FACING ALI DVD Review

FACING ALI is an honest, emotional, powerful documentary that looks into not only the rise of Muhammad Ali but also the impact he had on the 10 people who had the honor of fighting him in the ring. But the respect is also returned because these 10 people affected Ali’s career. Even if you’re not a boxing lover, you could definitely appreciate FACING ALI for its sincerity and art…

When talking about the most written about human being alive, there’s always that challenge to tell the story about ALI in a different manner, in a way that would be worthy of the champ himself and inspiring those who watch the film. What director Pete McCormack, his crew and fellow producers have successfully done with FACING ALI is that they brought to life the book FACING ALI: THE OPPOSITION WEIGHTS IN by conducting a thorough, detailed, well-structured, interviews with the same icons that author Stephen Brunt got to observe, we’re talking about Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Henry Cooper, Ernie Shavers, George Chuvalo and more.

Each story from each of those boxing greats are like testimonies from witnesses who have different opinions about what makes Ali the greatest fighter they ever fought. Some may even go as far as telling how Ali wasn’t a saint or a devout Muslim we all thought he was. But they all have one thing in common, they come down to the similar conclusion in regards to respect for Ali, for each other, for fellow fighters and their sympathy toward Ali’s current parkinson’s condition. Some of them say a fight with Ali gave them a chance to feed their kids, a chance at a better life. Some say if it weren’t for a fight with Ali, they’d be professional killers just like most folks that grew up in their neighborhood.

The interviews go more in-depth, it takes us to those 10 backgrounds, their past, their life after fighting Ali, some lost their families, some had an awful accident, so what’s interesting about FACING ALI is that Ali is not the only star of the documentary.
But I gotta say, my favorite parts are watching the old footage of the fights, I’m a big fan of boxing, watching those fights make me wish I could be there years ago to watch ‘em live.

The DVD carries excellent special features and I mean every word. The animated trivia cards chronicle the 10 boxers, to get you to know them better, more or less of a fact sheet. AFTER THE BELL featurette is a must-see because it gives you the behind-the-scenes look at the making of this documentary. It’s mostly talking heads but what they have to tell you as far as the process goes from start to finish is quite intriguing. FACING ALI: BOOK TO SCREEN featurette goes further into explaining what they did to bring the book to the big screen. But the best part of the featurette is BRINGING THE FIGHTS TO LIFE which teaches you about the famous RED Camera and how director McCormack emphasizes the importance of getting that depth-of-field look, contrasting the background with the faces of the 10 boxers to bring them out even more for the audience. This segment also includes their way of restoring old archive footage and turning ‘em into HD quality. Fascinating stuff.