Ali

region 1

Michael Mann’s Ali was released in 2001 to mixed reviews and box-office indifference, so it was perhaps inevitable that Mann would release a director’s cut on DVD. A total of eight minutes have been restored (increasing the 157-minute theatrical release to 165 minutes), and while the differences seem subtle at first, they substantially enhance Mann’s attempt to present Muhammud Ali as a symbolic hero standing firm in a tempest of history. Ali’s resonant humanity is more evident here, as is the personal burden he bore while defying the U.S. draft and facing harsh criticism for his uncompromising pacifism, even from such African American luminaries as Jackie Robinson. Mann’s commentary is rich in historical and political context, rarely addressing technical filmmaking issues but offering a deep understanding of the issues and incidents that were dividing America in the mid- and late 1960s.