Muhammad Ali - The Whole Story (1996)

Muhammad Ali. He is known as the most thrilling athlete of all time... he is known as The Greatest. The remarkable story of how he became one of the most loved, hated, intriguing, and controversial figures in American history is brought to life in the 6-hour series, Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story.

You will follow Muhammad Ali from his days as Cassius Clay growing up in Lousiville, Kentucky, to the pinnacle of his amateur career as the light-heavyweight gold medallist in the 1960 Rome Olympics. You will witness Ali's stunning victory over Sonny Liston to become the youngest Heavyweight Champion of the World and then experience his painful struggle to regain his title--a title taken from Ali because his religious beliefs precluded him from entering the Vietnam War. His is a story which fascinates both sports and non-sports lovers alike.

Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story contains 3 hours of exclusive footage of all Ali's greatest and most important fights. You will be ring-side for his famous battles with Ken Norton, "The Rumble in the Jungle" with George Foreman, and the "Thrilla in Manila" with Jor Frazier... it's a boxing fan's dream come true. This unique documentary chronicles the life of a man who, through his amazing athletic talent, brash and outspoken personality, courage, and personal convictions, not only changed the world of sports but the entire world around him. Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story will be one of the most talked about collector's series of all time.

Ali invented Rap, trust me...

And if you doubt me, watch this video. Worth the price even without the fights. This man is so incredibly entertaining, such an amazing fighter. So far ahead if his time in every way. Im a true ali fan. This collection is better than any dvd or book on Ali. Footage of him at 15 saying "I'm the Greatest"! hilarious Boxing history and American history. Show it to anyone who will watch. They will thank you. January 30, 2008

A must-have for boxing fans

I gifted this to my dad, who is a boxing fan. He absolutely loved it. 6 hours of great boxing. I would recommend this to anyone who like boxing or ALI or both. March 23, 2006

Priceless

This three-disc documentary about the career of Muhammad Ali is amazing, worth more than 100 miscast biopics put together. It tells the whole story, from his youth to his gold medal to his ascension to the championship to his exile from the sport and right through to the end of his fighting days and his later-life bout with Parkinson's. It works for fans of Ali, obviously, but it also works if you want a general primer on boxing history or even an overview of the social, cultural, and political tumult of the 60's. Love him or hate him, the man is an icon, and this has all the footage and all the interviews with all the people who know and were there. An absolute must-have. February 2, 2006

The greatest documentary about Muhammad Ali of all time

When you pose with Muhammad Ali for photographs what he likes to do is have you make a fist and put it up against the side of the face while he assumes a boxing pose, so you look like you are landing a heavy blow against the only man ever to win the heavyweight boxing title three times. However, when it was my turn to pose there was no way on earth I was going to pretend I was beating up on the Champ, so I just wanted to shake hands. This gave Ali a chance to give me bunny ears.

"Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story" is a six-part documentary that chronicles legendary career: (1) "The Beginning: Olympic Gold" covers his years as an amateur. There is very little about Ali's career before he began boxing (one of the stories his mother tells is how as a baby he hit her in the mouth and loosened a tooth: "his first knockout" she says proudly). (2) "The Youngest Heavyweight" looks at the start of Cassius Clay's professional career, leading up to his winning the heavyweight crown from Sonny Liston. (3) "Exile" contrasts Muhammad Ali's title defenses with the rises problems tied to both his conversion to Islam and his refusal to be drafted, which ends with him being stripped of his title.

Disc B begins with (4) "The Road Back," where it takes three years for Ali to get another fight, culminating in losing his first fight to Joe Frazier. (5) "The Rumble in the Jungle" ends with Ali winning back the title from George Foreman, after breaking his jaw and losing to Ken Norton. Finally, (6) "The Thrilla in Manila" makes the third and final fight with Joe Frazier the centerpiece for the end of Ali's career, with less attention being paid to Ali losing and winning back the title from Michael Spinks than to the final title fight with Larry Holmes, after which Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Syndrome.

Ali is not interviewed for this documentary, although he appears in some shots at the end. Talking about the champ is left to the men who worked in his corner (e.g., Angelo Dundee), the men that he fought (e.g., Ken Norton), the reporters who covered the fights (e.g., Howard Cosell), and the women that he married (e.g., Lonnie Ali). Their recollections and insights are offered in between, and sometimes during, film and video of Ali's fights, news footage, and television appearances (including Ali singing on "The Ed Sullivan Show" with the cast from the Broadway musical he did while in exile). For most of the key fights in Ali's career there are extended sequences and not just highlights. By the time you get to the Foreman and final Frazier fights it seems odd that there are commentators talking throughout the fight because most of the early fights are without commentary, and while directors Joseph and Sandra Consentino sometimes like the likes of Ali's trainer Angelo Dundee provide some insight, more often than not they just add nothing to what we are watching.

The strength of this documentary is that we get to watch Ali fight and listen to him talk more than we do the others. Even when we get to the talking heads we hear more from Dundee and journalist Jerry Izenberg than we do from Howard Cosell (which reminds me of an interesting omission: we do not get to the point following the first Liston fight when Clay yells, "I'm a bad man!"). Also, what they have to say is usually descriptive, telling what they remember, rather than trying to offer explanations for the subject. That is until the end, when there is an obvious attempt to put Ali in perspective. This is led primarily to Lonnie Ali, which is a smart move because there is nobody who is going to be more articulate on that score than Ali's wife.

The one thing I wanted more of from this 1996 television documentary was an explanation of Ali's fighting technique. At one point Angelo Dundee is talking about how Ali had three main punches with the left jab setting up his right upper cut and his left hook. So I really wanted to see some examples of this from some of these fights. But there are only a couple of times when a specific knockout punch is looked at in any detail (e.g., the "phantom" punch from the second Liston fight and the four-punch combination that dropped George Foreman). Overall the lesson is that when he was young Ali was too quick too hit, and later on when he slowed down he discovered he could take a punch. Add that throughout his career Ali was usually in better condition and was always smarter, and that is the legacy with which we are left. Clearly with Ali we are talking about the "art" of boxing, but a bit more of the "science" of the sport would be nice too. September 10, 2005

Muhammad Ali - The Whole Story

This is a great DVD. I have learned a lot about the man, and so has my husband who realizes he is learning a lot more than he thought he would. We are really glad we bought it, and recommend it highly. July 21, 2005

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