Garrett Gonzales and Jeremy Finestone take on Raging Bull (1980), Martin Scorsese's boxing classic starring Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta — how the film got made, and the wild true story of the fighter it's based on.
They dig into De Niro's two-way physical transformation for the role, the making of the film with Scorsese, Paul Schrader, and cinematographer Michael Chapman, and then go deep on Jake LaMotta himself: his six-fight war with Sugar Ray Robinson, the fixed Billy Fox fight he later admitted to under oath, his middleweight title run, and his chaotic life after boxing. They also stack Raging Bull up against Rocky, cast the film with today's boxing, wrestling, and MMA stars, and hand out final grades.
In This Episode:
The making of Raging Bull — De Niro's obsession with the role, Scorsese coming aboard, and De Niro's dramatic weight transformation
The real Jake LaMotta: his six-fight rivalry with Sugar Ray Robinson, the fixed Billy Fox fight, and his 1949 middleweight title win
LaMotta's life after boxing — the nightclub, his arrest, and his Kefauver Committee testimony
Raging Bull vs. Rocky: the deal that got Raging Bull made, and the two films' very different philosophies
Casting Raging Bull with today's boxing, wrestling, and MMA stars
Final grades: how the film holds up as a character study, an adaptation, and a piece of fight-game history
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