5. “Fat City” (1972)
Listen to Kris Kristofferson’s “Help Me Make It Through The Night,” an original song that bookends “Fat City,” and you’ll get how touching, and hopelessly human, John Huston’s late masterwork really is. Set in Stockton, California, Huston’s picture is a slice of Americana peppered with authentic images and encounters of the blue-collared and the unemployed, ending with a final elliptical point of view; life passes you by while you sit on a barstool, watching it from a distance, plastered. It’s the story of two boxers whose only similarity is their weight class; Billy Tully (Stacey Keach) is almost 30 years old and past his prime; nowadays he can’t punch his way out of a wet paper bag without pulling a muscle. When he meets eighteen-year-old Ernie (Jeff Bridges) he immediately recognizes the potential in him. Ernie gives it a shot at boxing with Tully’s ex-coach Ruben (Nicholas Colastano), while Billy shacks up with boozy slooze Oma (Susan Tyrell). Though it’s clear that “Fat City” is more than just a straight-up boxing film, not since “The Set-Up” was there such a complete and competent portrait of who’s who in the boxing world. In Keach and the Oscar-nominated Tyrell you have two dynamic acting forces colliding in glorious ways, and Bridges is just about the only one who can make someone like Ernie interesting and sympathetic. After a few box-office bombs, Huston bounced back with “Fat City,” yet the picture is hardly ever counted beside his more popular works. We’d go against the grain and count it as one of his best, and one of the greater boxing pictures out there.
4. “Hard Times” (1975)
Walter Hill‘s directorial debut is a long ways away from the professional ring, but its Western-style take on bare-knuckle street boxing makes “Hard Times” one of the most entertaining films of the sporting genre. Starring one of cinema’s legendary leading men who can paint a thousand pictures with a single word, Charles Bronson is Chaney, a mysterious down-on-his-luck drifter who stumbles upon the self-proclaimed “Napoleon of Southern sports” Speed (James Coburn) who arranges street contests for hard cash. Chaney knocks out his first opponent with a single punch (as if further proof was needed that Bronson was the perfect choice), and Speed’s eyes light up with dollar signs. The two join forces with Speed’s old pseudo-cutman, Poe (Strother Martin) and start bulldozing through the competition. With Martin’s eloquent cadence, Coburn’s fast-talking baritone, and Bronson’s casual nigh-expressionless demeanor, a charismatic trifecta is made that transcends all contexts. Effortlessly watchable at a quick 75 minutes, “Hard Times” is a world full of loose morals, bruised skin, and dirty corners, where money hangs over every soul like the sword of Damocles and hits are felt with every punch. Add to that Hill’s subtle eye for middle American slice-of-hard-life, and you’ve got yourself a brilliant boxing flick.
3. “Rocky” (1976)
Before the glory, before the showmanship, before Sylvester Stallone became a household name, there was only this simple, slice-of-life drama about a puncher who learns to be a boxer. Philadelphia scrapper Rocky Balboa rises from modest beginnings but doesn’t figure prominently in the local boxing scene until the love of a woman forces him to clean up his routine. Once he hooks up with crusty trainer Mickey (the inimitable Burgess Meredith), he makes a play for the brass ring — a match with heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. Lost in the glory of the first film is the fact that Rocky never develops a truly solid routine, running out to the ring, getting pummeled, and pummeling back. This didn’t stop the fans for demanding more, leading to a second, triumphant, film followed by more and more cartoonish sequels (though, it must be noted, “Rocky III” is directed by Stallone himself and features a daring series of match cuts in an opening montage that showcases the series’ best storytelling, and “Rocky IV” has some incredible boxing scenes amid all the intense ’80s cheese). Revived in 2006 with the solid “Rocky Balboa,” the first film still remains the most humble of the franchise; a well-written, well-shot and well-performed character drama that hits all its beats so squarely that it’s become a bonafide classic of the sporting genre, wearing its heart on its sleeve like a badge of honor.
2. “When We Were Kings” (1996)
Undoubtedly the greatest boxing documentary ever made, Leon Gast‘s outrageously entertaining, myth-busting and myth-making account of the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman is possibly the best single piece of evidence we now have that anyone as seemingly superhuman as Ali ever actually walked the earth. Collating footage of the boxer at the height of his astounding swagger, with charisma leaking out of him in witty rhyming couplets before he psychologically and physically demolishes Foreman in the ring, Gast draws a portrait of these figures that is so much larger than life, it’s hard to believe it fits on the screen. And yet he even finds room to color the background with gripping political and social context, as the wheeler-dealing done behind the scenes between infamous promoter Don King and the corrupt and murderous Zairian dictator Mobutu Sese Seko is explored, as is the importance of the fight and Ali’s dawning embrace of his African heritage to the black experience back home. Featuring a terrific soundtrack and insightful, if dazzled commentary from contemporary interviewees Norman Mailer and Spike Lee, “When We Were Kings” is brilliant, but it has to be at least as good as it is to do justice to the one they called The Greatest.
1. “Raging Bull” (1980)
Picture this: a young, spry, Robert De Niro pitching a film about a home-wrecking middleweight pugilist’s fall from grace, to a bedridden, cocaine-addled Martin Scorsese. Though “Raging Bull” requires no introduction, this piece of film lore sheds some insight into the kind of punishing process that gave birth to the greatest boxing picture of all time, and Scorsese’s towering achievement of the 1980s. As Jake La Motta, De Niro scales the heights of method acting, setting a standard that would be referenced time and time again after he gained an astounding 60-70 pounds to portray the overweight La Motta at the twilight of his career. Film geeks swoon at the mere mention of Michael Chapman’s cinematography and Thelma Schoonmaker’s meticulous editing, and the ferocious supporting performances by Joe Pesci and Cathy Moriarty propel the picture to even greater heights. One of the most re-watchable films in Scorsese’s catalogue, it’s impossible not to be swept up in its furiously cinematic nature: this was an exorcism and a resurrection for the great American filmmaker and a pinnacle of achievement for the great American actor. So it’s hardly any wonder that it’s an all-time great American film, and the undeniable knock-out champion of the boxing movie genre.
Honorable Mentions:
We included plenty, but what did we not have room for? Stanley Kubrick’s “Killer’s Kiss” is a fascinating early example of both Kubrick’s craft and the idea of the boxer as a noir hero, but it’s more a test run than a satisfying film. Elsewhere, the noir genre quite often has a boxing subplot, as in “The Killers” with Burt Lancaster, but since it’s not the main order of the day we’ve largely left that type of movie off. Same goes for the not-really-about-boxing per se “The Quiet Man” and the delightful “Here Comes Mr Jordan” (1941). Barbara Stanwyck is glorious as ever in “Golden Boy” opposite William Holden in his first major role, but the film is a little ragged. There’s also “City For Conquest” with James Cagney and Ann Sheridan, and 1937’s “Kid Galahad” with Edward G. Robinson and the musical Elvis Presley-starring remake of the same name from 1962.
More in the modern era, there’s Martin Ritt’s 1970 drama “The Great White Hope” and Reginald Hudlin’s 1990s response “The Great White Hype” as well as underseen but actually quite fun 1992 comedy “Diggstown” with Lou Gosset Jr and James Woods. And from abroad, but not quite fitting the bill are Thai movie “Beautiful Boxer” about trangender kickboxer Parinya Charoenphol, and the insane “Tokyo Fist” from cult director Shinya Tsukamotu who also made “Tetsuo: the Iron Man.” Anything else we should have considered? Let us know in the comments, but do it soon before another ten boxing films are released.