Having lived through the era, the value of this film for me was in bringing back my youthful memories of the young Cassius Clay on the way up the hierarchy of the boxing world and becoming Heavyweight Champion with that stunning victory over Sonny Liston. Who could ever forget Clay's colorful rhyming pronouncements of when he'd take down the next challenger, or his declaration that "I'm the prettiest thing in the ring today...". Narrated by Richard Kiley, this documentary style film offers up a handful of Clay's earliest boxing matches and his affiliation with the Black Muslim movement and it's leader Elijah Muhammad. Brash and bombastic, and now known as Muhammad Ali, the champion was indicted for draft evasion and held true to his religious principles while defying the government. Stripped of his title, Ali became a prime symbol of the rebellious era of the Sixties. Personally, I was conflicted as a follower of Ali during this period, but felt that he had the courage of his convictions when faced with losing everything he had in the way of money and status. The picture closes with Kiley's speculation on where Ali's future might take him, so watching the story today is almost a moot point for anyone who followed Ali's career up until his passing earlier this year on June 3rd, 2016.

A.K.A. Cassius Clay (1970) was a documentary made during the time that Muhammed Ali was on "hiatus" from the world of professional boxing due to his strong religious beliefs. The film makers use a lot of valuable achieved footage, interviews with the Champ himself and those that were heavily involved in his life. A lot of classic Malcolm X footage can be found in this film as well. If you want to get a look into the life of the "Greatest Heavyweight Boxer of all time" then I advise you to watch this film. No dramatical theatrics. Just the man himself.

I would also recommend THE GREATEST as well. If you want to get a full picture of Muhammed Ali. I wish that somebody would do a film of his post-Zaire boxing career. Now that would be a fascinating film to see the "Elvis" phase of Muhammed Ali. I've read Ferdie Pacheco's book. Someone in Hollywood needs to make a big screen version of it.

Highly recommended.

This 1970 documentary was filmed while Muhammad Ali's future in the ring was still uncertain. The film posits a possible future for Ali as a Black revolutionary, and there's plenty of evidence presented to support that possibility. Of course, things didn't turn out that way, and Ali resumed his ring career. Surprisingly sympathetic, this film is a valuable artefact that deserves renewed attention in this post-Will Smith period of Ali's life.