Rating: 
Summary: Where is our Special Edition?
Review: While this movie is a true classic and is one of Scorsese's best, that can't be said for the far unacceptable DVD that is now out of print. A Special Edition w/ and Anamorphic transfer would help, but it can't come soon enough. Since the previous DVD has been out of print for quite some time, I assume a Special Edition is in the works and I expect an Anamorphic transfer. If not, I'm sure there will be more than one angry film buff.
The movie is flawless as you see Jake LaMotta's soul and career being torn apart by himself through an amazing performance from Robert De Niro. A performance that I would say is the best of all-time. With the help of Jake LaMotta himself, Martin Scorsese has delievered a movie with awesome black and white cinematography, great boxing visuals (some of the most powerful you'll see in film) and top-notch performances from the entire cast. A must-see film!
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Movie!
Review: I don't know anything about boxing or the real Jake Lamotta but when my brother rented Raging Bull I watched it with him and to my surprise I actually liked this movie and I think it is one of Robert De Niro's best movies and he really gave a great performance and the rest of the cast is great too including Cathy Moriarty and I recommend Raging Bull to fans of these actors.
Rating:
Summary: As grueling as fifteen rounds with Sugar Ray
Review: In 1980, it is famously recorded that the real Jake LaMotta walked out of the movie theater where he had just seen the completed "Raging Bull" for the first time, turned to his ex-wife, who was also invited, and whined, "I wasn't that bad, was I?"
"No," she deadpanned. "You were worse."It is hard to imagine anyone being worse than Robert DeNiro's version of LaMotta. Hot-tempered, violent, masochistic, treacherous, pathologically jealous, Bobby D plays just an all around horrible human being, one with almost no redeeming value at all save for his ability to withstand punishment in the ring. And indeed, it is this last quality that offers Jake a place where he can come to grips with his demons in a legal and fairly lucrative way, as he quests for a shot at the middleweight title. The era that the real Jake LaMotta competed in was one of the most interesting in history. Boxing was at the height of its popularity and the 160-pound division was loaded with talent, including Michele Cerdan and the great Sugar Ray Robinson, but it was also a time when the Mob, in the personage of Frankie Carbo, largely controlled access to the title. Fight outcomes were sometimes fixed, odds were skewed, bribes were offered and taken, dirty tricks were played, and some otherwise honest men had to look the other way to get what they had already earned on merit. The scene in the film where the mobster Tommy tells Jake's brother "There's no way he's getting a title shot without us" is not far-fetched. Jake's reluctance to play ball with the mob, who he considers cowards, is one of the few ethical things he does in the film; but in the end he gets in bed with them, throwing a fight with a hapless opponent and enduring disgrace and suspension of his license so he can take on Michele Cerdan for the title. By that time, the real LaMotta later said, "I knew in the dressing room I was gonna be champion; nobody could have beaten me that night." He probably wasn't wrong. LaMotta, in real life, had no punch (unlike the movie, where he tears opponents to peices) and relied on his boxing ability and brick chin to wear down his opponents and win decisions on points. When he was in the zone, he was damn hard to beat; he handed Sugar Ray Robinson his first defeat and nearly knocked him out doing so. However, he was just a bit too big in the frame to fit comfortably into the middleweight division, and a bit too small to make the light heavyweight limit of 175 pounds. Thus he had to starve himself recklessly between fights to make 160, which often left him with nothing in the gas tank down the stretch of grueling 12 and 15 round fights. His brutal defeat at the hands of Ray Robinson in the 13th round of their sixth and final match, which he had been winning on points, is a good example of this. And like a lot of fighters who have to kill themselves to make weight, he had a tendency to balloon up enormously between bouts, a habit which probably shortened his career. All this outside the ring drama, this weight gain and weight loss, this constant pressure to perform did not help his mental state, and DeNiro does a masterful job of showing how the same qualities which made LaMotta successful as a fighter ultimately wrecked him as a person. We know within 10 minutes that this man has almost no chance of living a normal life outside of boxing, and we are not wrong. The part of the film which follows the fat, lonely, broken-down LaMotta through levels of disgrace and humiliation is every bit as grueling as the scenes where he wars in the ring. Only at the very hend, through (sort of) repentance and a refusal to give up, does the man, and the audience, find any peace. His last words to the victorious Sugar Ray, mumbled through busted lips from a state of half-consciousness, more or less some up the film's ultimate message: "You never got me down, Ray. You never got me down." In "Raging Bull" Scorsese made one of those movies that transcends its subject and becomes an instant classic, and DeNiro gave one of those performances which stands out even in a career as distinguished and brilliant as his. But it is not for the faint of heart. PS - When asked if he ever actually said "You never got me down, Ray" to Robinson, LaMotta laughed and said, "No, I didn't say that. But it was the kind of thing I would have said, if I could have gotten my mouth open." PPS - this movie begins one of the great feuds of cinematic history, between Joe Pesci and Frank Vincent. In "Raging Bull" Pesci pummels the hapless Vincent outside the Copa for flirting with Jake's wife. In "Goodfellas" Pesci beats Vincent unconscious, throws him in a trunk, and then stabs him to death. In "Casino" Vincent finally gets his revenge by beating Pesci with a baseball bat and then burying him alive in an Indiana cornfield. I shudder to think what Scorsese is gonna do with these two guys in his next film.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent cinematic boxing but a poor drama.
