Raging Bull

I was flicking through a magazine yesterday and saw an article about Raging Bull.

Now I am not going into the story details as I am sure you all know about Jake LaMotta but I thought I would post this link up:

DeNiro winning the Oscar

Now a few things about the clip:

1. Deniro beats Jack Lemmon, Peter O'Toole, Robert Duvall and John Hurt to win. Thats some line up!
2. Jake LaMotta is in attendance and warmly applauds DeNiro - not sure if ever the subject of a biopic has ever done this at the ceremony
3. DeNiro jokes about Joey LaMotta suing them!

Other Facts:

1. It was voted 4th best film ever by the American Film Institute and 3rd greatest Sports Movie by Sports Illustrated (behind Rocky and Bull Durham)
2. Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci are really hitting each other in the "hit me" scene
3. DeNiro broke one of Pescis ribs in a sparring scene
4. DeNiro gained 60 pounds (a then record) to play the older Jake
5. To show up better on screen, Herscheys chocolate was used for blood (the same as in the shower scene in Psycho)
6. When the real Jake LaMotta saw the movie, he said it made him realize for the first time what a terrible person he had been. He asked the real Vicki "Was I really like that?". Vicki replied "You were worse.
7. The boxing scenes amount to barely 10 minutes of the film's running time. Although only a few minutes of boxing appear in the movie, they were so precisely choreographed that they took six weeks to film.
8. In preparation for his role, Robert De Niro went through extensive physical training, then entered in three genuine Brooklyn boxing matches and won two of them.

Anyway, I thought you might all be interested in this clip/ facts and use this thread to discuss what you think of the film and the man himself.

4th best film ever? It's decent but very overrated IMO.

Loved the film and never realised how much of a knob La Motta verified that the film was pretty close to the truth.

As for the third best boxing movie I preferred it to Rocky and haven't seen the other.

Posted a link to this on the old 606, unfortunately it still seems as though someone is intent on making Raging Bull II :

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148205/

The film itself is one of the finest ever made. I can't think of any sports-related movies that I'd place above it. Great to remember a time when DeNiro could act, as well.

LaMotta himself? Well ,obviously he was a son of a bitch and still is, despite that shopworn comedy schtick that he's been perfecting since he retired. Top 15 all-time middleweight, mind. One of the best chins ever, fierce resolve and much more boxing ability than he ever got credit for. I sometimes wonder whether people confuse Jake with Rocky Graziano and wrongly dismiss him as an upstart who got lucky against a faded champion. LaMotta's record stacks up pretty well against most at 160. Recognition where it's due, and all that; I may not want to drink with the guy, but he could fight.

Welcome, Captain. Hope to see you posting regularly.

Thanks Scott; I've had a careful squizz through the site and I'm thoroughly impressed. Much more like the original 606 in its versatility, with the added bonus that the imbeciles who made life unliveable appear to have been excluded. I hope to be a regular visitor.

The fight scenes in "The Hurricane" with Denzel Washington are as good, if not better, but Raging Bull as a whole is a much better film and whilst it does benefit from sentimentalism ("'old' better than the 'new'" argument rears it's ugly head, it still a great movie.

As for lack of fight scenes, "On the Waterfront" is about a failed boxer and contains one of the all time great movie speeches ("I coulda been a contender, I coulda been somebody...instead of a bum, which is what I am."), we don't get to see anything remotely approximating boxing until the Pier six brawl at the end.

Anyone who even considers attaching their name to "Raging Bull II" needs taking out back and shooting. Last thing we need is some CGI filled epic starring yet another young fresh face with all the acting skills of an Ikea sofa and the cast of "Glee" prancing about the screen for two hours.

Yes, coxy, we've heard it about most actors who turned their hand to boxing in the quest for cinematic verisimilitude. Crowe, Douglas, etc, etc. De Niro was no more a potential pug than Meryl Streep. I did hear that Barry McGuigan was seriously touting the abilities of Daniel Day-Lewis after preparing him for the fight scenes in The Boxer. I must say that I find that more believable than the De Niro tale; after Raging Bull, Bobby seemed to believe the myth himself and acted as though menace was to be conveyed by speaking as if chewing a handful of marbles and slouching slightly. The Mark Breland of the acting world, that bloke.

As for the poster you mention, as long as I never have to cross his path, or any thread containing mention of said fighter, I shall be content enough.

Great to see you back Captain! You and Pacman79 today!

captain carrantuohil wrote:Yes, coxy, we've heard it about most actors who turned their hand to boxing in the quest for cinematic verisimilitude..

Surely the word of the week? Welcome back, Captain!

Fists of Fury wrote:

captain carrantuohil wrote:Yes, coxy, we've heard it about most actors who turned their hand to boxing in the quest for cinematic verisimilitude..

Surely the word of the week? Welcome back, Captain!

Yet no-one mentions Linsey Lohan's quest to reach similar heights as she is currently immersing herself in the appropriate lifestyle to portray Courtney Love on the silver screen.

I thought it was the "art imitating life" thread.

Naturally the scenes are choreographed and are usually filmed (pardon my lack of knowledge, trying to quote a film buff mate) in a certain frame rate which is then sped up without it seeming like they've actually done just that and the action looks fast and frantic (like most action scenes).

No doubt the likes of DeNiro, Day-Lewis could've been ok journeymen though as they obviously learnt the techniques etc.

Thanks for the welcome, guys, much appreciated. And quite agree about Blazing Saddles....Gene Wilder would have made a far better middleweight than De Niro!