Raging Bull (1980) movie review - Sneak Previews with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel

This is the original review of Raging Bull by Siskel & Ebert on "Sneak Previews" in 1980. All of the segments pertaining to the movie have been included.

[@kiaguy47]

"You never knocked me down, Ray. You never knocked me down.."

[@CR41489]

A masterwork from Martin Scorsese. Great script by Paul Schrader. Robert Deniro is excellent as is Joe Pesci as well. This is still a great film that holds up very well. Beautiful Black & White cinematography by Michael Chapman.

[@FloraWest]

Totally agree. And let's not forget the legendary editor Thelma Schoonmaker.

[@lionelraoul]

Should have been Scorsese's first Best Director Oscar. Goodfellas should have been the second.

[@davidperez5089]

Absolutely. I love how Joe AND Frank V. End up fighting in every movie together. RIP- FV PS- GIMME a kiss Joey.

[@Xayjohns]

Nothing short of a masterpiece.

[@sergioizzaqt7707]

My dad and I watch it every year on New Years. Amazing film.

[@randycunningham7318]

But dreary and depressing.

[@gargantuaism]

@@randycunningham7318 The movie is about a mean jerk who annoys people to the point where nobody can stand being around him. If it's about anything deeper I would love to know.

[@ianmillerdevilsfan1223]

One of the best movies ever made

[@PeterMayer]

No question.

[@kamuelalee]

Perhaps the greatest American movie of the last 40 years.

[@christiansoldier77]

kamuelaleee LOOOOL NOT EVEN THE BEST SCORCESE FILM OF THE LAST 40 YEARS

[@kamuelalee]

@@christiansoldier77 Hmm, can you think of one better?

[@bijibadness]

did Joe Pesci even get an Oscar™ nomination for this one? why does nobody ever mention how amazing he is in this movie? it's always about Scorsese or De Niro or both. Pesci gets mentioned usually only passingly. which is insane. he's as good as De Niro is in this, i think.

[@eargasm1072]

On point..and I think this was his first major film performance?? One of the greatest acting debuts ever, bar none

[@hevyonez97]

Pesci actually did get nominated for Best Supporting Actor...he didn't win, though...

[@angelthman1659]

Ebert didn't think '80 was a good year for movies. Imagine what he'd say about today.

[@patrickshields5251]

He didn’t like the 80s at all. I have a small pocket sized book of Roger Ebert’s four star reviews taken from the 1989 version of his annual video guides and it ended with an article on how Star Wars changed Hollywood. Although he loved Star Wars, he felt that the film did damage to what the great films of the 70s have stood for and how it inadvertently corporatized films. That’s why he disliked the 80s.

[@theeoddments960]

@@patrickshields5251 idk the 80’s was pretty corporatized in general. 90’s indie filmmaking was certainly a better time as well, not just the 70’s. Honestly watching something like the king of comedy is bizarre because there weren’t that many films being made like it at that time. We had taxi driver before and other projects after like American psycho and leaving Las Vegas afterwards, these pinpoint character pieces but the 80’s was kind of a dry spell for auteur filmmakers and deep scripts.

[@theeoddments960]

That’s not to say that there weren’t good movies of the decade, but the best parts of most of them is script efficiency and tightness, not grand concepts and intimate stories. Back to the future and ghostbusters along with even more mature movies like the firm still being cut from that cloth. The best of the 80’s is in how every line, every action from a character aids in moving the story along. But rarely do films of the period take a step back and get intimate and introspective. All in all, cocaine is a hell of a drug and Hollywood was buying lol

[@patrickshields5251]

@@theeoddments960 That's exactly why the 80s sucked. It was the death of the autuer era and the rise of the blockbusters.

[@patrickshields5251]

@@theeoddments960 Back to the Future is great. Ghostbusters is still a good movie despite what I felt were flaws.

[@jmjfanss]

Still a magnificent film from beginning to end.

[@lordemed1]

DeNiro put on weight and lost it as the movie's scened were filmed. ie the scenes were shot in reverse- later scenes shot before earlier scenes.

[@darshin95]

De Niro's best performance

[@MikeBarbre]

I'd like to have spoken with Roger Ebert toward the end of his life and ask if he still believed that 1980 wasn't one of the single greatest years for movies in the history of the medium. If you don't believe me, type "movies of 1980" and a list will come up I'm confident will blow your mind.

[@eargasm1072]

I know...I think it was a golden year for movies, along with other heralded years like '39 and '74

[@eargasm1072]

At least 10 of my favorite movies are from '80

[@KRhetor]

There was a lot of really awful movies released that year that most of us have forgotten about. Remember, this was the same year as Caligula, Heaven's Gate, Xanadu, Hardly Working, The Blue Lagoon, Friday the 13th, I Spit on Your Grave, and the Neil Diamond version of The Jazz Singer, among others!