Review: The truth be told, Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull stands up there in the ranks of Kubrick's cinematography style. The editing and acting are all unique and extremely genuine. Shot in black and white you will see De Niro dance around the ring as Jake LaMotta scoring blows in some remarkably realistic performing. A press photographer's bulb flashes, an eye gets cut, blood squirts out, the crowd roar, the commentator goes wild, another bulb flashes, a slow motion sequence, De Niro utters some fantastic lines in the middle of a bout, then does it all again. At home he has issues about infidelity and he has some very punishing personality problems to boot. It makes for an interesting character study to see how the beast behind the gloves works out his problems in the ring and even expresses his disdain for it all in there too. However this film does have some extremely negative values that batter the quality of this film about the place. The plot outside of the ring is mostly about LaMotta's emotional problems that end up turning violent. After awhile it seems that LaMotta is just a brutal man who Mike Tyson has taken some lessons from. It might be true to life, it might be realistic, but it is just plainly disinteresting and you want to see LaMotta beat up his wife and friends as much as you want to see some domestic violence in your own home. It doesn't make for very pleasurable viewing and certainly you can say - "But this is drama" and in many ways it is, but that is all Scorsese really explores here and after awhile you do get bored of it all and you don't really take anything much of value away with you after seeing it. Surprisingly this is one of Scorsese's turkeys on the drama front. It never really develops into much and sometimes just appears to be there as an excuse for excessive profanity and violence. Nowhere does Scorsese's pictures come closer to being fowl-mouthed for the sake of it than in Raging Bull. At times you feel that this is why he made the picture in the first place, to see if he could push the standards of cursing in movies and allow the language to become acceptable as part and parcel of reality, but it really doesn't do anything for the picture or the character development. It just seems to be there - to be there. The film also stalls a lot of the time and in many ways those who say that they did not like Raging Bull have good reason too. It is an over-rated picture but not on the cinematography front or De Niro's performance. It is just not that well executed in the "song and dance" department and LeMotta's family and social life is just not really worthy of capturing on film any more than the drunken hobo who goes ape on anyone who comes near him because he is drunk with anger and feels exploited by society. Scorsese certainly showed his value as a technical director with this one but it is hard to imagine that the maker of Taxi Driver or Goodfellas was behind the drama here. This is well below what Scorsese is capable off.
Rating: 
Summary: Overated! Overated! Overated!
Review: Yet another exampled of a 'great' movie that is highly overrated. La Motta was a jerk. Plain and simple. The movie is well recorded, but that is it. If you know why this is a 'great' movie, please email me and let me know.
Rating:
Summary: Black & White Bloodletting.
Review: Robert DeNiro's and Marlon Brando's careers seem to be intermittantly linked, certainly their Oscar-winning peformances. They've both won an Academy Award for playing the same character (Vito Corleone) and in this Oscar-winning performance by DeNiro, he quotes Brando's Oscar-winning performance in 'On The Waterfront'. Great as DeNiro's performance is, I don't think it takes an enormous amount of acting ability to just put on weight. Scorsese shot it in B&W primarily to make it avoid looking like other boxing movies made at the time such as 'Rocky II'. This lack of colour means that the fight scenes take on a more abstract flavour. For instance in the final fight with Sugar Ray, the amount of blood spraying all over the place seems intentionally unrealistic. The absence of red means that Scorsese has to over-compensate LaMotta's beating with enough blood loss for at least 3 human beings. Maybe this strong focus on blood has something to do with Scorsese's Catholic background. LaMotta in that last fight seems to be willing on his punishment (Catholic) before returning with his pride (Italian) to tell Sugar Ray that he's still standing. These cultural and religious themes make 'Raging Bull' Scorsese's most personal film alongside 'Mean Streets'. However when one makes personal films and they fail commercially, one can't help but take it personally. 'Raging Bull' came out 10 days before 'Heaven's Gate', the movie that bankrupt United Artists. From here on in movie companies took back the rein of film-making from the directors. Something Scorsese was at the mercy of throughout the 80's.
