Thrilla In Manila (John Dower, 2009): USA

Reviewed by Max Dean. Viewed on DVD.

Thrilla in Manila is a documentary that looks at the epic rivalry between Joe Frasier and Muhammad Ali. It all began when Muhammad Ali refused his induction into the Armed Forces. Ali refused entry to the services, and refused to partake in the Vietnam War. He refused this entry because of his religious beliefs (he was an active member of the all black Nation of Islam). This caused Ali to lose his boxing license and to be kept out of the ring. At this time, the humble “Smokin” Joe Frazier befriended Ali and gave him money in order to get his boxing license back. Ali took the money, but their friendship took a dramatic turn for the worse. The two men were friends in the first fight of three. After the first fight, Ali began slandering Frazier in unimaginable ways. Ali began calling him racist names like “Uncle Tom” and “The white man’s champion.” By the third fight, both men were driven to fight because of their bitter hatred for each other. The third fight was titled the “Thrilla in Manila” because it was held in the Metro Manila in the Philippines.

The film was written and directed by John Dower, who uses interviews, highlights from the fight and older video footage to take a very interesting look into one of sport’s most memorable fights. Dower helps to tell the story from Frazier’s side. Although it is told from Joe Frazier’s perspective, Ali clearly hurt many people with the things he did and said. Ali was an open racist, in an older interview shown in the film, when speaking on Joe Frazier to a white show host Ali says “He is worse than you to me!” implying that Joe Frazier is worse than a white person to him. Ali’s rejecting of the war, and openly spoken ideas made him an icon for people of the 1960’s. Anyone who was liberal or against the war was a fan of Ali, while conservatives were typically fans of Frazier.

The rivalry between Ali and Frazier was so epic that every person in America and almost around the world was pumped for the third fight. Ali took every chance he could to hype up the fight. The media followed the two men closely as the time until the fight began ticking away.

This documentary is an excellent portrayal of two magnificent men who participated in what some call “The greatest fight of all time.” The fight was very built up, and until this documentary was seen, in many different ways. Although this was the story from Joe Frazier’s side, I noticed that Frazier would not do the immoral things that Ali would do. For example, Ali would use racist , rude remarks and say things about Joe Frazier that made many people hate him. Frazier would never say such bad things; he is just a stand up guy. Ali did say he regrets saying many of the things he said.  It is too bad Ali is not here today to stand up for himself and tell his side. However, the film definitely puts a damper on Ali’s image as “The Greatest.”