Raging Bull (1980)

• Year: 1980
• Released: 19 Dec 1980
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 2 Oscars. 24 wins & 28 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081398/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Raging_Bull
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/raging-bull
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
• Runtime: 129 min
• Writer: Jake LaMotta, Joseph Carter, Peter Savage
• Director: Martin Scorsese
• Cast: Robert De Niro, Cathy Moriarty, Joe Pesci
• Keywords: biography, sports, jealousy, paranoia, brother,

	8.2/10
	89/100
	94% – Critics
	93% – Audience

Raging Bull Storyline

The life of Bronx-based Jake LaMotta during his professional middleweight boxing career from 1941 to the mid-1950s, and his immediate post-boxing life is dramatized. Managed for most of his boxing career by his brother Joey LaMotta, Jake has the goal not only of getting the title fight at almost any cost – the one thing he unwilling to do to demonstrate that he is the best and in his “my way or the high way” mentality is to be knocked out, even if it is for a longer term benefit – but also to have the most fame possible, which means the improbable fantasy of becoming a heavyweight. While not managed by them, much of his career is affected by his and Joey’s mafia connections. Despite his boxing prowess, Jake, to reach his own personal goals, has to overcome his disagreements with what the mafia wants and his own brutish behavior, which spills over into his personal life. That personal life shown largely is during the time of what is his second marriage, to Vickie LaMotta, a girl he spotted in the neighborhood. Their relationship is punctuated by jealousy and paranoia on Jake’s side, he who becomes to believe that Vickie is sleeping with every man to who she pays any attention, those feelings by Jake which leads to emotional and physical abuse.

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Raging Bull Movie Reviews

Scorcese robbed

Well, I don’t think I’ve ever been more disappointed in my entire life, but there it is.

I realize that this film lost to “Ordinary People,” a film I love. I am not an idiot – I know that Martin Scorcese is a great, very gifted artist who puts powerful images on the screen. I agree that he has been cheated out of the Academy Award many times, which makes one realize they don’t count for much.

For DeNiro, this stands as one of the greatest performances of all time. DeNiro is one of a handful of American actors who has earned his place at the top – he’s there with Brando, Pacino, and Newman. “Raging Bull” helped put him there. As far as the rest of the acting, Cathy Moriarity epitomizes the ’40s blond and a Bronx woman, and Joe Pesci is perfect as LaMotta’s brother.

Scorcese presents here the turbulent life of Jake Lamotta with all its brutality, sparing us nothing in his fights, his anger against his wives, his brother, no one. His obsessive nature, his jealousy, his – well, hey, his rage – does not make him a likable character. LaMotta himself was disturbed by how he came off on screen, but then had the honesty to admit that he was a bastard.

Scorcese creates the Bronx and the bloody horror of the fight ring in a way no one else ever has. The first shot of the lone boxer in the ring is stunning, as is the real LaMotta’s own practicing of a speech in a dressing room. Everything about this film evinces the aura of a special era, especially the color home movies – a brilliant touch.

The only problem I had with the film was that it was boring and unwatchable. I finally got so sick of all the screaming and yelling and watching this unlikeable, obnoxious character that I turned the set off. I thought if he tortured his wife one more time asking her if she slept with his brother, I was going to put my fist through the set.

This is the age-old question – you know something is great art but it doesn’t speak to you. You like something that’s very well done but a little less artistic better – does this means you are one of the masses for whom mediocrity has become your idea of what’s good? I don’t know. I like to think I can appreciate a beautifully made film. But I think what I can appreciate more than that are complicated characters I understand on some level – or want to understand, real emotions, real heartache – probably more than magnificent film-making. When there is both, it’s magic. For me, “Raging Bull” was not one of those times. “Godfather I,” “Godfather II,” yes.

I really hate writing these comments.

Like a train wreck you just can’t stop watching…

Wow. This is an incredibly unpleasant film about a particularly unpleasant man. However, as the main character (boxer Jake LaMotta) is SO unpleasant and awful, the film is hard to stop watching–like some sort of train wreck that lasts 129 minutes! Now I am NOT saying the film isn’t well made–it’s very well crafted and there a lot of things to admire about it….but the characters (particularly Jake) are so awful that you just marvel at them.

The film is the life story of Jake LaMotta and it covers from his early days as a professional boxer in 1941 through his early post-boxing years. However, there are many things that make it quite different from films like “Somebody Up There Likes Me” and “Rocky”–and not just the bubbling hostility of Jake outside the ring. In addition, those around him are incredibly harsh and unpleasant. It’s funny, but the mobsters around him are NICER than the LaMottas (Jake and his almost as vicious brother, Joey) and you see them as the gentlemen in the film! Also, unlike these other boxer films, this one shows the brutality in the ring to a degree only approximated in one other film–Kirk Douglas’ “Champion”–though “Raging Bull” manages to go a few steps further in the brutality department. A few of the boxing scenes, in particular, are amazingly graphic–with broken noses and squirting blood galore. Now I know I might sound crazy saying this, but this Martin Scorsese film is probably one of the best indictments AGAINST boxing because it IS so bloody and brutal. I’d place it among films like “Requium For a Heavyweight” and “The Harder They Fall” as the best in anti-boxing films! So let’s talk about the technical aspects of the film. When it comes to the boxing sequences, this is an amazing film. As I said above, the brutality of the scenes is stomach-turning. And, instead of quickly filming the matches, the director chose to choreograph them so maximize the emotional impact–with loud thuds, great lighting and amazing effects to simulate the gallons of blood spilled in the fights. My only complaint about the fights is that the boxers simply threw too many punches. No boxing match (even the lightweight ones) has THAT much punching in rapid succession. If they did, they’d never go more than three rounds, as the fighters would collapse from exhaustion! But, this exaggeration did make the scenes more intense, so I saw it as a case of artistic license. As for making the film in black & white, I think this also worked well.

The acting was pretty amazing. A lot has been said about Robert DiNero’s commitment to the role–and how he deliberately ballooned up 60 pounds to play the retired LaMotta. In addition, the intense physical training he underwent to become the character was amazing. You have to admire his willingness to give his all for the part! When I looked for pictures of Jake, Joey and Mrs. LaMotta, I was also amazed that the actors (DiNero, Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty) really did look a lot like the actual people they portrayed–a nice touch. Overall, an exceptional film in most every way, though it’s NOT a film for everyone. The unpleasantness of the film make it something that many simply don’t want to endure–and I can certainly understand this–it is bloody and vicious throughout.

Another one of Scorsese’s finest

What can I say about Raging Bull that hasn’t been said already? I can safely say that Raging Bull is one of Scorsese’s best. It is very hard-hitting and perhaps not for all, but it is for me one of the best sports films out there. The photography is gorgeous and so skillful yet claustrophobic and the score adds to the atmosphere. Once again, Scorsese’s direction is superb, while the writing is top-drawer, the pace is spot on and the storytelling is ceaselessly compelling with brutal yet spectacular fight sequences. The acting is perfect from all, Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriaty are very, very good. But Robert DeNiro is just mesmerising as Jake, really he is. Overall, just wonderful and one of the best from a great director and actor. 10/10 Bethany Cox