Boxing Movies

[wsbuf]

"They made me a criminal" with John Garfield is always a fun watch for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdHXyyhGKew

[APerno]

Has anyone seen the new Duran film? I am surprised the board is so quiet.

[APerno]

"They made me a criminal" with John Garfield is always a fun watch for me.

I thought it was too formula - the Dead End Kids are always fun. -

[aliboy123]

I doubt I would have liked in the big screen either. It was not that it did not have a dramatic ending, it's that it was boring. People have different tastes; Scorese also did Taxi Driver, another movie that some people really like and I thought it was another movie that was extremely boring.[/quote]

it might say a lot about what kind of films you rate, i'm guessing all-action, quick cuts and bags of plot and less of the character study, psychological angles. that's just your taste. for what its worth I think those two films are beautiful records of humanity and humanity often takes its time to tell us how wonderful and sad it is

[bwu]

"Play It to the Bone" had some good moments.

[Caractacus]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHOOQf4g5-8

[Scypion]

With 'Hands of Stone' opening tomorrow I figure there is going to be much debate coming (and more than a few arguments) so I thought I would sneak in my favorite movies list early.

Best Fight Films (Not in any particular order)

1. Fat City (Sad and depressing, but honest)
2. Raging Bull (Everyone on this board has seen it; everyone has his own opinion)
3. Snatch (only a ‘fair’ fight film, but ‘great’ film all around)
4. Rocky (The first one only; the classic boxing story done well)
5. The Harder they Fall (Important for its time)
6. Requiem for a Heavyweight (Sad and depressing, but honest again)
7. Cinderella Man (Wronged Max Bear, but still a good film)
8. The Great White Hope (Almost historically accurate, with great local color)
9. Palooka (1934 version) (With Jimmy Durante as ‘Knobby Walsh’- the definitive/cliché fight manager – lots of fun)
10. Gentleman Jim (Recreation of the fight on the barge makes this film worth watching; Ward Bond’s interpretation of the Great John L is over the top, but fun)
11. The Great White Hype (Only fight fans can truly appreciate the innuendos)

Good Stuff On Television

1. Dempsey (Recreation of Dempsey-Firpo bout alone is worth the watch; interesting interpretation of Doc Kearns)
2. Don King: Only in America (Ving Rhames as Don King is amazing)
3. Joe and Max (Honest and fair interpretation of Max Schmeling; it’s about time)
4. Rocky Marciano (Not bad, not great, worth a watch)

Fight Films that Disappointed Me

1. Body and Soul (Cliché)
2. Ali (Nothing particularly wrong here but you just can’t reduce this man’s life to 157 minutes; probably should have been a miniseries)
3. The Champ (1931) - Sappy
4. The Champ (1979) – Sappy redux
5. All the other Rocky films – (no real fight fan needs an explanation why they’re on my negative list)
6. Million Dollar Baby - Sappy
7. Kid Galahad (1962) – (Elvis as a fighter, I think not)
8. Kid Galahad (1937) – (More a gangster film than a fight film)
9. Tough Enough (Just like the Tough Man competitions it’s based on, it’s disrespectful to the sport I love)
10. The Main Event (They should not have been allowed to make this piece of poo) - I did not write "poo' I wrote 'Sh**t
11. Champion (With Kirk Douglas and as cliché as you would expect)
12. The Set-up (Robert Ryan is always good, but cliché)

Fight Films I have seen but still not sure how I feel about them

1. Hard Times (About illegal bare knuckle fights)
2. Night and the City (More about promoting fights than the fights themselves)
3. Far and Away (Fights only a subplot, not really a fight film)
4. Diggs Town (Fun, but . . .I just don’t know)
5. Somebody Up There Likes Me (Would have been a better film had it been made today)
6. The Prizefighter and the Lady (Not a good film; a promo for Max Bear; a few famous pugs appear)

Fight Films I have not seen, but probably should

1. The Fighter (The Micky Ward story)
2. Real Steel (Maybe I shouldn’t see this one)
3. The Hurricane (I think he did it, so I boycotted the film)
4. The Challenger (Looks cliché)
5. The Greatest (Ali playing Ali, that should be interesting)
6. The Joe Louis Story (Having been made in 1953, it’s probably squeaky clean)

Despite being cliche, I loved "Champion." Kirk Douglas is one of my favorite actors.

[BoxBuzz]

Real Steel is an overall entertaining film. Good show aspect, and has a father/son aspect that is not over the top sappy.

[APerno]

With 'Hands of Stone' opening tomorrow I figure there is going to be much debate coming (and more than a few arguments) so I thought I would sneak in my favorite movies list early.

Best Fight Films (Not in any particular order)

1. Fat City (Sad and depressing, but honest)
2. Raging Bull (Everyone on this board has seen it; everyone has his own opinion)
3. Snatch (only a ‘fair’ fight film, but ‘great’ film all around)
4. Rocky (The first one only; the classic boxing story done well)
5. The Harder they Fall (Important for its time)
6. Requiem for a Heavyweight (Sad and depressing, but honest again)
7. Cinderella Man (Wronged Max Bear, but still a good film)
8. The Great White Hope (Almost historically accurate, with great local color)
9. Palooka (1934 version) (With Jimmy Durante as ‘Knobby Walsh’- the definitive/cliché fight manager – lots of fun)
10. Gentleman Jim (Recreation of the fight on the barge makes this film worth watching; Ward Bond’s interpretation of the Great John L is over the top, but fun)
11. The Great White Hype (Only fight fans can truly appreciate the innuendos)

Good Stuff On Television

1. Dempsey (Recreation of Dempsey-Firpo bout alone is worth the watch; interesting interpretation of Doc Kearns)
2. Don King: Only in America (Ving Rhames as Don King is amazing)
3. Joe and Max (Honest and fair interpretation of Max Schmeling; it’s about time)
4. Rocky Marciano (Not bad, not great, worth a watch)

Fight Films that Disappointed Me

1. Body and Soul (Cliché)
2. Ali (Nothing particularly wrong here but you just can’t reduce this man’s life to 157 minutes; probably should have been a miniseries)
3. The Champ (1931) - Sappy
4. The Champ (1979) – Sappy redux
5. All the other Rocky films – (no real fight fan needs an explanation why they’re on my negative list)
6. Million Dollar Baby - Sappy
7. Kid Galahad (1962) – (Elvis as a fighter, I think not)
8. Kid Galahad (1937) – (More a gangster film than a fight film)
9. Tough Enough (Just like the Tough Man competitions it’s based on, it’s disrespectful to the sport I love)
10. The Main Event (They should not have been allowed to make this piece of poo) - I did not write "poo' I wrote 'Sh**t
11. Champion (With Kirk Douglas and as cliché as you would expect)
12. The Set-up (Robert Ryan is always good, but cliché)

Fight Films I have seen but still not sure how I feel about them

1. Hard Times (About illegal bare knuckle fights)
2. Night and the City (More about promoting fights than the fights themselves)
3. Far and Away (Fights only a subplot, not really a fight film)
4. Diggs Town (Fun, but . . .I just don’t know)
5. Somebody Up There Likes Me (Would have been a better film had it been made today)
6. The Prizefighter and the Lady (Not a good film; a promo for Max Bear; a few famous pugs appear)

Fight Films I have not seen, but probably should

1. The Fighter (The Micky Ward story)
2. Real Steel (Maybe I shouldn’t see this one)
3. The Hurricane (I think he did it, so I boycotted the film)
4. The Challenger (Looks cliché)
5. The Greatest (Ali playing Ali, that should be interesting)
6. The Joe Louis Story (Having been made in 1953, it’s probably squeaky clean)

I think you'll find that SNATCH was a tongue in cheek piss take of " gangsterism " by Guy Ritchie. NOT to be taken seriously at all.

What is it about my post that would make you think I didn't know that? - Are you the new champion of posting the bleeding obvious?

[Syntax Error]

'Resurrecting The Champ' with Samuel L Jackson is a good watch too.

[cfang]

1. Raging Bull - a true masterpiece of cinema. Bleak and uncompromising but scenes that are so intense they looked like they were scorched onto the screen. Incredible fight sequences turning boxing into real art.
2. Rocky - Oddly not really a fight movie more a movie about relationships and friendship. It gets better the more i watch it actually and i first watched it as a kid.
3. The set up - Bleak, nasty and really showed what boxing was like in the 40s.W hat i remember about it is the way they turned the camera on the audience. The woman baying for blood etc
4. Million dollar baby - it's a fairy tale really but beautifully done and actually shows a lot more than 99% of boxing movies what boxing is really all about
5. The great white hope - fabulous and towering performance by James earl jones, does pretty much capture what Johnson was like and his times too.

For me snatch isn't a fight film and although its entertaining its not as good a movie as lock stock or one or two of richie's others. I thought champion was ok and somebody up there likes me too. The main event i really like - but its not a boxing movie, its a comedy and streisand and o'nell had good chemistry.

When it comes to the other rocky movies they all have merit apart from 5 which tries and fails really. 2 is like a continuation of 1 but not quite as good. still a good movie though with a lot of charm, 3 is fabulous but a different movie more comic book, 4 is also good really but now its going into the realm of superheroes. 5 is rubbish, Rocky balboa was excellent and had a dam good script = really enjoyed that and Creed was fantastic - a real reboot for the series with a great central performance, strong characters and strangely bellew was a natural :)

[cfang]

I doubt I would have liked in the big screen either. It was not that it did not have a dramatic ending, it's that it was boring. People have different tastes; Scorese also did Taxi Driver, another movie that some people really like and I thought it was another movie that was extremely boring.

it might say a lot about what kind of films you rate, i'm guessing all-action, quick cuts and bags of plot and less of the character study, psychological angles. that's just your taste. for what its worth I think those two films are beautiful records of humanity and humanity often takes its time to tell us how wonderful and sad it is[/quote]

[aliboy123]

not said by me - I loved the two films he mentioned - youre making it look like I found them boring which I didnt

[aliboy123]

I doubt I would have liked in the big screen either. It was not that it did not have a dramatic ending, it's that it was boring. People have different tastes; Scorese also did Taxi Driver, another movie that some people really like and I thought it was another movie that was extremely boring.

it might say a lot about what kind of films you rate, i'm guessing all-action, quick cuts and bags of plot and less of the character study, psychological angles. that's just your taste. for what its worth I think those two films are beautiful records of humanity and humanity often takes its time to tell us how wonderful and sad it is

[/quote]

I didn't write the top quote - i wrote the second one, I loved those films

[Klee Gluckman]

Phantom Punch was so so. Stacey Dash = Hot.

[Caractacus]

you do realise that Stacey Dash will probably be voting for Donald Trump ?

[APerno]

you do realise that Stacey Dash will probably be voting for Donald Trump ?

Is there a back-story to that post? That has got to be most non sequitur conclusion I have yet seen drawn on this board and there have already been a few that made me step back and wonder . . the barbarian is back

[Caractacus]

yes there is a back story to it,I believe as a matter of fact.
That being that (IMOP)some if not most liberals may be so pathologicaly insane,
they wouldnt probably be able to even get it up for her due to that reason.
BTW Al Peno,
you sound like you may be a halfway intelljent person of sorts.
Whats your thought on the Muhammad Ali vrs Henry Cooper fight
in that possibly a head clash opened up his brow?
Please watch the footage and give your opinion there.thank you/

[APerno]

yes there is a back story to it,I believe as a matter of fact.
That being that (IMOP)some if not most liberals may be so pathologicaly insane,
they wouldnt probably be able to even get it up for her due to that reason.
BTW Al Peno,
you sound like you may be a halfway intelljent person of sorts.
Whats your thought on the Muhammad Ali vrs Henry Cooper fight
in that possibly a head clash opened up his brow?
Please watch the footage and give your opinion there.thank you/

Too young to remember it - will check it out and get back; Ali-Cooper II ???

[Caractacus]

yes ,its a couple threads down and please dont allow your opinion to be influence by some of the trollers here
who may call you deagratory names if you dont go along with their viewpoints .

[APerno]

yes ,its a couple threads down and please dont allow your opinion to be influence by some of the trollers here
who may call you deagratory names if you dont go along with their viewpoints .

You mean like people calling me Al Peno instead of Anthony – yea I have run into that.

I did not read any of the threads, just went right to the film; I also don’t know where you stand so my conclusion will be honest not pandering.

