Raging Bull (1980) is an unrelenting, searing biopic and dramatic tragedy - based on the real-life story of an unlovable, stubborn middle-weight boxing champion as he struggles to be champion. His life passes through successive stages of punishment, compromise, and self-disintegration, due to numerous inner demons. The tale of Jake La Motta's downfall is a reversal of the sentimental, much-loved boxer/hero story in Rocky (1976).

Director Martin Scorsese was convinced by actor Robert De Niro, with whom he had made Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), and New York, New York (1977), that the film had to be made, after he was given La Motta's biography by De Niro in 1974. The actor's own performance was the most overwhelming of his career - he completely immersed himself in the role by altering his physical appearance in an ultimate Method-acting performance. As a lean boxer, he rigorously trained with La Motta for the boxing sequence.

In the film's brutal, no-holds-barred look at the gladiatorial sport of boxing in documentary-style, La Motta unsparingly engages other boxers in the ring in some of the most realistic, bloody, and brutal yet stylized boxing scenes ever filmed - with sweat and blood spraying out of the ring, devastating blows, and flashing - actually exploding - camera bulbs. The sounds of squashing melons and tomatoes were used for landed punches. The size and shape of the ring was also modified and changed from small, to long and narrow, for varying effects.

Michael Chapman's stunning, crisp black-and-white cinematography (throughout the entire film except for the home video segments) and subjective camera used innovative techniques including slow-motion (varying camera speeds), 360 degree pans, and titled camera angles for various fight scenes. The lighting was deliberately made harsh and stark, to provide an expressionistic look and feel of the brutality inside the ring.

Overall I strongly recommend watching this film, As its one of the best work by both Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro