We've all seen the highlights of Muhammad Ali's boxing career, but what happened in his life is just as important. "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" has a title that one might interpret as a double meaning. There was the US government's prosecution of him for refusing to fight in the Vietnam War, and there were the events in his personal life. The point is that Ali stood up for what he believed, and made sure that the world heard his opinion.We could be cynical and say that the documentary gives a little too much time to the interviewees, but the archive footage makes up for that. It's clear that the government saw all black political movements as suspect, especially Islam. Among the interviewees, John Carlos - who made a political statement at the 1968 Olympics - makes probably the most important comment.Well, Ali got vindicated. He lit the torch at the 1996 Olympics and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. There's also a clip of him interviewed right after the 9/11 attacks warning not to view all Muslims as Osama bin Laden.Definitely see this documentary.

"The legal battles of the great American boxer against being conscripted into the US military during the Vietnam War."Maybe my reading comprehension has failed, but I am given the impression from reading that description the major basis for this movie would be about Ali and his fight against his draft status and the Vietnam war. As a atheist/agnostic I find this incredibly deceiving. Instead of the focus of the film being about historic legal battle(s) that went all the way to the US Supreme Court, it is a focus of religious beliefs and specifically the Nation of Islam. For me legal battle was more impactful to my life and thousands if not millions of others than anthing else Ali did including his boxing career. Ali's religious beliefs are not because I find religious debate and Islam bashing by the right wing horrible and just another form of racism similar to anti-immigration. Note the Director of this film Bill Siegel is very anti-Islamic has even wrote a book talking about radical Islam and how it is destroying/destroyed America! "The Control Factor: Our Struggle to See the True Threat"I suggest you not watch this film and instead watch many other better documentaries about Ali. Even Will Smiths portrayal in Ali is better. To me this whole film was made because Ali said many things that were hurtful to non-blacks in a very hard and historic time in our nations history. Now since Ali said those things and is a historic figure in Islam this is a way to bash Islam without bashing Islam. Now it's hard for me to fault Ali for saying the things he said because at the time blacks were not treated as equals and thus still had a lot to fight for and Ali was the epitome of this. Shame on you Bill Siegel!

Marvelous documentary revealing little known aspects of this iconic American's journey. As a teenager, Ali was backed by a coterie of rich, white Kentucky financiers with a keen eye for picking Kentucky Derby winners and one promising prize fighter. Like the rest of the world, they had no idea that Ali (then known as Cassius Clay, named after an abolitionist) would blossom into a veritable goldmine. Yet Ali remained "unbought" throughout his career, refusing to curb his personal convictions for anyone. Arguably, his unblinking allegiance to the Honorable Elijah Muhammad may have been misplaced, but, as the film shows, it was strains of this dogged allegiance to principle that led the Supreme Court to reverse Ali's draft dodger conviction. The film wastes too much time on self-important talking heads (including a family member and Nation of Islam representatives) who appear to overstate their influence on the now stoic Ali. The film also lingers a bit long with Malcolm X's concurrent struggles with the NOI and not long enough with the troubling period when Ali, broke and title-stripped, embarked upon awkward college lecture and way, way off-Broadway tours. It closes with a tearful tribute from his daughter and brother (who bears a striking resemblance to Ali), and a full-circle romp back to the Olympics, from whence his public persona emerged. This isn't a fight film, it's an exonerative victory lap by "The Greatest" that merits eight heavyweight forks from AfroPixFlix.

The career of world champion boxer Muhammad Ali has been explored and celebrated in a number of documentaries and two biopics (one of which even starred Ali as himself), but this fascinating and revealing documentary looks at that bleak period of his career when he was stripped of his titles and vilified for refusing to be conscripted into the US army at the height of the Vietnam War. Following his triumphs at the 1964 Olympics and his recent wins to claim the world heavyweight championship Ali converted to Islam, under the influence of Elijah Muhammad, the charismatic but outspoken head of the American Nation of Islam movement. He changed his name from Cassius Clay and became something of an outspoken supporter of Islam himself, denouncing the racism of American culture. His controversial stance as a conscientious objector who refused to enlist and fight in Vietnam on religious grounds made him unpopular. Most people are aware of the basic details of Ali's actions, but few probably know of what happened to him during that five year period. Not only were there trials in the Supreme Court to try and overturn his jail sentence, Ali also faced the court of public opinion as many in America disagreed with his stance. And more lately he faces the more personal struggle as he battles the crippling effects of Parkinson's Disease. Director Bill Siegel (The Weather Underground, etc) draws upon extensive archival footage to put Ali's controversial stance in the larger historical context of the whole Civil Rights movement and the divisive racism of the era. He also uses lots of candid and revealing interviews with the likes of Ali's brother, one of his ex-wives, a veteran sports journalist, and the sole surviving member of his original management group to fill provide some colourful anecdotes and insights into Ali's complex yet charismatic character.