Raging Bull

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Raging Bull

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Raging Bull

Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci, Frank Vincent, Nicholas Colasanto

The story of Jake LaMotta, a former middleweight boxing champion, whose reputation for tenacity and success in the ring was offset by his troubled domestic life: full of rage, jealousy, and suspicion-...( read more  read more... )-particularly towards his wife and manager/brother--which, in the end, left him destitute, alone, and seeking redemption.

Id: 10902800

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Raging Bull Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    September 4, 2009
    SirPant
    In my opinion, this is Scorsese's best film from a directional point of view. It's beautifully lit and the camera tricks are awesome (I refer to the different sizes of boxing ring, depending on how well the main character is fighting). The script is sharp and witty and De Niro & ...( read more)Pesci make the first of many fantastic double acts together. Brilliant film.
  • ohagankieran
    July 8, 2009
    ohagankieran
    "Raging Bull" is a cinematic masterpiece which pulls no punches. Based on a true story, Robert De Niro (in his second Oscar-winning role) stars as Jake La Motta, a middle-weight prize-fighter from the late-1940s and early-1950s, who basically destroys himself and those around him...( read more) because of an uncontrollable temper and poor decision-making. Instead of going down as one of the greatest boxers of all time, La Motta ruined his career because he was unable to see the "big picture". He threw bouts, he got involved with low-life underworld crime figures, he beat his wife (Cathy Moriarty, in her Oscar-nominated role), he abused all those closest to him, and he had relationships with young girls who were still considered minors. Even his strongest tie, his younger brother (Joe Pesci, in an Oscar-nominated, star-making part), gets cut during the course of his untimely self-destruction. La Motta goes from middle-weight champ to a washed-out stand-up comic at a local club. He gains weight uncontrollably and ultimately just becomes another face in the crowd by the end of the film. By the end, La Motta proclaims that he: "Could have been a contender....", quoting Marlon Brando's famous line from "On the Waterfront". "Raging Bull" is one of those films that is masterfully crafted in all possible departments. The screenplay is one of the best in the history of film. Martin Scorsese's direction is superb and so is the cinematography (shot almost entirely in black-and-white). The film delivered De Niro an Oscar and also won for its editing. "Raging Bull" is one of those films that is very close to "Citizen Kane". They both deal with men who desperately want to be great, but ultimately destroy themselves and those around them. This film is often rated the best film of the 1980s. I cannot argue with that opinion. I also think that this is the best work that Scorsese and De Niro have ever done. The fact that this film lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Ordinary People" in 1980 is probably the biggest disappointment since "Citizen Kane" lost to "How Green Was My Valley" in 1941.
  • DrZeek
    June 16, 2009
    DrZeek
    Jake La Motta: Come on, hit me. Harder. Harder.
    Joey LaMotta: What the fuck do you want? That's hard. What are you trying to prove?

    Another DeNiro/Scorsese outing. This time they encounter the world of boxing. Based on the true story of Jake LaMotta and the ups and downs of his ...( read more)life.

    The movie is shot in black and white, enhancing the cinematic nature of the film and making the fights less brutal. There is also a good use of freeze frames and some slow motion throughout, all of this giving the film a great look and feel from a technical standpoint.

    DeNiro gives another one of his great performances, arguably his best as this man who is determined to show everyone he is the best. In the ring he shows he can be an animal, destroying people, especially when there's emotion behind it. What's cool is that I was reading how DeNiro actually got in enough shape to actually participate in real boxing matches and won 2 out of 3. Another impressive act is the amount of weight he gained to portray the different stages of LaMotta's life.

    Jake LaMotta: I heard things.

    The other side of the character is the paranoia and jealous rage that consumes him over the subject of his wife Vicky, played by Cathy Moriarty in another good performance. The paranoia and jealousy in intensly realistic and also sad to see, since it effects all of his relationships.

    Jake La Motta: Did you fuck my wife?
    Joey LaMotta: What?
    Jake La Motta: Did you fuck my wife?
    Joey LaMotta: [pauses] How do you ask me that? I'm your brother and you ask me that? Where do you get you're balls big enough to ask me that?
    Jake La Motta: I'm gonna ask you again, did you or didn't you? Just answer the question.

    Joe Pesci is also here as Jake's Brother Joey, in a good performance that isn't all about intensity like he is in later movies. He is certainly a part of the LaMotta family, but has a better feed on how to filter it.

    Scorsese does a great job with this movie. I've watched it a number of times and I continue to find it very watchable. Its not about the boxing, its about this guy and he has problems. He is not a likable character but I want to watch him develop over these years that we are presented with. Scorsese's direction and his frequent editor Thelma Schoonmaker construct this film in a manner that is deliberately paced and absorbing.

    A good story all around with great performances and cinematic style.

    Jake La Motta: You didn't get me down, Ray. You never got me down.
  • DerekA101
    April 1, 2009
    DerekA101
    "Go get 'em, champ."

    Ranked #4 on AFI top 100 movies of all time.

    Arguably director Martin Scorsese's best film, and one of the biggest Oscar snubs in history when Raging Bull and Scorsese lost both Best Picture and Best Director to Robert Redford's Ordinary Pe...( read more)ople.

    This was a landmark film that chronicles the tumultuous career of boxing champion Jake LaMotta as he balances his success in the ring and his troubled domestic life.

    Raging Bull is aesthetically brilliant, especially for its time in 1980. Although this film is about a boxer, the real story lies in LaMotta's building hallucinative paranoid jealousy that leads to unmitigated rage and, ultimately, his demise.

    However, the few boxing matches we see are the best matches of all time. They were masterfully shot. Groundbreaking realism that set the standard for current boxing movies. It was the first film to show the painful, blood-spewing punches that the fighters endure.

    Forget every performance Robert DeNiro has ever had because THIS is his greatest role of all time. Thank god he won the Oscar for Best Actor here! He delivered the greatest performance as a psychotically tenacious fighter in the ring, and an equally demented paranoid husband outside the ring. Joe Pesci also put in a performance of a lifetime as his manager and brother, Joey LaMotta.

    A beautiful epic tale of the rise and fall of a great champion. Perfect in every way.
  • ceWEBrity
    February 19, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    This is Martin Scorsese at his aesthetic peak. Of course it's an artistic masterpiece but the only time I'd ever feel possessed to watch it again was if I felt like watching Italians be pissed for two hours. Which: not likely.
  • paulgrdnt
    December 25, 2009
    paulgrdnt
    What a movie!! The black and white Screen make it look so real in the time of
    Jake and his behavior I belive the scenes came very close to his actual life of jake lamotta ~ the pain and anger that he felt along with his jealous freaky ways, here was a man who used agreesion to b...( read more)ecome a champion along with will power to become a champion , but like God says our strength in life can bring us great things and it can also be our destruction to our life, and the life of jake lamatto was a double edge sword Great movie Robert denerio
    Played his heart out 5***** for me,
  • thoms51
    December 20, 2009
    thoms51
    One of De Niro's best. A vivid examination of the human ability to rise and fall.
  • sillymee3
    December 20, 2009
    sillymee3
    my opinion??..A classic. A must see. It's in my collection.
  • devilsdisciple
    December 16, 2009
    devilsdisciple
    this is why robert de niro is my favourite actor!!
  • meldepano
    December 8, 2009
    meldepano
    yeah, ok... i wouldn't watch it again, though.
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