[@davidperez5089]

I haven't seen the list but i grew up in the 80s. I'm pretty sure the nineties has a better More Concise selection.

[@thewkovacs316]

@@KRhetor friday the 13th and i spit on your grave are classics

[@pandaeyes42]

Time Magazine got it right when they voted this The Best Film Of The Eighties.

[@Z-Mikes00]

breakfast club that is all

[@zacharysiple629]

So did Siskel and Ebert- it was their pick as well.

[@davevannatta985]

Scorsese's greatest film. This is the one he should have won best director and best picture

[@christiansoldier77]

Dave Vannatta Goodfellas: Hold my beer

[@rolan5948]

Goodfellas, irishman and the departed are better films, this film is good but imo a bit overrated

[@PeterMayer]

@@rolan5948 The Departed is better??? Not even close.

[@randycunningham7318]

I like Goodfellas and Taxi Driver more.

[@randycunningham7318]

​@@rolan5948Departed is overrated.

[@41nhs]

Rocky may very well be the most influential sports film in cinema, but Raging Bull is the best sports film in cinema. It's art that refuses to compromise and is all the better for it.

[@gargantuaism]

"Raging Bull" The story of a really mean boxer that is such a jerk he alienates everybody in his life because nobody can stand being around him and in the ring he beats lots of people up. Not much of a story but De Niro was terrific.

[@MarkKnockemus]

This is an American classic.

[@PeterMayer]

Incredible

[@movieman104]

de niro deserves his oscsr best acting performance of the 80s but should have won best pic n supporting actor too

[@ronreagan7950]

Scorsese’s best flick. Period.

[@oobrocks]

Light yrs better than Oscar winner that yr: Ordinary People

[@captainharris8980]

I saw it a couple of times, and thought it was decent, but had I known that the film industry is about making therapeutic pieces for the movie going audience, I would have never gone into it. This movie is the epitome of mass media therapy, and as good as it is, it epitomizes why I should have never gone into it in the first place. But yeah, good movie and the cast does an excellent job.

[@deckofcards87]

Siskel said this was his favourite movie in the 30 something years he worked as a critic. But then he also said Saturday Night Fever was his favourite..hmm.

[@Noirlore]

Did people watch this before seeing the movie or after? They gave a way a lot

[@danielbrennan8962]

40 years old today.

[@sergioizzaqt7707]

The preview they show has more color than any of the non montage scenes in the movie.

[@grahamh.4230]

It was difficult to get high-quality versions of specific scenes to show outside of public movie theaters at that time.

[@chicovoylez3216]

Ordinary People won best picture that year.

[@robertbalestrero9124]

Embarrassing.

[@redadamearth]

"1980's been a terrible year for movies". Um. HAS IT? "The Shining"..."The Empire Strikes Back"..."Airplane!"..."The Elephant Man"..."The Blues Brothers"..."Coal Miner's Daughter"..."Altered States"..."Caddyshack"..."Dressed to Kill"..."Ordinary People"..."Stir Crazy"..."9 to 5"...."American Gigolo"..."Friday the 13th".

[@patrickshields5251]

The reason why they felt that 1980 was a bad year for movies is because they didn't like that many movies that year. The auteur films of the 1970s were in decline, the notorious Heaven's Gate was infamous for its troubled production and was a critical and commercial disaster, and high concept amusement park filmmaking (blockbusters) was increasing. It was also a year filled with so many slasher films that were made to capitalize on the success of Halloween and they used graphic violence just to get attention. 1980 was an artistically safe, unadventurous year for movies for them, and so was the rest of the decade.

[@natalieps2387]

Siskel got a couple great best picture oscar winners he hated rocky & silence of the lambs. I wonder if he changed his mind about both. He actually thought hopkins was too over the top & foster gives an ok performance. He also thought lecter's introduction was over the top. He is such a good film reviewer but boy did he get those two films wrong. Rocky is an American classic & the Cinderella story all others try to emulate. Silence swept the top 5 a rare feat only done 3 times in oscar history & not done since. I doubt we will ever see that done again. Plus both movies became phenomenons. They of course both got films like raging bull , star wars & godfather right but who wouldn't.

[@hevyonez97]

Gene actually gave the movie a positive review, he just didn't like the movie as much as Roger did..the only movie out of the 5 he saw and reviewed, part III was the only one he didn't like at all...

[@lordemed1]

Siskel usually took aback seat to Ebert...and he knew it.

