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I love this movie so much

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This documentary cements itself as one of the greats in boxing history. Out of the numerous films, books, documentaries and other assorted material on Muhammad Ali, Facing Ali surely is in the top 5. With no interviews of the legend himself, Pete McCormack crafts an intimate and touching portrait of Ali through the eyes of his biggest rivals. George Chuvalo, Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks and Ernie Terrell all have unique voices into what it meant to fight the champ and on the legacy he left. Chuvalo in particular speaks exceptionally well, giving analysis to both Ali the man and the fighter. This is an unmissable treat.

Muhammad Ali is the link for narrating the personal and sporting life of him and of other great boxers of his time. Much more than a biographical documentary, this is a doc about political and sociological history of the noble art, centered in the years when Cassius Clay/Ali shined. By watching this film you understand why there are so many movies about boxing: boxers are very often underdogs with amazing life stories. What makes someone becomes a boxer, what kinds of life they have before, what happens afterwards... Spectator gets moved not only by the tragic post-retirement of one of the greatest sportsmen that ever existed, but also by the difficulties, breakthroughs, successes, dreams an falls of other fighters who have been strong opponents of Ali, having defeated him, knocked him down or just having a heavier punch than he was accustomed to. By thinking about those stories you can imagine many more movies that would have been amazing but that have never been shot. Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Ernie Terrell, George Chuvallo, Henry Cooper... Perhaps someday.

IF ONE HAS ever been around boxers very much and gotten to know a little about how they form a sort of mini-society or sub-culture of their own, you already know what to expect from this documentary. As competitive, brutal and even 'barbaric' a bout is, the participants seem to have overwhelmingly become a sort of very exclusive fraternity.THERE ARE ALWAYS exceptions to any rule, but by and large, the guys who boxed at the professional level are respectful, modest and quite unaffected by their prowess. They never speak badly of other 'pugs' and prove to be 'just reg'lar guys to the public at large. They have no need to prove their toughness outside of the prize ring.SO IT IS to this exclusive world of former fighters that the production transports us to look back on the career of one Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali. The story is traced from the earliest days as a young promising kid in Louisville, through his amateur successes; which culminated with his victory at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. There he won the Olympic Light Heavyweight title. This left no worlds to conquer in the Simon Pure, amateur boxing. So........IT WAS WITH great anticipation that his entry into the Pros was met. He had already made for himself and the career in the Heavyweight ranks proved to be a meteoric rise toward the top.IT IS THIS ringside observers' recollections that are captured with the extended narrative provided by names like: Joe Frazier, Ernie Terrell, (Sir) Henry Cooper, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, George Chuvalo, Ernie Shavers and Ken Norton. There are many references to his 2 bouts with the late Sonny Liston and many now deceased fighters, such as Jerry Quarry and Floyd Patterson, appear in archival footage.IN THE FINAL analysis, FACING ALI gives us the history of the Clay/Ali career in fisticuffs, told by both opponents and associates who were there as real and true eyeball witnesses. All is revealed to us set against the backdrop of a 1960-70s America which was going through some growing pains with the Civil Rights movement and the very unpopular Vietnam War being waged in micro-managed fashion by the Johnson Administration.WHEN WE ARRIVE at film's end, we feel that we know Ali/Clay just a little bit better and he emerges a much more sympathetic character than our recollections of his earlier legal battles with Uncle Sam & the Selective Service System (Draft Board) than our collective memories had stored up.NOTE: AS SORT OF a sidebar to the story, we recall having heard Ali speak of how he got the idea of being so highly braggadocios about his skills in the ring. He said that he was a guest on a noontime soft news & talk show in LA. Along with him as guest was Pro Wrestler, Gorgeous George; who wasted no time in using the airwaves hype his upcoming match that night. Cassius said that George did such a fine and entertaining a job that even he bought a ticket and was in attendance on that particular evening.

