Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight

Some Fights Are Bigger Than The Ring
2.7K ratings
Price: $19.20
Available: Usually ships in 5-7 business days
Format:  DVD-R
item number:  38W3D
Made-on-Demand

DVD-R Details

  • Rated: TV-MA
  • Run Time: 1 hours, 32 minutes
  • Video: Color
  • Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
  • Released: December 10, 2013
  • Originally Released: 2013
  • Label: HBO Archive

Performers, Cast and Crew:

Starring , , &
Performer: , , , , , , , , , , , &
Directed by
Edited by
Screenwriting by
Cinematography by
Subject:
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Entertainment Reviews:

Rotten38%

TOMATOMETER
Total Count: 8

Spilled46%

AUDIENCE SCORE
User Ratings: 121
Rating: 2/4 -- The actors make Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight seem better than it is, but the real Ali, with all his youth, vigor, bravado and passion, convinces us that he and his case deserved much better. Full Review
San Francisco Chronicle
Oct 4, 2013
It's a Supreme Court movie that even the most fervent SCOTUS junkies might find underwhelming. Full Review
Washington Post
Oct 3, 2013
Frears's drama is harmless; it stings like a butterfly. Full Review
Guardian
May 22, 2013
Rating: 3/5 -- All-in-all it's a strong, if unspectacular piece - an interesting, untold element to a very famous story that undoubtedly deserved to be told, and this feels like the most successful way to have played it. Full Review
What Culture
May 23, 2013
Rating: 4/5 -- Whether the film gets all the nuances right is hard for civilians to say. But round for round, the fight is surprisingly lively. Full Review
New York Daily News
Oct 4, 2013
Filled with interesting tidbits, director Stephen Frears' film never quite coalesces - floating like a butterfly, all right, but delivering so little sting as to barely leave a mark. Full Review
Variety
Oct 2, 2013
All in all, it's a worthy subject to be sure. It just probably isn't the subject you might have expected. Full Review
USA Today
Oct 4, 2013

Description by OLDIES.com:

From director Stephen Frears comes a behind-the-scenes look at Muhammad Ali's historic Supreme Court battle for Conscientious Objector status to the Vietnam War, and a portrait of the changing tides of this country during that turbulent time.

Guided by his principles, Ali refused induction into the Army, enduring a protracted legal battle that saw him convicted of draft evasion, stripped of his boxing title, and banned from the sport. Meanwhile, as anti-war sentiment grows across America, Chief Justice Warren Burger (Frank Langella) ushers in the dawn of a new conservative era on the Court. At the start of the 1970-71 term, his conservative compatriot, Justice John Harlan II (Christopher Plummer), interviews left-leaning, anti-war Kevin Kennedy (Benjamin Walker) to serve as his clerk. But for Harlan, a rigorous and fair-minded jurist, politics and personal opinion have no place in the law, and he hires Kennedy for his substantial intellect. When the Court hears Ali's case, the majority votes to deny Ali. Burger assigns Harlan to write the opinion, a task that Harlan passes along to Kennedy. Kennedy struggles with the decision, and in researching Ali's beliefs, Kennedy realizes that Ali does fulfill all the conditions for Conscientious Objector status. But when he presents his findings to Harlan, the Justice rejects his opinion. Unable to support what he feels is an unjust decision, Kennedy writes it as he is told but agonizes over his resignation letter. Harlan, recently diagnosed with cancer and facing the end of his career, is convinced to read the Black Muslims' leader Elijah Muhammad's book Message to the Blackman in America and subsequently reconsiders his passionate young clerk's recommendation. The usually stoic and careful Harlan flips his vote, creating a 4-4 tie. Knowing a tie vote will still result in Ali going to jail, Harlan lobbies the other Justices to find the decisive fifth vote. After Harlan's friend, Justice Potter Stewart, helps form a narrower opinion, the Justices, Warren Burger included, change their votes in order to overturn Ali's conviction. Ali goes on to win the World Champion title for the second time.

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Product Info

  • Sales Rank: 69,014
  • UPC: 883316872789
  • Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
  • International Shipping: 1 item

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