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Summary: The somewhat graphic, true tale of boxer Jake La Motta
Review: This movie is perfect. It always keeps your attention, its memorable scenes and cinematography are a tribute to Scorcese's innovative way of story telling. The diologue, everything is flawless. It tells the story of Jake La Motta, a prize fighter whose paranoia, vicious brutality in the ring, and lust for something greater are portrayed excellently in this film; one of my personal favorites.
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Summary: One of the best films of all time
Review: Raging Bull is one of those rare films that shows life as it actually is: gritty and sometimes very ugly. With this film director Martin Scorsese has dived deep into what makes us human and shown it to us very honestly. The film follows the rise and fall of middleweight boxing champ Jake Lamotta. It begins and we see the kind of man Lamotta is. He has a fight with his wife and he even seems to enjoy it. As the movie unfolds, we see Lamotta for what he realy is: an animal who is only capable of expressing himself through violence. In the course of the film he alienates everyone who loves him or could possibly love him. In most films of the modern age, the ending of an otherwise good movie is comprised and made happy. But this is not the case with Raging Bull. The characters are all real and Scorsese knew this. At the end Lamotta ends up as a two bit performer in a shady night club. And what makes this film so very good is that you thought that was how he would end up.
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Summary: Joe Peshi nearly steals the spotlight!
Review: If you are a fan of Joe Peshi you'll love this film. He nearly steals the spotlight from DeNiro with his all too familiar snide comments and violent behavior. Interestingly this is his first major motion picture... Once again DeNiro's performance is outstanding as the prize-fighter Jake LaMotta who is battling the 'boogeyman' both inside and outside the ring. Not a five star film as you've seen this tragedy before in other movies. Cinematography was also worthy of mention, captivating at times.
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Summary: All The Rage
Review: Director Martin Scorsese has a filmography filled with movies that are, unflinchingly realistic, sometimes not for the timid, and always an excercise in craftsmanship. These qualities are no more apparent, than in 1980's Raging Bull. As the film celebrates a milestone and beyond...it deserves to be reissued on DVD as a special edition. The film tells the true story of middleweight boxer Jake La Motta, played with incredible intensity by Oscar winner Robert De Niro. As La Motta rises through the ranks to earn his first shot at the middleweight title, he falls in love with Vickie (Cathy Moriarty), a true "gal" from his Bronx neighborhood. Jake's inability to express his feelings pours out in the ring and eventually takes over his life and in his dealings with his brother, Joey (Joe Pesci). Irrational, consuming jealousy over Vickie, as well as an insatiable appetite, sends him into a downward spiral that costs him his title, his wife, and his relationship with Joey. De Niro delivers one of the screen's most unforgettable performances. La Motta's smolder and and anger are played to perfection. De Niro plays it very unsympathetically, yet its graphic depiction is impossible not to see through to the end Pesci and Moriarty are just as intense as go toe toe with De Niro Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Chapman shot the film with a style that makes the boxing scenes overflow with a boundless energy and adds immediacy to the endless arguments that boil over whenever Jake is outside the ring. The use of black and white ends up, only enhancing the movie, was a masterstroke. The current (and hard to find) DVD has very little bonus material on it. The theatrical trailer and MGM's hallmark, known as the "8 page booklet", with production notes and trivia, is all there is. At the risk of repeating myself, Raging Bull--a masterpiece of the cinema--deserves the special edition treatment. Meanwhile, the current disc gets **** and a 1/2 stars
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Summary: American pigs and their bad movies
Review: Me being from france, I thought a film titled "raging bull" would be about a bull that was very angry, but instead it's about a stupid boxer named jake somethings. If they were to have a good actor play the boxer, they should at leest had Vin Diesel, or some person strong like a body buiilder. i waS ALSO expecting to see some other races than white, they diddn't have blacks or jews, i think the person who made it is a racist bigot. also there wasn't no nude chicks who jumped around the ring between rounds, like in Europe. in the end i think they sould ban the film because it is racist and un-entertaining.
