Top 250 Challenge: 178

Raging Bull (1980)
Number 71 on IMDb's Top 250

Based on the life and career of boxer Jake LaMotta, Raging Bull focuses on Jake's rage and violence that makes him virtually unstoppable in the ring. The same anger also drives Jake to beat his wife and his brother Joey, and sends Jake down a self-destructive spiral of paranoia and rage. Hilarity ensues.

Trivia: To achieve the feeling of brotherhood between the two lead actors, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci actually lived and trained with each other for some time before filming began. Ever since then, the two have been very close friends in real life. De Niro and Pesci are really punching each other in the famous "hit me" scene. Robert De Niro gained a record 60 pounds to play the older La Motta, and Pesci lost weight for the same scene (De Niro's movie weight-gain record was subsequently broken by 'Vincent D'Onofrio' who gained 70 pounds for his role as Pvt. Lawrence in Full Metal Jacket (1987)). In 1978, when Scorsese was at all time low due to a near overdose resulting from an addiction to cocaine, De Niro visited him at the hospital and told him that he had to clean himself up and make this movie about a boxer. At first, Scorsese refused (he didn't like sports movies anyway), but due to De Niro's persistence, he eventually gave in. Many claim (including Scorsese) that De Niro saved Scorsese's life by getting him back into work.

Now I don't profess to be a boxing fan by any means, or a De Niro fan either for that matter. De Niro is good, but just not my cup of tea. This was a good movie, but I don't see what all the acclaim is for. I think the best sports movies tend to be boxing movies though, because of the dynamics of boxing. It's a one on one competition and you have the underdog striving to reach beyond himself to gain a goal. It's easier to tell a heartfelt story about one character, then about a team.