Top 10 Boxing Movies

[oogiebe]

Joe and Max is awesome... highly underated.

Forgot that one too! Too many good films to pick only 10.

[Caractacus]

HARD TIMES (1975) starring Charles Bronson
THE GREATEST (1977) starring Muhammad Ali as Muhammad Ali !

[oogiebe]

HARD TIMES (1975) starring Charles Bronson
THE GREATEST (1977) starring Muhammad Ali as Muhammad Ali !

YES! Hard TImes! Coburn/Bronson, et al! And that tough guy from "the Longest Yard"

[Caractacus]

Robert Tessier !

[oogiebe]

Robert Tessier !

Love that dude!

[APerno]

Robert Tessier !

Love that dude!

A great Hollywood mug; you see him around but few know his name.

[oogiebe]

Robert Tessier !

Love that dude!

A great Hollywood mug; you see him around but few know his name.

Except for Caractacus! I am impressed.

[sweetviolenturge]

My favorite will always be the too often overlooked 1972 classic FAT CITY.
Stacy Keach is perfect as the down on his luck journeyman fighter Billy Tully. And a very young Jeff Bridges does a stellar job as his protege Ernie Munger. Also, we can't forget Curtis Cokes doing a bang up job as Tully's former love's new man, Earl.
Sure, FAT CITY is a bit of a downer with its focus on the seedy side of the fight game in Stockton, California but it a realistic portrayal of it. With nary a bit of hyperbole or the ridiculous plot points that so often to tend to ruin most other boxing films. There are no mentions of fixed fights or over the top moments like "cut me Mick".

[oogiebe]

My favorite will always be the too often overlooked 1972 classic FAT CITY.
Stacy Keach is perfect as the down on his luck journeyman fighter Billy Tully. And a very young Jeff Bridges does a stellar job as his protege Ernie Munger. Also, we can't forget Curtis Cokes doing a bang up job as Tully's former love's new man, Earl.
Sure, FAT CITY is a bit of a downer with its focus on the seedy side of the fight game in Stockton, California but it a realistic portrayal of it. With nary a bit of hyperbole or the ridiculous plot points that so often to tend to ruin most other boxing films. There are no mentions of fixed fights or over the top moments like "cut me Mick".

I saw that as a kid! Forgot about it. I'm going to find it and watch again! thanks!!!

[littlepug]

Good calls...which Champ version?

Was the other version a Chaplin film ?

[oogiebe]

Good calls...which Champ version?

Was the other version a Chaplin film ?

Rick Schroeder or Jackie Coogan?

[APerno]

Good calls...which Champ version?

Was the other version a Chaplin film ?

Rick Schroeder or Jackie Coogan?

Jackie Coogan was in Chaplin's film The Kid - Jackie Cooper was in the 1931 version of The Champ (with Wallace Berry).

[oogiebe]

Was the other version a Chaplin film ?

Rick Schroeder or Jackie Coogan?

Jackie Coogan was in Chaplin's film The Kid - Jackie Cooper was in the 1931 version of The Champ (with Wallace Berry).

I always do that! Jackie Coogan was Uncle Fester. Wallace Beary was the CHamp in the original. The Wallace Beary version.

[elmersalsa]

The Greatest (I think the great Muhammad Ali did great here as an actor)

Rocky

The Great White Hope

The Raging Bull

Somebody Up There Likes Me

The Joe Louis Story

The Hands of Stone (It could have been better for my taste).

Rocky IV


The Fists of a Nation (Not exactly a movie, but a great documentary about the great Roberto Duran...A must watch)

Champions Forever: The Latin Legends. (Another great documentary about the boxing careers of Latino greats like Roberto Duran, Alexis Arguello, Salvador Sanchez, Kid Gavilan and Carlos Ortiz. A must watch)

[oogiebe]

I cannot believe that no one mentions

Facing Ali

. I freakin' love that.

[hhaehre]

Fat City, the only true great movie involving boxing that I know of

[bwu]

How about "Play It to the Bone"? There's also the long forgotten "Ring of Passion", another movie about Louis and Schmeling. I must also admit to having a weak spot for "Let's Do it Again" and "Diggstown."

[riffraff]

Haven't seen Diggstown on this list. Super underrated and well worth the watch! One of my faves.

Million Dollar Baby is pretty darn good as well.

[gilgamesh]

I don't know about Top 10, but my favorites would be

Raging Bull
Somebody Up There Likes Me
Hard Times (if that counts as a Boxing movie)
Rocky
Rocky 2
Rocky 3
Rocky 4
Play it to the Bone

I'm sure there's two more, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.

[gilgamesh]

Haven't seen Diggstown on this list. Super underrated and well worth the watch! One of my faves.

Million Dollar Baby is pretty darn good as well.

I like Diggstown. Seen it a couple of times.

[sweetviolenturge]

Speaking of the ROCKY series, one has to take into account last year's CHUCK which gives us a behind the scenes look at the life & times of Chuck Wepner around the time of the Ali fight & the filming of the first two ROCKY films.
It had a lot of potential but at the end of the day, it's somewhat of a disappointment. The performances are good, especially Liv Schreiber as Wepner, but a mediocre script & workmen-like direction let the project down. Still, it's worth a look for the 1970s atmosphere & period fashions if nothing else.
Oh & also, another thing that lets the movie down that can't go without mention is its portrayal of Muhammad Ali. It borders on parody & needs to be seen to be believed.