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Summary: One of the Greatest Movies Ever
Review: Raging Bull completes the generally accepted "Scorsese Trilogy", along with Taxi Driver and Goodfellas. These films are all seen as masterpieces, some of the best works ever seen on film. Along with Scorsese direction, Robert De Niro graces all three pictures. I think that in Raging Bull, he solidifies his position as one of the greatest actors of all time. De Niro is the film. His initial transformation into the brutal and street wise middle weight Jake LaMatta is something to see. De Niro just has the ability to "become" a different person, as he did to amazing effect as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Like Bickle, you watch De Niro's character degenerate into madness and violence, and the metamorphesis is striking. Even after LaMatta falls from grace, De Niro pulls off another artistic and physical transformation that boggles the mind. It's harsh and tragic to see, as the viewer has formed such a connection to LaMatta by that time in the movie. Backing up De Niro is Pesci who brings another great performance to the table. Along with the acting, Scorsese sets the attitude of darkness with the engenious move of shooting the film in black and white. The atmosphere, the movement is sharp and with purpose. Raging Bull is one of Scorsese's best and arguably De Niro's best performance.
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Summary: The Bronx Bull Is Back Now!!!
Review: For the past few years I felt this film has been forgotten a bit. Now it is re-released on DVD in a special 2 disc form. The bonus disc is so great and well worth the money alone! Almost better than the film. If you loved the Rocky movies or if you loved the mob films like The Godfather or Goodfella's, This is the best of both worlds for you!! Boxing and the mob back in the day WERE hand in hand. This real life story shows that. However, Jake LaMotta never wanted to sell out or take a dive for the fixed money. You can still find an old copy of this film on DVD but this brand new 2 disc version is the way to go.
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Summary: Raging indeed
Review: The Academy has been wrong on many occasions. This would be one of them. As interesting a drama as "Ordinary People" was Robert Redford's film can't hold a candle to the complex drama that was passed over for both best director and best picture. "Raging Bull" features Scorsese's cinematic gifts at their peak. The kinetic camera of Michael Chapman and Scorsese's unusual but powerful compositions capture the boxing ring in a way never quite seen before. He also captures the human element in the same way. Jake LaMotta's gift is his ability to punish himself for his sins. He can be pummeled by others and withstand every single massive punch of his opponents. Yes he can knock them out but it's also his ability to outlast them that makes LaMotta so difficult to beat in the ring. The boxing ring changes from a place of sport to a place of war for one man's soul. Robert DeNiro's brilliant portrayal of LaMotta earned him a well deserved Oscar but without Scorsese's sharp as nails direction and the rich imagery of Michael Chapman's cinematography, "Raging Bull" would just have been another biopic about a famous boxer. The difference between the deluxe two disc edition of "Raging Bull" and the single disc version comes down to the featurettes and documentary on disc two and the commentary tracks on disc one. Both the single disc and two disc versions feature the same top notch transfer.
A beautiful, detailed transfer brings out the rich shadows, dark blacks and bright whites of Michael Chapman's cinematography. Presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio for the first time this anamorphic transfer captures all the detail missing from the previous version released on DVD (which was reportedly cropped from the 1.33:1 TV version. Shot in black and white on high contrast film, the film retains it's grainy texture that added a sense of gritty reality to the original theatrical release. Presented in an enhanced Dolby Digital 5.1 and the original 2.0 Dolby Digital Surround soundtrack, the detailed soundtrack sounds terrific with virtually no compression issues and great presence.
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Extras: In Before the Fight the principle cast and crew discuss all the struggles that producers Chartoff and Winkler faced in making the movie. A project that DeNiro had first proposed to Scorsese when he was making Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. It's ironic that Scorsese who was never a big sports fan would make the ultimate boxing movie. Scorsese discusses how he was ultimately persuaded to make the movie by DeNiro (who had the idea of doing the physical transformation for LaMota as he ages from the very beginning). Luckily Chartoff and Winkler had produced Rocky. The duo used the success of their film as leverage to get Raging Bull.