[@meesalikeu]

sometimes the boys surprised us with split opinions, but this one was a gimmee.

[@dmanbigd1]

Great movie

[@damianbaileyfitness9348]

I wish Marty would make UNDISPUTED MIKE TYSON already.

[@movieman104]

deniro 100 owecwnt deserved his oscar wun best win since brando

[@mirkomustapic3883]

Film has great acting,cinematography but i didnt care for characters and plot was boring and too much screaming.

[@theholymackerel072]

To think the Scorsese is admittedly not at all a “sports guy”.

[@09rja]

I've never gotten people's love for this film. It's a good film.....but Siskel & Ebert called it the best of the 80's. (At the end of the decade.) I also never got how Siskel could find the LaMotta character interesting.....but he thought the Montana character in Scarface was completely uninteresting (based on what a louse he was).

[@09rja]

Me personally, I thought 'Amadeus' was the best film of the 80's (In fact, it's number 1 on my all-time list.) 'Platoon' is on my all time (top 10) list too. 'A Soldier's Story' was a great one too.

[@Abr022575]

It's about the blindness of the human condition. It's a religious film. It's certainly not about boxing.

[@jmjfanss]

@Flying Hellfish Howard Rollins went on to do in the heat of the night.

[@archangelmusic13]

i didnt even think it was good at all, i didnt like it, i found it a very boring movie. and same with amadeus, very boring movie, a boxing movie that i thought was better was the 1982 movie gladiator starring cuba gooding jr. that movie is much more powerful with the boxing scenes.

[@rosario508]

I was supposed to see this film at the Coolidge Corner Theater in Brookline MA this past summer. F’CKN LOCKDOWN!!!!!!

[@lordemed1]

don't give up!

[@rosario508]

@@lordemed1 The theater opened back up and I saw it late last year. Thanks

[@rtreuuhh703]

I wish these reviews didn’t show clips from the movie

[@at1212b]

gawd I wished I saw this in the theaters.

[@natalieps2387]

It's hard to trust siskel 's reviews he thought silence of the lambs was awful he said Hopkins performance was over the top & jodie was just ok. Im sure siskel felt dumb when silence swept the top 5 only done 3 times in history. The last time before was cuckoos nest in 1975.

[@christiansoldier77]

Natalie Panaro Stack Silence of the Lambs was overrated and so is Raging Bull

[@grahamh.4230]

Well, he was certainly wrong there, but he sure isn't here.

[@natalieps2387]

@@christiansoldier77 I agree about raging bull , it's about a horrible person who treated the people close to him terribly bc he was crazy. I disagree about silence of the lambs. After lecter left the movie the last act is not good. I found hannibal & clarice interactions pretty compelling. The whole takes a serial killer to catch one I thought was interesting.

[@archangelmusic13]

i didnt like raging bull at all, i found this movie very boring, but i loved silence of the lambs

[@jimmybonez8928]

Did anyone see this movie when it came out in ‘80? I would love to hear from someone.

[@billc4002]

Jimmy Bonez I did. I was in high school.

[@jimmybonez8928]

@@billc4002 cool, thx

[@lordemed1]

i saw it and was mesmorized by it. Great movie then and now.

[@jimmybonez8928]

@@lordemed1 I envy you!!

[@doggfacejr]

1980 was a lousy year for movies? Empire Strikes Back, Airplane, The Shining, Blues Brorhers, Caddyshack, The Elephant Man, My Bodyguard, Ordinary People, 9To 5, Stir Crazy as well as Raging Bull. I gotta say Gene and Roger were waaaay off.

[@oldfashionedguy1368]

I think that Roger said 1980 wasn't a good year for American movies because he and Gene that year had to endure sequels, pale imitations of popular films, teen movies and even worse countless violent slasher films.

[@xendava7217]

My Bodyguard. Man I thought I was the only one who saw that film. You are right it's a great film. Matt Dillon was absolutely incredible in that film.

[@linkbiff1054]

Unless this came out early in the year.

[@tomloft2000]

and Coal Miner's Daughter.

[@eargasm1072]

They just forgot about all those classics being the same year..all that good blow lol

[@BackwoodsFilms]

"Two very enthusiastic yes votes" just doesn't have the same ring to it...

[@rickvinson8324]

Yeah, because it was a boring, crap movie. Scorcese is terribly overrated, as were Siskel and Ebert.

[@zachjohnson637]

@@rickvinson8324 lmao

[@mohamedashian604]

Rick Vinson go watch your kiddie movie little boy

[@josephine1465]

@@rickvinson8324 let me guess, you're a marvel fanboy aren't you?

