of Will Smith as Ali after a victory in the ring. It's one of the first pics we've seen of Will as Ali in action. If you click on the picture on the right, you'll be taken to AICN where they have another still from the film plus a link to a trailer. Now this trailer rocks! This is probably going to do the business for Will and yes Oscar whispers are already being heard. Click here for the trailer, you'll need WMP as it's streaming and unfortunately the screen size is quite small.

1/6/01

Total Film magazine printed two new pics from the Ali biopic.They look like they're from the same scene as those pics printed below.

Still, Smith still looks as though he's shaping up nicely for the role. But come on Columbia, give us some more pics! Let's see some from the fight scenes that Will's been harping on about! Images Total Film.

29/5/01
Will Smith has just been interviewed by The Daily Telegraph over here in the UK. He's been telling all about working on the movie; 'We really hit each other, I can't imagine what else we could have possibly done to make the fight scenes any better. It's the most amazing boxing footage that has ever been committed to film and it's going to really shock people. They are going to ask, 'How did they get that shot to look so real?' The answer is that is it is real.' Will also confirmed to the paper that there were no stuntmen on set, just him and a few other pro-boxers. 'I love fighting. The confidence it gives you is incredible. I know I can kick your ass.' Sounds like a statement the man himself would have said.

Update: 2/5/01

The new issue of Empire hit the shelves today and they featured the pic over on the right. The still is from the same scene as the one below (probably) and again features Will Smith (centre) and Mario Van Peebles next to him (left) as Malcolm X. Cool shot too.

Image Empire Magazine

16/3/01 - Coming Attractions had a scooper submit a little piece explaining that they ran into Will Smith a few days back,"I just ran into the man himself (Will Smith, that is) in downtown Philadelphia, 16th and Market to be specific. There was no afro visible, and he had his trademark facial hair back, so there was no resemblance to the promotional poster of him as Ali. I'm guessing that means filming has ended, or they're on a break (doubtful)."

3/3/01 - Stills from the movie are starting to appear online showing Smith beefed up and looking very similar to the man himself. Reports from the set also state that Smith is very impreesive in the part, made even more encouraging as Ali himself has given him his seal of approval.

This page has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film and intellectual copyright holders of Ali & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.