Top 5 Boxing Films of the last 40-years

5. The Fighter — David O. Russell is one of those many directors whose careers can be summed up in just those few too many words, with no respect left by the wayside, there is every summation of his integrity and the raw grit by which he handles his sets. Everything before I HEART HUCKABEES and everything after speaks of, the transition between how well he has worked with his actors before and after the aforementioned line-crossing(pardon the cinetic film buff pun).

After I HEART HUCKABEES each of the four films following has managed to garner at least one Oscar nod on each of the four occasions with three of those four having earned best picture nominations for THE FIGHTER, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and AMERICAN HUSTLE. He is without a doubt some sort of a cavalier when it comes to running a film shoot, but since HUCKABEES things seemed to have smoothed themselves out, says filmschoolrejects.com.

So how is THE FIGHTER any good? For most of the going public, around these parts, THE FIGHTER plays out like some retrograde made for Pirate DvD movie hashed and rehashed for our viewing pleasure, and at the expense of a second rate “Keep Up The Good Fight,” boxing story of grit and grind.

The film’s true worth is in understanding the urbane realism involved in retelling a story with NO real cinematic value. Film is a visual medium first and in this movie the cinematic appeal is dumbed down but not at the expense of the films scratchy, flickering projection; beamed from the rafters of the theater mound.

THE FIGHTER is gritty and real, and in all of boxing, you would be hard pressed to find another story, worthy of this level of commitment, translated from true-to-life accounts to screen. Two brothers in the same field of work, where both Marky Mark and Christian Bale shine thorough in their performances, are highlighted in this Academy Award Nominated film.

Mark Wahlberg very much himself in this plays the younger of the two brothers Micky Ward, struggles to rise above his much more successful and charismatic older brother, whose infamy has foreshadowed the fledgling boxers career.

A tale of true grit and grime, we witness the story unfold by means of a two way prong going back and forth between the struggles of both Micky Ward(played by Mark Wahlberg) and Dicky Eklund’s (played by Christian Bale) and his struggles with a retirement from the limelight.

The victory in this film, worthy of our top 5, is the documentary feel, best appropriated when understood as a retelling of a true story rather than a B-Grade straight to TV Movie.

4. Ali — By far one of my favorite boxing films of all time and to date one of my favorite film-directors in Michael Mann. Also shot on Hi-DEF the motion picture known as Ali is a cinematic masterpiece well-fashioned and at the height of the late Muhammad Ali’s life and struggle.

The film begins with the usual tirade by the aptly titled, “The Greatest,” and subsequently, Ali goes on to win the heavyweight crown for the first time in his career.

For those who know of his life and career, Ali began life as a boxer as an Olympic champion and turned pro not long after his conquest for the United States. He was a national hero before he stepped onto the canvas winning his first professional bout against the then former champion in the likes of Sonny Liston.

Many ex-boxers came on board this epic biopic to help make this the, “best boxing film of all-time,” where Michael Bent, 5-time Golden Glove Champion was overshadowed by Will Smith the actor, it served as no real failing, for even the legend himself believed Smith to be the embodiment his mantle.

“The only man almost pretty enough,” to play for the 3-time former heavyweight champion, Will Smith put on close to 40 lbs to play the late champion.

Good enough for our 4th spot, Ali is truly a triumph of the human spirit, reflecting the champions own struggle, Ali was a film three years in pre-production, before slated for the now infamous December 2001 release date.

The film ends, as with most stories of the glorified hero, in the Hero’s Journey… the Apotheosis sums up the narrative, where Muhammad Ali defeats George Foreman in the infamous RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE, solidifying his place in the annals of sporting history.

The bout having taken place in 1974 was the summation of the grand total of all of Ali’s struggles. The rope-a-dope proved to be the culmination of years of religious and racial oppression — Ali is that figurehead.

The film ends with an internal monologue captured as text on screen, Ali stands victorious over the rain stricken passing of the symbolic might of his oppressor, marries a further two more times, loses and recaptures the title a third time and fathering seven children in his storied life.

3. Million Dollar Baby — Million Dollar Baby is a Masterpiece pure and simple and good enough for our top 3. It tells the story of an aging boxing trainer and a Hill Billy girl who thinks she can be a contender. As with most boxing movies, there is a lot of boxing… but, this is not a boxing movie. It is the story of a boxer and her relationship with a trainer on the tail end of his career.

Ladled with emotional draw, the film itself(as is said) is not a boxing movie but a film about the relationship between a trainer and trainee and the raw emotional strength highlighted between teacher and student, set within the boxing world… the heart and nuances of the drama are laced from within.

Frankie Dunn owns a gym on the more derelict side of Los Angeles, when one day, as fate would have it, Maggie Fitzgerald(played by Hilary Swank) saunters into Frankie’s establishment and requests that he train her. He refuses initially but the two soon form a rapport. An old man an a fledgling amateur, in every way incapable, is taught a few tricks that will later find her a few fights. As is expected he soon rises up the ranks and becomes the champ.

Morgan Freeman plays Scrap, who has been with Frankie since the beginning, and now lives in a room at the gym where Frankie trains his fighters. He partners up with Frankie in conversations about the fledgling new talent, who wanders into Dunn’s establishment. When Frankie refuses to train the “girly,” it’s Scrap who convinces him to give Maggie a chance citing, “She grew up knowing one thing. She was trash.”

As is quite often in the movies characters are strewn across the canvas in a flailing attempt to make things seem real, but not with MILLION DOLLAR BABY, the rich texture by which the three primary characters operate, works in deuces… every time!