First – I was surprised to see that Cooper was such a tall lanky fighter; he stood eye to eye with Ali

Second – he gave Ali much more trouble than I was always lead to believe; the first three rounds were close, and I would have definitely given Cooper round two.

It looked as though Ali was about to take charge of the fight in round four (Ali round), but Cooper brought round five back to even

On the head butt – in round three it looked like Ali was deliberately trying to pull Cooper’s head into him for a butt; Ali always (illegally) grabbed his opponent’s head, but that particular act looked like he was trying to head butt. In fact I would say that was the dirtiest move I have ever seen Ali attempt.

The round six cut: first off I can see why there is a controversy, it is very difficult to see; Ali does land two right hands (to where the cut eventually opens) just as they move into the corner, but then there seems to be a clash of heads just before Cooper pulls his head back and reaches for his eye.

If I have to conclude, I think it was a head butt that opened the cut, but that it was not intentional.

Because: 1. Cooper does not react to the two right hands much, 2. It’s the moment after the ‘possible butt’ that Cooper reacts not after the after the right hands; if there was a third right hand landed in the corner I couldn’t see it.

The announcer called it a right hand, and he was sitting ringside, but then after the fight ends, he calls it a ‘possible right hand’ with much doubt in his voice, so he was of no use.

Simple answer: If I was the referee, I call it an unintentional head butt and go to the score cards.

[Caractacus]

yes ,its a couple threads down and please dont allow your opinion to be influence by some of the trollers here
who may call you deagratory names if you dont go along with their viewpoints .

You mean like people calling me Al Peno instead of Anthony – yea I have run into that.

I did not read any of the threads, just went right to the film; I also don’t know where you stand so my conclusion will be honest not pandering.

First – I was surprised to see that Cooper was such a tall lanky fighter; he stood eye to eye with Ali

Second – he gave Ali much more trouble than I was always lead to believe; the first three rounds were close, and I would have definitely given Cooper round two.

It looked as though Ali was about to take charge of the fight in round four (Ali round), but Cooper brought round five back to even

On the head butt – in round three it looked like Ali was deliberately trying to pull Cooper’s head into him for a butt; Ali always (illegally) grabbed his opponent’s head, but that particular act looked like he was trying to head butt. In fact I would say that was the dirtiest move I have ever seen Ali attempt.

The round six cut: first off I can see why there is a controversy, it is very difficult to see; Ali does land two right hands (to where the cut eventually opens) just as they move into the corner, but then there seems to be a clash of heads just before Cooper pulls his head back and reaches for his eye.

If I have to conclude, I think it was a head butt that opened the cut, but that it was not intentional.

Because: 1. Cooper does not react to the two right hands much, 2. It’s the moment after the ‘possible butt’ that Cooper reacts not after the after the right hands; if there was a third right hand landed in the corner I couldn’t see it.

The announcer called it a right hand, and he was sitting ringside, but then after the fight ends, he calls it a ‘possible right hand’ with much doubt in his voice, so he was of no use.

Simple answer: If I was the referee, I call it an unintentional head butt and go to the score cards.

Possibly one of the most asute observations of reviewing fight footage that I've read here in a long time.
Hey ,we appreciate all different points of view.
But would you please repost this comment into that thread there for future reference ?

[Caractacus]

[Expug]

Daniel Day Lewis did a terrific job in “ The Boxer”.

Years ago there was a publication called TV guide.
I’m sure many remember it. It would list shows and upcoming movies for the week on television. It would review the movies.
The review for “Kid Galahad” with Elvis Presley was
“ Spare tire in trunks”. Never forgot that hilarity

[elmersalsa]

Has anyone seen the new Duran film? I am surprised the board is so quiet.

The Hands of Stone for me was garbage. It focused too much on Sugar Ray Leonard. The movie should have been called Hands of Stone and Sugar Ray.

Esteban De Jesus and Ken Buchanan, who were a big part of Roberto Duran's career, weren't even shown their sides of the story. I think that De Jesus should have had much more coverage. Especially when he was the first person to beat Duran. And the first person to dropped Duran twice in the same round. None of that was in the film.

Plus, when Esteban was dying of AIDS, Duran went to see him with his daughter in Puerto Rico.


It was a horrible made movie. It could have been better for a legend like Roberto Duran.