[@generichuman2044]

​@@rickvinson8324imagine trying this hard to get attention lol

[@robertbeckman2054]

1980 a bad year….it beats 2000-2023 combined.

[@jmjfanss]

and certainly beats the era of today.

[@patrickshields5251]

Artistically speaking, 1980 was a very significant decline from the groundbreaking personal films of the 70s that made their jobs so delightful. The 80s has generally been considered as the worst decade for American movies and these dudes seem to agree. In the mid 90s, they embraced the indie scene and their thumbs up reviews have gradually increased. And a few years after Siskel's death, Ebert gave so many positive reviews with abandon until his death in 2013. And I know people might ask me why many critics consider the 80s to be a bad decade for movies and list their favorite movies from that period. I have my favorite 80s movies too, but these are not representative samples of the decade at large. I assessed the critical and audience responses one year at a time, then I decide how people react to the decade at large. At its core, no era for cinema was more frustrating than the 80s. The New Hollywood movement of the 1970s had ended when Heaven's Gate bombed and bankrupted a major studio. Exploitation films have reached saturation point, the indie boom was in its infancy, and foreign films were nearly obliterated in North America, which caused financial issues for directors from other countries. Directors have lessened their power. Artistic expression and creative freedom had been diminished. The major Hollywood studios had regained the control they have lost in the 70s. It was a time when the American cinema has turned into a theme park after Jaws and Star Wars made so much cash and the trend escalated year after year. Things recovered in the 90s with the independent film movement, along with the revival of foreign cinema. The 80s movie monoculture covered by these guys is effectively dead and we're better off for it.

[@xendava7217]

This to me is the one film that I just never liked. I won't say it's bad cause everyone else seems to love it. But for me, it just didn't do it. I genuinely didn't give a rip about these people in the film.

[@rolan5948]

Same

[@toddcraig8202]

I completely agree. There is nothing about this movie that I liked. It was both overblown AND hollow. Overrated.

[@steveconn]

The first movie where De Niro plays a violent, muttering Italian mook. Pretty much played the same role the rest of his life.

[@lionelraoul]

He actually played one years earlier in Godfather, Part II

[@j7220]

Mean Streets.

[@Gma00001]

He does not play the same role the rest of his life lmao

[@Gma00001]

@@lionelraoul Sicilian

[@Gma00001]

@@j7220 He wasn't Italian exactly

[@MrBoyYankee]

The Best Scorsese film following Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Casino and The Departed.

[@MarkGarza94]

They don’t make movies like this anymore. As of 2024 I have not seen a good movie at all. Besides Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are in their 80s now. It will be a sad day when these two pass away.

[@movieman104]

1980 not a good year for film? best star wars film came out in 80 raging bull n a great horror film the shining.

[@patrickshields5251]

Qualitatively speaking, they felt that 1980 was a major letdown after the groundbreaking classics of the 1970s that made their jobs so delightful. They were frustrated with the 80s as a whole because the era of the director was over and the studios had regained control. Their faith in cinema was restored by the 90s indie boom.

[@movieman104]

@@patrickshields5251 70s was better still 80s hsd some good ones

[@patrickshields5251]

@@movieman104 Agreed about the 70s.

[@movieman104]

@@patrickshields5251 best movie of all time came out in the 70s the godfather

[@Sachin_C10]

Jake LaMotta, Rupert Pupkin, Jimmy Conway, max Cady etc. All villainous & extremely unlikable characters of Robert De niro.

[@jcarabillo46]

God bless Martin Scorsese.

[@hungwilliam44]

never bothered to see raging bull. too much acting. unpleasant. cringey.

[@hollywoodmkx]

One of the most overrated films of all time.

[@christiansoldier77]

Raging Bull is seriously overrated but De Niro had a great performance

[@rolan5948]

I agree, I went into it thinking it was one of the greatest films of all time lol, its a solid 7/10

[@christiansoldier77]

@@rolan5948 NO its like a 5/10 It boring slow moving and uneventful but because its in black and white people think its better than what it really is LOL

[@OroborusFMA]

Does Scorsese make anything other than violent ugly people behaving in violent ugly ways? It's as bad as Tarantino making nothing but live action Road Runner cartoons. These people are one-note, one-trick ponies and got stale really fast.

[@brianshoman1723]

Scorsese also directed "The Last Temptation of Christ"

[@TheeKookyWildflower]

He made a family film called Hugo.

[@Bladerunner-yd5lk]

After hours

[@winstonli8081]

Oh damn you calling him a one trick ponies. Like you’ve never seen his Dylan documentaries

[@kamuelalee]

The Last Waltz