"In the Ring" focuses on the actual production issues they faced. Watching pre-production footage Scorsese came to the conclusion that Irwin Winkler's suggestion to shoot the film in black and white was perfect for capturing the "vintage" look of the era. Editor Thelma Schoonmaker points out that amazingly Raging Bull was shot with only one camera. Schoonmaker also points out the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) differences between fights and how changing the design of the ring, the lighting and how the sequences reflected Jake's emotional state at the time. While the film was storyboarded, Scorsese primarily used them to help keep track of the way the film would ultimately look when put together.
"In Outside the Ring" Pesci points out that the film was far from improvised. Schrader provided the dramatic structure and the actors would improvise during the rehearsal sessions and would then be, for the most part, written in stone. We learn much more about the dramatic scenes in this section with Cathy Morarity discussing everything from how the hairdresser would use corn syrup to keep her hair perfect. Chapman shot many of the color home movies then realized he couldn't shoot them with bad framing like typical home movies. The teamsters working on the production shot these sequences.
"After the Fight" Pesci and Schoonmaker justify the extreme violence of the film by pointing out that Scorsese wasn't trying to glorify it but make it as ugly as possible particularly when it came to the fight sequences but also during the domestic fights between LaMotta and his family. Sound Effects editor points out some of the simple ideas that he used to highlight the differences between the fights sometimes during various punches such as the sound of a horse shuttering or an elephant braying during two intense fights. Warner would routinely burn the tapes he used for the sound effects at the end of each production forcing himself to create anew all over again with a new concept for each movie.
"The Bronx Bull" features Jake LaMotta discussing seeing the movie for the first time. We then hear from film critics as to the reaction to the film. Schoonmaker talks about how the trade papers warned distributors NOT to book the film. Ironically, the critics asked about the film are British critics who seem to have the best appreciation for the film. The Bronx Bull duplicates many comments in the 20 minute featurettes included but, nonetheless, it provides additional background on the film not available elsewhere.
"DeNiro vs. LaMotta" compares the reel world vs. the real world from still photos and archival footage. It shows the detail that Scorsese and DeNiro went into to recreate the look and feel of the real fights. We also get the original theatrical trailer and a promo trailer for the Rocky boxed set.
If you elect to go for the single disc edition of the film, all you'll get is a bare bones presentation. It does, however, sport the best transfer to date of the film presented in the correct aspect ratio (widescreen image heighth and width). It's a pity that MGM chose not to include the commentary tracks on this edition as they would have provided information every bit as useful as the extras on the deluxe edition. Ironically, the image quality might be better in theory because there's less bit space being turned over to the commentary tracks.
A superb movie that lost the Oscar to the fine film Ordinary People on a technicality (the repulsive violence alienated much of the Academy's core members), Raging Bull proves to be the deeper, richer film of the two. There's no doubt that both are classic films of a different sort but, truly, Raging Bull proves that if a classic is overlooked that time will repair the damage done.
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Summary: THIS BULL PACKS A ONE/TWO WALLOP ON DVD!
