Five most powerful boxing films

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticle08.asp?xfile=data/entertainment/2010/December/entertainment_December26.xml§ion=entertainment

(AP)

10 December 2010,

LOS ANGELES — Boxing movies always have plenty of champions: They inspire us to fight harder ourselves, overcome obstacles in our own lives, acquire killer biceps and abs.

Mark Wahlberg has always been known for those parts of his body, and they’re on full display in “The Fighter,” a movie he has been training for and fighting to get made for four years. He stars as Micky Ward, a real-life boxer who was one of Wahlberg’s favorites growing up in Massachusetts. snip

· ”Raging Bull” (1980): Well, of course we have to start here. Greatest boxing movie ever? That’s not too much of a stretch. What more can we say that hasn’t already been said? It’s all so obvious. Robert De Niro famously transformed himself inside and out, packing on the muscle to play the volatile former middleweight champion Jake La Motta. In gorgeous, intimate black-and-white with its haunting title sequence, this may just go down as Martin Scorsese’s brutal masterpiece. It earned Academy Awards for De Niro (best actor) and for Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing, but was criminally robbed of the best-picture prize, which went to “Ordinary People.”

· ”Rocky” (1976): Again, from the what-more-can-we-say? department. We went with the first “Rocky” here, tempting as it was to dredge up later installments featuring Mr. T and Dolph Lundgren, because it set the precedent for the franchise. It was the little movie that could, the one that came out of nowhere with no budget and shocked the world by winning the best-picture Oscar over bigger and more traditional contenders: “Network,” “All the President’s Men,” “Bound for Glory” and “Taxi Driver.” Sylvester Stallone wrote the script and starred as the Italian Stallion, Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer who would go on to win the heavyweight championship. As full of cheesy uplift as the ending is, it still sends chills.

[City of Mills]

1. Cant wait to see The Fighter

Filmed in my 'hood :)

[rbnyc]

2. Great White Hope

Not really a boxing film - just has boxing in it, but really amazing. Jane Alexander spoke recently at the Cinema where I am the Director of Development and told some amazing stories about the play and the film. It was really something to see it on the big screen - and still totally relevant.

[OmahaBlueDog]

3. "Cinderella Man" is a helluva movie

Jimmy Braddock goes from longshoreman on relief to championship fighter. Great performances by Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti.

[WinkyDink]

4. "Somebody Up There Likes Me"........"Golden Boy".

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049778/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031377/

[Auggie]

5. Not a top five, but "The Harder They Fall" is a good one...

Humphrey Bogart's last film.

Rocky? No way. Cinderella Man was much better.