Is Rocky the best boxing film ???

I am not so sure, i love the Rocky collection, all five of them, especially numbers 1 3 and 5, but is it really the best boxing film that has been made.

I think that price of Glory was probably better, and certainly Raging Bull has to be up there strongly contesting it aswell. Also does ALI - the Will Smith version, the documentary style drama film of that was good too - when we were kings. I think somebody up there likes me is also a great film, the life story of Rocky Graziano. And not too forget - THE GREAT WHITE HOPE.

I dont think Cinderlla Man matches up and i dont like Million Dollar baby so it can not match up in my eyes.

So after review, i dont think the Rocky films are the best boxing films ever made, they are very good and i love watching them, but if there is anybody out there that wants to watch a good boxing film in my eyes, these are above Rocky:

Raging Bull,
Somebody Up there Likes Me,
Price of Glory
then the rocky' films, and then the rest of the films i listsed, there are hundreds more if you want to see more just type in on google, "boxing films" and take your pick .

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james adams

Raging Bull is my favorite boxing film, hands down. After that, Million Dollar Baby, which is a fantastic, exquisitely directed, and extremely well played film that also deals with youthanasia. Rocky 5, on the other hand, is a great example of how NOT to make a film. Awful stuff.

I like the first Rocky, but they get progressively worse as they go...

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I like:

1). Cinderella Man
2). Raging Bull
3). Million Dollar Baby

As an underdog story, Cinderella Man outclasses Rocky and it's real. I think that's what puts it over Rocky for me.

Also, to me, Rocky5 was only second best to the first one and in many ways I like it better.

I guess you (OP) and I just see boxing movies differently.

1. Raging Bull (1980 - Marty Scorsese)
2. Fat City (1972 - John Huston)
3. The Set-Up (1949 - Robert Wise)


Also Champion (1949), Million Dollar Baby (2004), The Great White Hope (1970), Golden Boy (1939), Kid Galahad (1937), The Harder They Fall (1956), Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962), Hard Times (1977), Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)....

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I have to agree that Raging Bull has to top the list. I also really enjoyed Million Dollar Baby, although it is considered a boxing movie it has alternative plots involved that take the place of boxing by the middle of the movie.

One boxing movie that I believe no ones mentioned is Will Smith's portrayal of Muhammad Ali in Ali. In my personal opinion it would rank as not one of the greatest boxing movies of all time, but I thought I'd mention it.

The Champ (1931)is one of the best boxing movies, along with Cinderella Man, in my book.

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Hands down, Raging Bull is the greatest boxing movie of all time. However, constantly disputed, the fight scenes in Raging Bull are unrealistic, although for a reason. The movie that has probably the most realistic boxing matches is Snatch.

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"All the confusion of my life... has been a reflection of myself! Myself as I am, not as I'd like to be." - Guido, 8 1/2

I am yet to see Raging bull but I agree with Sir Toose on Cinderella man and Million Dollar Baby being better than Rocky.

No Play It To The Bone fans here?

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Suspect's Reviews

Twentyfourseven

This deserves to be thrown into the ring (arf!), though more a movie with boxing in it rather than a generic 'Boxing Movie'.

Anyway, with Barry McGuigan one of my heroes I still await a biopic.

Nice bloke unites Ireland by winning world title in 80s under a flag of peace then loses it because nasty promoter/manager makes him defend it in the sweltering heat of an outdoor ring in Las Vegas during the middle of the day.

It's got Colin Farrell written all over it!

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"Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how the Tatty 100 is done, they've seen it done every day, but they're unable to do it themselves." - Brendan Behan

raging bull has to be number one, there's barely any competition. i quite liked the harder they fall though, ended up watching it when i thought it was the jimmy cliff film the harder they come and was pleasantly surprised

i hated raging bull and million dollar baby - and i don't really member ali (will smith)

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Raging Bull and Rocky

Why does this not surprise me....


Anyway, I haven't seen all of Raging Bull... so, for now, my picks are:

Million Dollar Baby
Cinderella Man
Rocky (the first one)

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All boxing movies are character studies, but then again, maybe all movies are. I'm one of the people who really liked Cinderella Man. I loved the acting, especially Crowe and super especially, Giamatti. I think that Raging Bull is Scorsese's second best film (after Goodfellas), so I think that's a great film, although I can understand why some might not "enjoy/like" it. I've always enjoyed Rocky, and I still do, but I accept the fact that Stallone "stole" at least two-thirds of it from Somebody Up There Likes Me. Yep, try watching Rocky and Newman as Rocky Graziano back-to-back (the latter first), and then tell me where Rocky's inspiration came from.

Gentleman Jim, with Errol Flynn and Ward Bond, is a sentimental favorite for me and highly recommended to all.

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Oh wow.... I forgot about that one.... haven't seen it for ages but I remember liking it quiet a bit....

Nobody seems to be mentioning Price of glory. I thought it was a great story, that had some real fight scenes, and dealt with the economical side of boxing - the poorer fighters, and the corruption between the promoters and agents. Just thought it was a good fil, with a good story.

It depends on what you mean by "boxing"--are you talking about just 2 men in a ring trading punches? Or are you talking about the business of boxing--the trainers, promoters, sparring partners, and all of those behind the scenes who make the business run?

If you're talking about just the fight scenes, then Raging Bull is the best because it puts you right in the ring where the sweat and blood splatters. Champion has some good fight scenes. And despite its smaltz on other levels, Gentleman Jim with Erroll Flynn in 1942 does explore the transition from the toe-the-line stance of bare-knuckle fighters like John L. Lewis to the footwork of "Gentleman Jim" Corbet.

On the other hand, if you're talking about the more interesting behind the scenes fight game, you see more of that in Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Harder They Fall, and The Great White Hope. Each of those movies also have some great in the ring fight scenes, especially Requiem where the opening credits scroll across the scene of Ali, back when he was still Cassius Clay and just starting his career, pounding hell out of the camera which represents the view point of his opponent. You can't get any better than Clay at his peak in the ring.

On the Waterfront is also about boxing in a way--what happens to those who are no longer contenders and has probably the best fight scene of any movie.

Treat Williams once played Jack Dempsey in a 1983 TV movie Dempsey that caught the essence of that champion who learned to fight dirty in hobo camps and logging towns and who was a slugger, not a fighter. He used to soak his hands in a mix of salt water and turpentine and lord knows what else to make them tougher.

I think Joe Louis, the "Brown Bomber," also appeared as himself in a couple of films where the most interesting parts were a few shots of him in the ring sparring.

I saw Cinderella Man, enjoyed it at the time but after a day or two I'd completely forgotten every scene in it. Never cared to see Million Dollar Baby. You wanna see what it's really like when women fight, hang out at a biker bar or a Texas honky tonk when the rodeo is in town that week.

Raging Bull, Cinderella Man and the first installment of Rocky have my votes...

ROCKY's greatest success is as a love story, moreso than a boxing film. RAGING BULL is much better.

My favorite boxing movie is probably the documentary WHEN WE WERE KINGS.