David Elliott Movies
Notoriously obsessive director Michael Mann and star Will Smith devoted nearly two years and over 100 million dollars from the coffers of Columbia Pictures and other financiers to creating this biography of boxing great Muhammad Ali, which focuses on the ten-year period of 1964-1974. In that time, the brash, motor-mouthed athlete quickly dominates his sport, meets and marries his first wife (Jada Pinkett-Smith), converts to Islam (changing his name from Cassius Clay), and defies the United States government by refusing to submit to military conscription for duty in Vietnam. His world heavyweight champion title thus stripped from him entirely for political reasons, the champ sets about to win back his crown, culminating in a legendary unification bout against George Foreman (Charles Shufford) in Zaire, dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle." In his travels, Ali becomes a symbol of power to disenfranchised African-Americans everywhere and meets such luminaries as Malcolm X (Mario Van Peebles), Martin Luther King Jr. (LeVar Burton) and Maya Angelou (Martha Edgerton). Ali features an all-star supporting cast that includes Jon Voight, Giancarlo Esposito, Jamie Foxx, Nona Gaye, Michael Michele, Joe Morton, Paul Rodriguez, Ron Silver, Mykelti Williamson, and Jeffrey Wright. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, (more)
- 1989
The formula that worked so well in Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is trotted out again in Bloodbath in Psycho Town. A motion-picture production crew, comprised largely of jerks and satyrs, descends upon a small town. As the crew members try to film a horror flick, they are picked off one at a time by a mysterious hooded killer. There's every indication that the film-within-a-film will end up better than what we're actually seeing. Look at the title, and guess what you're in for in the last reel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1987
- PG
Climb is an authentic-looking reenactment of a treacherous 1953 mountain-climbing expedition. Dr. Karl Herrligkoffer (James Hurdle), whose half-brother was killed in 1932 while attempting to scale the 26,000-foot Himalayan peak Nanga Parbar, leads a German/Austrian expedition up the same mountain two decades later. Herrligkoffer's volatile partner in this mission is headstrong mountaineer Herman Buhl (Bruce Greenwood). The film is as much a story about the conflict of temperaments between Herrligkoffer and Buhl as it is about the climb itself. Donald Shebib wrote and directed this Canadian-made "open air" adventure. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Greenwood, James Hurdle, (more)
