Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Bee

Superb fly on the wall documentary film footage about two of Ali's biggest fights. The first against Liston when Ali was a young sure to lose underdog and the second against Foreman when his age and Foreman's power had combined to lower him to major underdog status once more.

The boxing is definitely not what it's about here (Ali was so much more than a boxer to many people all around the world) , but a slice of Americana from two periods of it's history, ten years apart. Attitudes glare out at us from a cross-section of American society, towards the man, his principles and his opponents, which are things barely seen on any fight footage...another reason for the fight footage being unnecessary is that it would detract from the interest of non-boxing fans, whilst boxing fans will most probably have seen the fights more than once and will surely not be in desperate need see them again. Their interest however should be more than held by this unique back-grounding footage which would then complete the picture for them.

Boxing is a conflict, but conflict without drama is not terribly compelling and a drama is made up of attitudes and circumstances which surround an event or character, which is what this footage gives us, so it would not be so surprising that upon watching this some non-boxing fans may find themselves in search of the fight footage for which this movie is a backdrop. Top marks from this viewer.