Rating: 
Summary: Scorsese is a poet
Review: Yes, this is the best movie of the 1980's. Yes, DeNiro gives one of the finest performances ever, by anyone. And yes, this film was criminally overlooked by the Academy. It really is that good. Everything about it is amazing.
Rating:
Summary: I Wanted Rocky But this was Decent
Review: I went to the video store, plucked this off the shelf, rented it, and popped it into the VCR expecting it to be Rocky. In fact, I didn't even look at the box when I rented this, I associate all boxing movies with Rocky. Rocky this ain't, but De Niro's an okay actor. He's no Stallone, but held his own in his scenes with Pesci, a much more talented, gifted actor. Pesci is the best thing about this flick; if it concentrated more on boxing and less on soul searching it would be okay. In the future, biopicks are only good with fast cuts and in color. This movie moved as slow as molasses. Again, it was decent, and I give it five stars because of Pesci, but where are the cuts? *Scorcese's not that bad a director check out his masterpiece, the Cape Fear remake, his best film.
Rating:
Summary: Raging Mole!/ Italian Opera w/ Double Speed Bag
Review: Yes, I'm taling about the mole on his right cheek. It has to be the most famous mole in movie history ; ) I LOVE Robert De Niro, so I am probably biased a bit w/this review, but there are so many other noteworthy details about this film I will mention. I never got to see this film on the big screen (as its meant to be watched) when it debuted in 1980 & missed a cinematic masterpiece! I actually remember reading in a magazine back in the 80's how Raging Bull was in the top of critics' lists worldwide when they took a poll of what they considered to be the best movie of the 1980's in American cinema. This movie book-marked the decade of the 70's where movies had more meaning before charater-depriving special effects techonology took over. But this is not just the best of the 80's, I would say R. Bull is up up there w/the best of the past 30 years. It was also voted only 24th in the AFI top 100 but what do they know? I don't believe in comparison to judge a film's worth and movies will mean something different to the indiviudual and this movie meant something to me. The cinematography of the film overall is stunning and shot in majestic 1940's-evoking gorgeous black & white & especially masterful in the boxing sequences. Incedentally, De Niro made another boxsing-related movie "Night and the City" that is nowhere near the briliance of this film marvel. Raging Bull is the stellar moment of DeNiro's career when he was in a string of exciting, high-quality 1970's/early 80's films and then sadly, he chose assembly-line films ater that for a whole decade until the champ made a comback w/"Heat" and "Caino" in the mid 1990's. The cinematography (by MIchael Chapman), choreography, editing, slow motion & sound in the hyper-kinetic fight senes is like nothing I've ver seen or heard! A technical marvel, it all comes together magickally. I love Martin Scorcese's camera work! Many directors who try to copy his style, but none as masterful . Here its just right, not overdone & frenzied ala that awful editing where every scene is a milisecond, but here its well-paced. Notice the good use of dynamics in the motion of the camera! Sorcese "dances" w/the camera. The flashbulbs, the sweat, the footwork, and his innovative use of real animal sounds on the soundtrack heightens the terror. This masterpiece was nominated for Academy Awards and won only 2(best actor for De Niro and best editiong). The Oscars is just and industry popularity contest anyway. This movie is above that. The musical score can make or break a film & I enjoyed the theme music, the "Intermezzo Sinfonico" from cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagani although me & my mother were puzzled as to why he chose melancholy stings for boxing, except that this film is not about boxing really, its about the human spirit & one persons' journey from achieveing the American Dream to losing everything that mattered. Much as been written about DeNiro's gaining 60 lbs! for when his Jake La Motta has becomes a sleazy nightclub performer & lech. This severe weigt gain ocmpromised his health to the point DeNiro sounded like he had asthma & raise blood pressure. To me, that is just plain stupid to have done this. I thought the point of acting was that you become another person from the isnide out where you do not need the externals. Its more like becoming that character rather than acting. He did not have that many scenes where Jake is overweight & that could have been done by him wearing a fat prosthetic! This does show his dedication to his art, but its painful to watch his transformation from being in the best shape he ws ever in to the worst. Amajor theme in is Jake's sexual jealoush (& maybe sexual inadequacy). Bobby D can sure amke awhite t-shirt talk! He has a hot scene w/Cathy Moriarty who plays his wife. He sees her as a possession, not a companion or friend, unfortunately. I don't feel he is being paranoid but that he has insecurities (they dont tell us why) and that causes him to constantly question 2nd wife Vicky to the point he becomes abusive and drives her and brother Joey (excellently layed by Joe Pesci) away. Jake may be taking his personal demons out in the ring. I only saw that in one scene, deNiro's most ferociously ugly moment where he brutally fists his opponent's face to deliberately ruin his looks . DeNiro loks very differnt in R. Bull as they curled his hair and gave him some nose prosthetic to wear and a mouthpiece. But the mole remained! The viewer might feel they have been through a visual beating from the steady intensity, profanity & fighting for Jake takes the ring home w/him where he has an awful temper & disrupts his home life. This man needed some therapy! One hard-to-watch-scne is where he questions Joey if he slept w/his wife. Jake is not satisfied no mater how may tiems he asks saying "You're a smart guy. You're giving me all these answeres but not the right answer". The look in these 2 actors' eyes is believable as deNiro shows his characer may not be bright, but can read between the lines. The film did not make clear whether Vicky did sleep w/Joey or not. Jake years later tries to make it up to Joey by hugging him repeatedly & its a tender moment to see. So this "bull" does have a human side to him but you have to dig deep to see it. The most heart-breaking moment is where DeNiro is bload soaked, face pulverized, a truly horrifying moment and he hobbles over to his nemesis saying "YOu didn't get me down, Ray" as there is a terrifying closeup of blod dripping for the ropes. Scorcese has said "Jake fought like he didnt deserve to live". Why? I wished they had explored w/a longer film the psychology behind his only expressing himself through violence. Anoher hard-to-watch scene is where he asks Joey to hit him in the face. This movie pulls no punches. The very begging has one of the most beautiful, poetic moments in film. DeNiro is framed by the ropes, shadow boxing/dancing in the corner in artistic slow mtion as the "Intermexzzo" swells. Another classic DeNiro moment, this one of pure grace coming from a beast. Method actor DeNiro has a complex mirror scene, a layered performace of DeNiro as Jake as Brando as Terry Malloy. Another important scene is hwere Jake pounds the cell walls screaming "I am not an amimal" I think realizing that he is in part and doing some needed self-examination. This was writen by Paul schrader w/a controversial masterbation scene that ends in metaphorical impotence but was left out as it was too much for the studio. Raging Bull was origianlly set to be a play called "Prizefighter" before it became film but that never materialized. My only beef (no pun inteneded) is why wasn't the artistic talent, direction and acting spent on a more intersting subject matter that more people could relate too? Again, Bobby D and Scorcese have made a film that bursts w/testosterone that is mroe easily relatable to by males than femles but is the height of their aritstic collaborations. This is worthy of a pecial edition 2-dvd set, insead you get none! Why no commentary no delete dscenes, making of? At least w/the dvd you can zoom into his mole.
Rating:
Summary: BLACK AND BLUE IN BLACK AND WHITE
Review: It takes an actor, only the rank of Robert De Niro, to perfectly play the role of a violent, mercurial guy, who has no clue whatsoever of what he has to do with his life. Moreover, only an actor like De Niro can play the part of a well toned, energetic boxer, and also fatten himself up at the same time, to play the role of the same well toned energetic pugilist when all he cares about is glutting himself up and being slothful to the point of being indifferent. All the more, it takes a director, the caliber of Scorsese to make De Niro do all of these things. Scorsese is a master of disturbing movies. His movies are subtle, yet disturbing. In "Raging Bull", he has perfectly captured the deranged character of Jack La Motta, and has chosen the perfect person to enact this character. The movie is uncomplicated, but the fights are not. Each moment of La Motta's various fights seems to be crafted diligently and with perfection. The fights are violent, but not gory. But, the blood-spills of the fights, even in black-and-white seem quite distressing. Of course, De Niro acts fantastically, even, and especially during his boxing scenes. The black-and-white look of the movie, enhancing the subfusc nature of it, actually helps one, focus fully on the intensity of the characters, especially since everything else around them seem so livid and wan. As a matter of fact, colors are used symbolically by the artful Scorsese. The majority of the movie is pretty depressing. Hence, the movie is colorless, for the major part of it. However, the movie has a five-odd minute patch, which is shot in color. In fact, the 'colored' part, is the only positive part of the movie, which actually is a phantasmagoria of shots, showing positive things happening to lives of the Motta brothers. "Raging Bull" is quite a depressing movie; there is no doubt about that. But, it is one of those movies, which is ought to be 'studied' for its brilliant direction (especially the non-usage of color producing greater effect) and the acting, especially of Robert De Niro, who did seem to actually put a on lot of weight for the movie.
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