Your top 3 Boxing Movies

[bojangles1987]

1. Raging Bull (Scorcese's best movie)
2. Cinderella Man
3. Rocky

I have to disagree, but not strongly, about Raging Bull being Scorsese's best movie. I prefer Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, though I can be persuaded about putting Goodfellas above Raging Bull. Taxi Driver is no argument for me.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I was watching "American Gangster" (Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe), recently. There's a scene where the protagonists are at the first Ali-Frazier fight. A little earlier in the film, they were playing vintage footage of Ali trash talking on a small B&W TV. The actors they got to play Ali and Frazier looked nothing like the real men. It really irritated me. They took pains to make everything else appear authentic, right down to the dress each man used that night. Then they ruined the authenticity by showing too much of the "look-alikes". They should've done a better job of obscuring the faces.

I mention this because one of the greatest challenges to making a biopic boxing film is casting actors that look enough like the people they're playing. Unless the acting is extraordinary, it's tough to become absorbed with the supposedly "real" character. De Niro looked just enough like Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" to let his awesome acting do the rest. I wasn't too crazy about the guy chosen to play "Sugar" Ray, though. Will Smith looked just enough like Ali to let his excellent imitation allow the viewer to buy into the fantasy. But James Toney really threw me off as Joe Frazier.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I have to disagree, but not strongly, about Raging Bull being Scorsese's best movie. I prefer Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, though I can be persuaded about putting Goodfellas above Raging Bull. Taxi Driver is no argument for me.

I love "Goodfellas", but from a cinematic standpoint, it takes a backseat to "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver", in that order. (Believe me, no pun intended. lol)

[RockyB]

1. Rocky (can't pick one, they are all #1 except Rocky V)
2. Raging Bull
3. Cinderella Man

[Burning Phoenix]

I have to disagree, but not strongly, about Raging Bull being Scorsese's best movie. I prefer Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, though I can be persuaded about putting Goodfellas above Raging Bull. Taxi Driver is no argument for me.

I think we can agree to disagree. Scorcese is one of the best directors in the history of cinema so you have no argument from me if you prefer goodfellas or taxi driver. I love them all too.

[Pinoy4ever]

1. Rocky
2. Rocky II
3. Rocky III

[Jay Volcano]

1. Rocky series
2. Raging Bull
3. Cinderella Man

[physiker]

I love "Goodfellas", but from a cinematic standpoint, it takes a backseat to "Raging Bull" and "Taxi Driver", in that order. (Believe me, no pun intended. lol)

Well many reviewers have said Raging Bull was the best film of the 80's. And probably Scorsese's best. But some think Goodfellas is up there with Godfather as best of all time or such. Obviously it's another great flick. To each his own on these matters.

To me RB is hard to beat as a boxing movie and as a great film. The visuals, the music, the story--made a real bad guy come off maybe not good, but better than he deserved. Though you gotta admire his guts in the ring. And now his longevity.

Though I love RB, I also love when they take a real good guy, who against great odds, has an epic tale and a great movie--like Serpico. (He did use a little Martial Arts in the film, tripping up another cop who was menacing him. In real life Serpico did study some of that.)

Anyway thanks for the feedback on the films.

[bojangles1987]

I think we can agree to disagree. Scorcese is one of the best directors in the history of cinema so you have no argument from me if you prefer goodfellas or taxi driver. I love them all too.

He's my favorite, either him or Peter Jackson. All three are tremendous. I wish more directors had half his skill.

[physiker]

I was watching "American Gangster" (Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe), recently. There's a scene where the protagonists are at the first Ali-Frazier fight. A little earlier in the film, they were playing vintage footage of Ali trash talking on a small B&W TV. The actors they got to play Ali and Frazier looked nothing like the real men. It really irritated me. They took pains to make everything else appear authentic, right down to the dress each man used that night. Then they ruined the authenticity by showing too much of the "look-alikes". They should've done a better job of obscuring the faces.

I mention this because one of the greatest challenges to making a biopic boxing film is casting actors that look enough like the people they're playing. Unless the acting is extraordinary, it's tough to become absorbed with the supposedly "real" character. De Niro looked just enough like Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" to let his awesome acting do the rest. I wasn't too crazy about the guy chosen to play "Sugar" Ray, though. Will Smith looked just enough like Ali to let his excellent imitation allow the viewer to buy into the fantasy. But James Toney really threw me off as Joe Frazier.

Hmm. I thought that Smith was a very poor version of Ali, both his boxing and looks and charisma. But I wrote here that no one can be blamed for this, as some people like Ali, Bruce Lee are extremely unique.

I guess they used Toney because Raging Bull had used real boxers as LaMotta's foes including Eddie Mustafa Muhammad playing Billy Fox.

As far as American Gangster goes, maybe you mean authenticity only in the visual sense. I liked the movie a lot as a fantasy and action movie. The premise though is absurd. Lone guy brings in all the drugs into the USA--even putting them into dead soldiers' cadavers--which really happened. Only it wasn't some "lone" guy doing this. But I better drop this.

But yes I noticed the Ali and Frazier characters seemed so out of place. Why couldn't they use the real footage. Seemed to have been an afterthought. It was the mink coat that was the star in that scene.