“Seventy-Four at the time of the films release Clint Eastwood never was sharper or more on the ball,” as it were, says Roger Ebert.

Eastwood’s 25th outing as director proves to be his best, with the best picture at the 77th Academy Awards, even in 2005 was MILLION DOLLAR BABY highlighted for the raw emotion by which it draws its tension.

Morgan Freeman acts as narrator, just as he did in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, which this film resembles a very familiar way. Frankie Dunn becomes a lifelong study to the man known as Scrap. Clint Eastwood, in is second twilight, could not hold more true to this form of charisma, where in every delight is playing a man who has seen many a boxing years notched on his bedpost and a few too many knocks to his cradle. In this way Scrap and his lifelong case study knows just as well that fighters come and go, and I guess, in a lot of ways, so too will Maggie rise and fade away.

Morgan Freeman’s narration is sharp and to the point. In all his narration he only manages to speak of how the girl walked into the gym, how she wouldn’t leave, how Frankie finally agreed to train her, and what happens as things unfold, but that is the beauty of it. — a boxing movie about a boxer? Who would have thunk?. It is about all these three people and a peak into the boxing career of Maggie Fitzgerald.

2. Rocky II — The rematch or Rocky in highlight; the second stanza. The fight scenes itself; not important!

What matters most in the Rocky series or with this boxing film itself is where along the path are we as we invest ourselves in Rocky Balboa’s struggle?

With Rocky II it is not just about the rematch, it is not just about the second stanza, it is about Rocky’s emotional journey as a human being and champion.

From the depths of despair, and unknown takes a shot at the title and surprises the world by going the distance. So it begins, Rocky II, the rematch against the egotistical Apollo Creed, who cannot for the life of him figure out what had happened at the end of the first fight. It was a tie, double elimination knockout on both their parts — champ and unknown contender.

Rocky actually begins with a montage of images, reminding us of how the first fight/film had turned out and as it turns out Rocky is still at it right after the fight is over.

But after the first flurry of images inform us(the audience) of his recent success, Rocky begins to flounder. And after an extended period of soul searching, he realizes that the only way he can match that early triumph is to duplicate it as closely as possible. In Stallone’s case, it means to rewrite the first script with a different ending. Seems very much a cop out at this point, but wait; consider that in Rocky’s case, this means agreeing to a rematch with the Champ.

Stallone is trying to recreate the success of the first movie, let there be no doubt about that here. But, reconsider the weight of the rematch as a turning point in the Rocky’s career as an amateur boxer and you have a blueprint for yet another hit concerning the human struggle already laid down. This means that there is now a story of an ostensible nobody in Rocky Balboa, now a local hero, on the cusp of making good.

The rocky series has been turned inside out and with other noteworthy spin-offs the now franchise is nothing more than a farce in the eyes of cinematic officiants, but this is not cinema, this is not an important movie. Well, seemingly not at the most immediate sighting.

Rocky the movie franchise is set in Philadelphia acts as a great backdrop for what cinema goers from the 80s`would be looking for. Rocky is a classic but only to the medium.

Film restoration and DvD and Blueray Disc sales are the resulting escapade of a once proud studio revelation, but the most important film of the series does remain in good favor when speaking of the classic adage that is the movie-going experience. From it’s soundtrack to its long takes with the city of brotherly love as a backdrop this film cannot go wrong and is worthy of our top two.

1. Raging Bull — When I first saw it I was beginning my study on the motion picture arts and sciences and had believed that if I was to understand anything about the medium I would have to formerly begin with Martin Scorsese and some of his finer works. Raging Bull was on that list and upon a first viewing was exhausted upon the initial viewing.

I had initially known of Scorsese growing up watching gangster movies with my father. Goodfellas and Casino were a couple of those films, which I had seen that belonged in the oeuvre of the Judea-Christian Maestro.

I’ll tell you why this movie deserves our number one spot! There are two movies in this black and white extravaganza. One tells the story of the family man Jake LaMotta, the ruffian and foul mouthed ex-boxing champion who beats up on his wife if for no reason but to assert his authority. The other story speaks of a struggling boxer coming to terms with his many sides and is best appropriated as the RAGING BULL.

The film is two films just the same, with each fight scene acting as a part in the boxers emotional roller-coaster ride of a boxing career, filmed differently each time, to capture Jake’s ever-changing, ever-evolving emotional state, going through the boxers career in retrospect makes me wonder how I managed to sit through each fight scene is indeed a mystery.

The story of little Sicily is also evident here, where nothing is ever more than a short walk away from your downtown flat. Juxtapose these two elements and you will in fact see the differentiation between the man and the BULL.

It starred Robert De Niro, electrifying and horribly charismatic in the role of 1940s middleweight boxing champ Jake La Motta. The film actually emphasizes all that is mentioned prior, contrasting with with what was allegedly his initial, pig-headed resistance to gangsters’ translated instead into parasitic self-deprecating sense of self worth. The effect is to combine stunning scenes of brutality and self-destruction with a lethal, even outrageous sentimentalism.

The only pitfall in Scorsese’s masterwork is that he seems to have set too many movies in just the single outing. Like a double feature the film bares none when juxtaposed against the most readily available of all slurs. It tries to be too much. But it is with this 1981 classic most film historians around the world would simply consider this a masterclass in film-making, succeeding where the screenplay fails.

While the pieces don’t always add up, the film-maker’s and their appeal appears to be operating just like clockwork. The mastery of cinema and illusion of a night out of the town is what made this one great and unforgettable. And, to that… our Greatest Boxing Film of the last 40-years. And to think it might have been the first one made and tried against the rest that were to follow.