On this day in 1900, China declared war on the US, England, Germany, France and Japan.
History has called this war the Boxer Rebellion.
What better day to talk about the best boxing movies?
I’m not a fan of boxing, but the movies made about the sport tend to be about something much more than just people beating other people senseless. They’re about perseverance, love, brotherhood.
I should probably see some of the classics of the genre (like Body And Soul) before I make this list, but whatever.
I’ll get over it.
RAGING BULL (1980)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Paul Schrader/Mardik Martin
Based on the autobiography of Jake LaMotta/Joseph Carter/Peter Savage
Not just one of the best boxing movies ever, but one of the best movies ever, Scorsese’s vision of Jake LaMotta (Robert DeNiro in one of the best performances in screen history) is brilliance. It’s a boxing movie in name only, really. It’s actually about a man who had every reason to be full of himself, but he didn’t know how to control it. He lost everything to hubris. Shot in stark black and white, it’s ugly and beautiful at the same time.
There’s really nothing quite like Raging Bull…not even Ordinary People.
ROCKY (1976)
Directed by John G Avildsen
Written by Sylvester Stallone
The one great character written and played by The Italian Stallion (shut up, Rambo fans), Rocky Balboa is a man we can all identify with. He’s a loser, through and through. The only thing that makes him a winner is his undying perseverance. He wants nothing less than the best girl (Talia Shire) and the heavyweight championship.
I did my best to rebel against this movie for years.
Then I finally broke down and borrowed a friend’s copy of the five movie set. (This was just before Rocky Balboa came out.) Rocky did what I really didn’t think that it could do: it charmed me. In that first film (and, against all odds, the sixth one), Rocky is a character that you can truly root for.
The ending has become cliched by now, but you forget all of that when Rocky calls out for Adrian.
Somehow, this ending that you’ve seen a million times melts your heart.
THE POWER OF ONE (1992)
Directed by John G Avildsen
Written by Robert Mark Kamen
Based on a book by Bryce Courtenay
Young PK (Stephen Dorff) grew up in pre-Apartheid South Africa. He’s practically raised in a prison when his mother dies, but don’t feel sorry for him. In that prison he learns the fine art of boxing from Geel Piet (Morgan Freeman) and the fine art of not being a racist from Doc (Armin Mueller-Stahl).
PK grows up (to the ripe old age of 18) to be a great boxer and fighter of Apartheid.
You see, while PK was in that prison, Geel Piet turned him into a myth: The Rainmaker.
It may be a bit clunky at times, but it’s a heartfelt film about the dangers of racism from the director of Rocky. It uses boxing as a metaphor more so than any of these other films…and really shows how awful Apartheid was.
And, as awful as the movie makes it look, I’m sure it was much worse.
This is, after all, a PG-13 film.
Watch for Daniel Craig in his first role as, quite possibly, the biggest asshole of his career. (The jury’s still out on Road To Perdition.)
THE FIGHTER (2010)
Directed by David O Russell
Written by Scott Silver/Paul Tamasy/Eric Johnson/Keith Dorrington
David O Russell isn’t known for his action-packed sports films, so it was a bit of a surprise to hear that he was going to direct a drama about two brothers in the boxing game.
Luckily, he did. It ended up being an Oscar nominee and one of the greatest performances of Christian Bale’s career.
Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) is a boxer who is trying his best to get ahead in the world. Dicky Eklund (Bale) is Micky’s older brother and trainer…and he’s a crackhead.
The push and pull between the hopeful and loving Micky and the conniving Dicky is what makes this movie gold. Bale and Amy Adams as Micky’s girlfriend are just icing on the golden…cake?
(Sometimes I can’t metaphor.)
WARRIOR (2011)
Directed by Gavin O’Connor
Written by Gavin O’Connor/Anthony Tambakis/Cliff Dorman
Speaking of brothers, Brendan and Tommy Conlon (Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy) are fighters, but not just in competition. As an added bonus, they hate each other, too. Tommy is a former boxer who returns home to his alcoholic father/ex-coach (Nick Nolte) to train for the MMA. Brendan is a school teacher who can’t quite pay the bills. He decides to go back to the MMA to provide for his family. Both Conlon boys rise to the top of the game and…I can’t go on.
As silly as all of this sounds (and it certainly sounded silly to me), it’s actually a really good, heartfelt film about brothers who just can’t put the past behind them to be brothers again. Edgerton and Hardy are great, but they may just be outshined by Nolte.
Even if you don’t give a damn about MMA (I certainly don’t), check this movie out.
I couldn’t believe that I liked it as much as I did.
