IMDb RATING
5.9/10
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Muhammad Ali plays himself in a reconstruction of the events that brought him to fame.Muhammad Ali plays himself in a reconstruction of the events that brought him to fame.Muhammad Ali plays himself in a reconstruction of the events that brought him to fame.
- Awards
- 2 wins
Teddy Wilson
- John the Gardener
- (as Theodore R. Wilson)
Chip McAllister
- Cassius Clay - Aged 18
- (as Phillip 'Chip' McAllister)
Drew Bundini Brown
- Drew 'Bundini' Brown
- (as Drew 'Bundini' Brown)
- Directors
- Tom Gries
- Monte Hellman(uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaSharon Stone met Muhammad Ali when she was 17. She was in the Miss Pennsylvania pageant and Ali was in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when Stone was there and she met him. And then Ali called her father and offered her a part in his film that he was making (The Greatest). The late boxing champ predicted movie stardom while her father was skeptical. Sharon Stone's father said, ''She is not going to be in film.'' Ali told her father, ''You may think that she is not, but she is. You cannot hide that girl under a bushel basket. Her light is too bright.".
- GoofsAli is shown fighting Joe Bugner during the montage of bouts that took place between the first Frazier fight in 1971 and the first Norton fight in 1973.
However the footage is actually taken from the second fight with Bugner in 1975 instead of their first fight in 1973. Not only is this out of sequence for the montage but the second Bugner fight occurred after the Ali vs Foreman fight in 1974 which is the climax of the film.
- Quotes
Drew 'Bundini' Brown: Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. You can't hit what you can't see.
- SoundtracksThe Greatest Love of All
(main title song)
Sung by George Benson
Music by Michael Masser
Lyrics by Linda Creed
Featured review
Rope A Doped
It's not surprising how the impression from this movie is that "Ali can't act" -- but a distinction has to be made. Ali was plainly no dramatic actor; it doesn't mean he 'couldn't act'.
Quite the opposite; Ali was a natural in the ring, on TV, in interviews; he was a gifted, graceful athlete -- sports are now all about performance, about 'acting', largely because of his influence.
He was an intelligent, creative tactician, both physically and verbally, inside and outside the ring.
He invented trash talk. He invented the modern notions of relentless self-promotion and self-aggrandizement; psychological warfare in sport. By the time he started affecting young movie actors, it was clear that it had all come full circle. Wesley Snipes is probably his closest scion ("White Men Can't Jump").
But acting as himself in this hagiography, it's just no use.
If you want a good period example of a natural, unscripted Ali experience, read his interviews with Hunter S. Thompson (in his "Great Shark Hunt" compendium).
Quite the opposite; Ali was a natural in the ring, on TV, in interviews; he was a gifted, graceful athlete -- sports are now all about performance, about 'acting', largely because of his influence.
He was an intelligent, creative tactician, both physically and verbally, inside and outside the ring.
He invented trash talk. He invented the modern notions of relentless self-promotion and self-aggrandizement; psychological warfare in sport. By the time he started affecting young movie actors, it was clear that it had all come full circle. Wesley Snipes is probably his closest scion ("White Men Can't Jump").
But acting as himself in this hagiography, it's just no use.
If you want a good period example of a natural, unscripted Ali experience, read his interviews with Hunter S. Thompson (in his "Great Shark Hunt" compendium).
helpful•610
- jldmp1
- Jun 2, 2006
- How long is The Greatest?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Language
- Also known as
- Ich bin der Grösste
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $8,284,000
- Runtime1 hour 41 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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