Review: "Raging Bull" (1980) is, bar none, the best work that director, Martin Scorsese has ever done in American cinema. Though not recognized as such at the time of the film's original release, and somewhat eclipsed in popularity by the later successes of "Casino" and "Goodfellas", it is in "Raging Bull that Scorsese really hits his stride. The film is a not-so-fictional, often critical and harsh account of real life boxing legend, Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro). Not that LaMotta would disagree with that assessment. In fact he would probably add that the film pales in comparison to the sort of lunk-headed jerk he was with his first wife, Vickie (Cathy Moriarty). Scorsese, admittingly not a fan of boxing at the start of production, sinks deep into the material and comes out swinging as the undisputed champion. The evocative black and white (except for rare color sequence) cinematography really captures the mood and feel of old time boxing news reels. Of course the other half that makes the story sparkle like no other sports movie before or since, and cannot be overstated, is Robert DeNiro's masterful performance as Jake. Gaining and losing some sixty pounds for the shoot, in every ounce of his being and delivery, DeNiro is LaMotta. The line between character and actor is so poignantly blurred that the performance stands out as genuine and raw in its reverence and sincerity to both LaMotta and the sport. Joe Pesci, who at this point in his career had almost decided that acting was not for him, establishes an indelible light as Joey LaMotta that would continue to burn in his many works since this one - both with and without Scorsese. The rest of the cast, hand picked by Scorsese for their non-actor-eque qualities, come off as real life patrons of the ring, an inspired artistic mileau that with each new viewing seems more like a hidden camera account of LaMotta than its fictional equivalent. DeNiro rightfully took home the Best Actor Oscar for "Raging Bull". Scorsese and the film were wrongfully overlooked.
MGM/UA has given us a stunning new transfer of "Raging Bull". The black and white image is smooth, beautifully contrasted and very nicely balanced. Blacks are deep and rich. Whites are generally clean, except where Scorsese has deliberately toned down the contrast for artistic effect. Fine detail is fully realized throughout. There is no edge enhancement or other digital glitches for a picture quality that is staggeringly beautiful in all of its sustained and intense glory. The faded color sequences, deliberately rendered that way, are poignant snapshots of a private life that add yet another layer to the telling of this tale. The audio, remixed to 5.1, like the Raging Bull himself, packs an incredible one/two wallop. The sound field is engaging, intense and always on pitch. Extras include a string of interesting documentaries that chart the film from conception to post production. LaMotta as well as DeNiro are on hand to comment. There's even a side by side LaMotta to DeNiro fight sequence to compare styles in fighting. The film's theatrical trailer, a gallery and audio commentary round out the extras.
Rating:
Summary: A knockout
Review: Martin Scorsese's black-and-white film, an underdog in its day and a classic today, makes a rousing comeback in this double-disc set from MGM. All of the key participants return with blow-by-blow accounts of making the movie, including a repentant Jake La Motta. The DVD can go toe-to-toe with Warner's great "Goodfellas" DVD.
Extras dig deep into Scorsese's methods and motivations, drawing heavily on the observations of Thelma Schoonmaker, his longtime editor who won an Oscar for the film. One of the DVD's best extras is a featurette in which Schoonmaker sits at her editing bay, breaking down the fight scenes, running film backward and forward as Robert De Niro does battle with the real-life boxers he faced during filming. The old champ La Motta says he went "a thousand" rounds with De Niro in preparation for filming. "I'm positive he could have fought professionally," La Motta says.
A short but telling extra shows how carefully Scorsese and De Niro followed the script from La Motta's real fights. The 3-minute "Shot for Shot" intercuts footage from the actual and movie fights, the drama heightened by Frank Warner's jungle-beast sound effects from "Raging Bull."
The DVD's widescreen anamorphic images (1.85:1) look sensational, with concussion blacks and silky grays across a distinct scale. The Dolby Digital (5.1) sounds all right, with plenty of punch, but requires some bobbing and weaving with the volume control to catch all of the dialog but not be blasted out in louder moments.
Most viewers will be satisfied with the film's history as told on disc 2's quartet of featurettes directed by Laurent Bouzereau. They're solid pieces, but viewers may tire of sitting through opening titles and end credits as they navigate the short films, obviously separated at birth. De Niro participates in the featurettes, not the commentaries.
Scorsese and Schoonmaker's commentary will be familiar to owners of "Raging Bull" laserdiscs. Their talks were recorded separately, and include some lengthy silences, but there's no shortage of content or insight.
There are three commentary tracks. A lot of material gets repeated across the hours of extras presented here, and in one or two cases audio comments seem simply ported over to the featurettes. The frenetic trailer kicks ass.
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