Review of The Greatest (1977) by Panta O — 14 Dec 2010

In this movie you can see the story told by the man himself... and played by him as well! Following young Cassius Clay`s struggle against prejudice and discrimanation from his Olympic cold win to the famous Rumble in the Jungle, the fight against George Foreman! Muhammad Ali is a natural performer and in this film he is managing not to go overboard! The best part of the script is that just concentrates itself with hard facts . I'll have to say that without Ali we would never know about him turning up at Sonny Liston`s house at the dead of night to throw insults... and that is the advantage of this movie! It is like some kind of documentary reconstruction of a remarkable life... and it`s all true!

I'll have to say that I enjoyed the performance of Phillip MacAllister playing the young Cassius Clay Jr displaying the engaging affrontery of a young talent so sure of himself that discretion in self-description knows no bounds... real Ali's characteristics which will later refine through formal discipline, professional conflicts and the controversial refusal to be inducted in the US Army.

Movie with a message... and important part of a history story which should be told!