AKA Cassius Clay [1970]

Amazon.co.uk Review

Made in 1970, just as he was reaching the end of a three-year exile from boxing, AKA Cassius Clay is a documentary about Muhammad Ali's life and career. Produced by Jim Jacobs and Bill Cayton--who would go on to manage Mike Tyson--it includes reams of Jacobs' vast collection of fight footage, some of it familiar, some quite rare, such as flickery images of his earliest bouts.

The film intersperses an account of Ali's career with good natured, if combative, sections to camera featuring Ali and future Tyson trainer Cus D'Amato, who plays devil's advocate, arguing with the ex-champ that he would never have beaten Joe Louis in his heyday, or (more dubiously) his own protégé Floyd Patterson. Watching footage of his 1967 bout against Cleveland Williams here, it's hard to believe any champion before or since could have beaten Ali at his height.

Ali's familiar story is competently related here (though narrator Richard Kiley has the mildly disconcerting air of a Bond villain): his 1960 Olympic triumph; his defeat of Sonny Liston who was expected to annihilate the young 22-year-old blowhard in 1964; his conversion to the Nation of Islam; and the plainly vindictive decision on the part of the authorities to revise his draft status and call him up for service in Vietnam. Ali refused and faced the possibility of a five-year jail sentence as well as being stripped of his title. The principle pleasure of AKA Cassius Clay is watching Ali in full verbal flow. His maniacal teasing of Liston was a psychological knockout blow. "The man's too ugly to be the world champ. The world champ should be pretty, like me!"

On the DVD: extras comprise scene selections and the original trailer. The reproduction is visually adequate, with the sepia tones of the fight footage holding up well; but the dubbing in places is poor. --David Stubbs

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Aka: Cassius Clay [1970] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Muhammad Ali
Manufacturer: Mgm Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: 6306792465
Release Date: 2005-12-13

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Ultimate Fighting Championship, Vol. 62: Liddell vs Sobral
Starring: Chuck Liddell , Renato Sobral , Forrest Griffin , Stephan Bonnar , and Bruce Buffer
Director: Anthony Giordano
Manufacturer: Studio Works
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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you must own this out of repect for yourself

The card of 1996

ECW - A Matter Of Respect 96 [1996]
Starring: Rob Van Dam , and Chris Jericho
Manufacturer: Delta Visual Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00006RHTK
Release Date: 2002-12-02

Customer Reviews:

you must own this out of repect for yourself.......2004-02-25

to any wrestling fans out there you need to own this card out of a matter of respect to yourself. this card has it all, a great brawl between tommy dreamer and the ganstas vs the eliminators and brian lee, some fantastic aerial work from rob van dam vs sabu and chris jericho and mickey whipwreck and on the best match on the card some of the best ring work you will ever see from too cold scorpio vs shane douglas, this is without doubt the best match either douglas or scorpio were ever in. so get a copy as soon as possible, because not only do you get a great card of wrestling, you also get to see JT Smith and stevie richards do some of the best comedy around. JT is easily the most underrated wrestler ever. so again buy it!

The card of 1996.......2003-12-09

While the two large companies dominating the industry at the time (WWF and WCW) were jockeying for position and fighting over talent, ECW maintained it's focus and became essential viewing in 1996, and this event epitomises the excitement and originality of ECW at the time. This card really does seem to have everything; weapon based hardcore from Dreamer-Lee, a exceptional wrestling from Douglas-Scorpio and Jericho-Whipwreck, and an exciting main event in the form of an amazing aerial showing from the great Van Dam-Sabu series. The event combined with spot on announcing from Joey Styles makes this card a must have for all pure wrestling fans.

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