It's often said that it is the villains who make the hero stand out and look good. In this case, Cassius Clay aka Muhammad Ali (after his conversion to Islam) was one of the greatest heavyweight boxers and a living legend of the sport, unparalleled in his prowess during his peak, having fought the likes of George Foreman and Joe Frazier amongst many others en route to his titles, and achieving an impressive professional record of 56 wins of which 37 are by total knock outs, no draws, and losing 5 times, 4 of which are through the decisions of judges, and 1 by retirement. No prizes for guessing that's the last one.Facing Ali, the documentary by Pete McCormack, brings us through the entire professional career of the man who floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee, and he certainly does. Through stock footage of bouts in the ring across the globe, "thrash talking" prior to games which brings us plenty of quotable quotes, and television interviews, we get to witness, as will others generation after generation, of a man who's the epitome of a fighter, possessing incredible speed in his footwork and dexterity with his punches, a body built to withstand intense punishment as dished out by opponents, with endless stamina to survive 15 rounds and surprising rivals with a sustained spurt of energized barrage of blows toward the end.If you're interested in his life story, then you probably will be better off with biopics like Michael Mann's Ali which starred a bulked up Will Smith in the titular role. Here, we get the profile of the fighter through no less than 10 of his renowned, luminous rivals with whom shared sometimes one, two or even three separate matches throughout his entire career spanning more than two decades. It's full on talking heads, and through the relentless focus on building their back stories and gathering their recollections, thoughts and experiences fighting with The Greatest, we learn more of the man who has earned the respect of his professional peers, and I dare say almost all of whom have some form of reverence in the way the fights of their lives have shaped their personal and professional lives for the better. In many ways, we learn of Ali's immense influence and it is exactly these testimonials that genuinely reinforced his legendary status as the best the sport had ever to offer.But in order to make this a fuller documentary, we also touch on the inevitable milestones in Ali's life, such as the influences on him in terms of politics with Malcolm X and religion through Elijah Muhammad, and how his refusal to be drafted for the Vietnam War since he doesn't have a fight with the Viet Congs, meant being banned and stripped of his title for years. But with stuff of what legends are made of, Ali still showed that he has what he takes as he went on to wrestle the championship back after that long a lay off, not forgetting that age is an inevitable enemy in this brutal contact sport.And with documentaries, you'd almost always learn something new. For me, I've always wondered why boxers or wrestlers tend to prefer hugging their opponents whenever possible. Then it was mentioned in passing that doing so wears out the opponent. And it makes some sense, since the sportsmen weigh quite a bit, and resting that weight on someone else who has to stay on his foot and not buckle under those kilos thrown at him, just tests endurance and muscle strength. Now I know, as do I bear witness through archival footage of Ali in action over the years in one sitting, the strategy Ali takes in beating his opponents, compensating the lack of speed later with sly experience in taking on younger challengers, and how sometimes this sport can be dirty through throwing of games or through managers throwing in the towel, sometimes with good intentions though to discontinue the punishment and damage any athlete can take.Pete McCormack also made the recollections of fights here interesting not only through stock footage but by having more than one of the peers of the time, apart from the fighter involved in the specific fight, share their insights to the same bout under highlight. Under certain circumstances some won't admit to losing until now, especially those who lost to Ali through decisions of judges, so I guess some bruised ego is still in place. And ego is something Ali had in abundance as he adopts a rather arrogant attitude brought into each pre-fight, which you can either call showmanship, or the use of psychology to rile the opponent.It's quite the downer as the film wore on toward the end and the inevitable, where the curtains finally came down on someone's illustrious career, and in some ways the lessons learnt in knowing when to call it quits, though 8 million dollars to make a come back isn't something that everyone can walk away from. Still, McCormack's documentary is paced evenly and builds up the legend in a somewhat different fashion, relying on peers and rivals to pay tribute to one of the greatest sportsman of all time in the boxing arena. Recommended for fans and definitely a great jumping point into knowing more about Muhammad Ali and the sport he excelled in.