| | | | Raging Bull
(1980) |
lack and white biopic, charting the rise and fall of boxing legend Jake La Motta, a man whose prize fighting tenacity was rivalled only by his impulsive nature and domestic ferocity.
Jake La Motta was the world middleweight champ in the early 50s' but after a string of controversial bouts, days of running a nightclub and the inevitable decline into fat land, the once lean, and admirably mean La Motta had gone from Raging Bull to Beached Whale.
Perhaps brother/manager Joey (Pesci) "...shoulda looked out for him just that little bit" or maybe Salvy (Vincent) and Tommy Como (Colasanto) were to blame, perhaps it was Vicky (Moriarty) or maybe it was someone else, maybe the toughest opponent Jake La Motta ever faced... was a man named Jake la Motta.
"I remember those cheers
They still ring in my ears
And for years they'll remain in my thoughts
Cuz one night I took off my robe
And what'd I do
I forgot to wear shorts.
I recall every fall, every hook, every jab
The worst way a guy could get rid of his flab
As you know, my life was a jab...
Though I'd rather hear you cheer
When I delve into Shakespeare
"A Horse, a Horse, my Kingdom for a Horse,"
I haven't had a winner in six months
(he lights his cigar)
I know I'm no Olivier
But if he fought Sugar Ray
He would say
That the thing
Ain't the ring
It's the play
So gimme a stage
Where this bull here can rage
And though I can fight
I'd much rather recite
That's entertainment. That's entertainment..."
A classic movie which is about a lot more than guys beating each other up in a boxing ring.
De Niro is too excellent for words as the man who could've been a contender, a fine athlete with a real short fuse, one who took on everybody from Marcel Cerdan and Sugar Ray Robinson to hapless try-hard Pretty boy Janeiro, La Motta is portrayed as a great fighter whose insufferable temper makes for some repulsive scenes of wife beating and an equally disturbing decline into self abuse when the raging bull is briefly locked up.
 Don't forget that Raging Bull is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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This is method acting taken beyond its' extremes you can tell that every frame has been carefully directed, with the boxing matches being amongst the most technically proficient and convincingly brutal ever seen on film.
Raging bull is the kind of movie that may be a little hard to get into at first, but once you're hooked, it rarely lets go. With some great acting from Joe Pesci and a powerhouse performance by De Niro, this is one of the few films that lives up to it's hype.
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This magnificent display of method madness earned De Niro his second Academy Award, his first Oscar was for best supporting actor in The Godfather Part II, this time round, he (deservedly) won Best Actor. 
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Cathy Moriarty spoofed her role for the movie "But I'm a Cheerleader."
"I looked like an animal..." (De Niro on the weight gain)
"I just ate less..." (De Niro on the weight loss)
John Turturro has a bit part as "Man at table" during the nightclub scene where Jake and his brother go out on the town. -Thanks to Martin Sole
Martin Scorsese's father Charles is one of the mob wiseguys crowding the La Motta brothers at the Copa nightclub table.
Directors Cameo: Martin Scorsese asking Jack to go on stage.
In the scene with Jack and Vicki in Joey's apartment, (just after the miniature golf scene), in the dining room, there are two pictures, one on either side of the doorway. To the right is the Virgin Mary and on the left is a picture of St Frances Xavier Cabrini, the patron Saint of those in search of a new home. Sent from Italy by Pope Leo to minister to the Italian immagrants. She was the first American saint. -Thanks to Steve Westhead
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Raging Bull DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Raging Bull or 80's Drama / Historic classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Outsiders ..... Elephant Man ..... Rain Man ..... Drugstore Cowboy ..... Stand By Me ..... Wall Street ..... Mask ..... Amadeus ..... Full Metal Jacket ..... Witness ..... Breakfast Club ..... Glory ..... Platoon ..... Scarface ..... Six Weeks ..... Urban Cowboy .....[More]
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Robert De Niro made frequent visits to the Raging Bull's ex-wife Vicky in order to establish a greater sense of character. He also put himself through intensive training and won 2 out of 3 amateur boxing matches in Brooklyn N.Y.
De Niro ate his way around Italy and put on 60lbs in order to get up to 14st 5lbs and play the old Jake La Motta., Joe Pesci on the other hand, trimmed down by about 30lbs to play Jake's brother Joey.
De Niro had his hairline thinned in order to imitate La Motta's high forehead.
Robert De Niro sometimes got a little carried away whilst he was in character and ended up breaking a couple of Joe Pesci's ribs during a sparing shot, he also bruised him in another sparring session and even knocked out Cathy Moriarty during one of their rowing scenes!
During the later boxing scenes Scorcese used a larger ring in order to convey La Motta's diminishing stature as a fighter.
The scene where De Niro breaks Joe Pesci's ribs was kept in and Scorcese cut away at the last second for a different reaction shot.
When Jake (De Niro) asks Joey (Pesci) "Did you f**k my wife?" director Martin Scorsese didn't think Pesci's reaction was strong enough, so he asked De Niro to say "Did you f**k your mother?" and cut the scenes together during post production.
Although only a few minutes of boxing appear in the movie, they were so precisely choreographed that they took six weeks to film.
As for those who said the actors were really hitting each other in the boxing scenes, I can tell you the truth. They did not. It was incredibly choreographed and edited to look real, but they didn't really "fight" as it appeared in the completed film. All the blood was fake too and they used bottles and bottles of it. -Thanks to David Batterson
It wasn't smoke surrounding the boxing ring, it's actually made by a small machine that creates a mist that looks like smoke. -Thanks to David Batterson
Joe Pesci, at the time a frustrated, struggling actor, had to be persuaded to make the film rather than return to the musical act he shared with colleague Frank Vincent.
The first pass of the Raging Bull script, adapted from Jake La Motta's autobiography, was actually written by Mardik Martin (who co-wrote Mean Streets with Scorsese). When DeNiro disapproved, the director brought on board Paul Schrader (writer of Taxi Driver), who turned in a very dark script. De Niro and Scorsese undertook another re-write. Schrader, at the time, at least, considered the scene the best he had ever written. -Thanks to James Noble
The scene between La Motta and his first wife was half improvised. The man in the apartment below them didn't know they were shooting a movie and so when La Motta and his wife are arguing, the man below yelled at them to be quiet "you animals!" etc. Scorcese told DeNiro to improvise lines back, making the finished product a very real, comedic scene. -Thanks to Britt
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|  |  |  | | Raging Bull
Locations |
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The following locations were used in the "Raging Bull" movie:
Hell's Kitchen, New York City, New York & The Olympic Auditorium, Los Angelas, California, USA [Thanks to Noah]
Culver Studios (called Culver City Studios at the time) 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA. They filmed the boxing scenes there, and I worked 5 weeks as an extra (crowd scenes)! It went on so long, we began to call
it "Raging Bullsh*t." The original name of the film, BTW, was "The Raging Bull." [Thanks to David Batterson]
Can you help? Do you know any of the New York City, New York filming locations used for Raging Bull? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
| Our
Comments: New 2 disc Special Edition |
| | | | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
| Our
Comments: Ultimate Edition |
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The original soundtrack score was composed by Robbie Roberts, who also did, amonst others, "The Color of Money" in 1986 and more recently "Any Given Sunday" in 1999.
We don't think the soundtrack was ever released.
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Soundtrack Available:
Unknown
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