HOT CORNER

A consumer’s guide to the best and worst of sports media and merchandise. Ground rules: If it can be read, played, heard, observed, worn, viewed, dialed or downloaded, it’s in play here.

What: “Muhammad Ali: Through the Eyes of the World” videotape and DVD

Producer: Universal Studios Home Video

Price: $19.98 (DVD), $14.95 (tape)

If you saw Michael Mann’s film, “Ali,” and were left with questions about just who Muhammad Ali really is, this documentary may help answer some of those questions. This isn’t a slick, overblown, expensive Hollywood production but rather a thorough, objective documentary about a very complex person.

This is real, “Ali” was not. This 104-minute documentary, which hit video stores Jan. 29, offers real footage and dozens of interviews as it follows Ali through his life, beginning with his childhood in Louisville.

There is so much to Ali’s life, and this film manages to touch on a little of everything. There is of course his boxing career, and there is footage of most of his fights, although maybe not enough to suit boxing fans.

There was also his decision to join the Nation of Islam and change his name from Cassius Clay, and this aspect of Ali is dealt with in depth. This documentary overall does a better job than the film “Ali” of delving into Ali’s religious beliefs, political convictions and his decision to refuse induction into the U.S. Army.

Ali is presented as both a strong man who made his own decisions and also a follower who could be easily influenced.

Dick Schaap called him “malleable,” adding, “If I had really tried I think I could have converted him to Judaism.”

Interviews with Veronica Anderson, his third wife, and daughter Hana Ali, help provide insight into his personal life.

Ali has been married four times and has nine children. Ali was known for his sexual promiscuity, and that facet of his life isn’t ignored. But on the other hand, as the documentary points out, he divorced his first wife, Sonji, because she wore skirts that Ali thought were too short and she liked to have a drink now and then.

Trying to explain Muhammad Ali isn’t easy, but this documentary seems to come pretty close.

Larry Stewart