5 must-see boxing movies

We decided to pay homage to the noble art of the ring, an art capable of creating fascinating human and sporting stories. Stories that have inspired great directors and some of the brightest masterpieces of the big screen. We selected 5 of them, drawing on contemporary and past cinematography: all these films are inspired by biographies of real boxers. Good vision.

The Hurricane

The film is based on the life of Rubin Carter: boxer played by a sublime Denzel Washington. In this film directed by Norman Jewison, Carter’s boxing ascent is described: a sporting ascent preceded and followed by a complex relationship with justice. Carter, accused of triple homicide at the height of his career, is the victim of an incredible mistrial. The boxer will prove his innocence only at the end of a very long legal and personal battle.

Raging Bull

A masterpiece by Martin Scorsese, with Robert De Niro as Jake LaMotta. De Niro’s Oscar-winning interpretation reaches peaks of rare intensity, showing the brightest and darkest sides of the legendary Italian-American middleweight. Arguably the best sports film in history, this gem analyzes the demons and victories of the Bronx ‘Raging Bull’, and narrates his extreme life.

Bleed for This

A more recent film than the previous two, Bleed traces the life of Vinny Paz, the ‘Pazmanian Devil’: a former lightweights and superwelters world champion. The film revolves around the very serious car accident and the consequent injury that threatened to completely paralyze Cranston’s boxer. Paz succeeded in an impossible recovery, fighting against the limits imposed by medicine and by his own body.

The Fighter

A complex family fresco, a dramatic dependence, an intense fraternal bond. Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale play half-brothers Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund. Eklund has entered the whirlwind of crack after an excellent but short boxing career and tries to push his stepbrother to the top of the world boxing scene. However, a deleterious and destructive relationship is established between the two. The redemption, the rapprochement and the conquest of the WBU lightweight world title will come only at the end of a detention in prison and a very hard awareness.

Somebody upthere likes me

The novel life of Thomas Rocco Barbella, known as Rocky Graziano, is played by Paul Newman in this film produced in 1956. Thefts and fights, gangs and prison, army and ring: the human vortex of this legendary Italian-American boxer is the plot of this two Academy Award winning masterpiece.