The official figures were recently released; with 108 million viewers worldwide, or almost half of their subscribers, Netflix’s launch into live broadcasting of sporting events has been a real success. The Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson boxing fight was a fantastic marketing operation for the streaming giant despite numerous problems during the broadcast, with the servers having difficulty handling this unusual influx of simultaneous connections.
And if Netflix emerges as the big winner of the event, this is not the case for boxing itself. If the previous fights generally kept their promises with, in particular, a spectacular Taylor vs Serrano, the main course saw Jake Paul prevail over his opponent by unanimous decision of the judges after 8 soporific rounds where Mike Tyson blamed his age and Paul his inexperience. Just to wake you up, we have prepared a small selection of 5 boxing films for you to watch on streaming platforms.
Rocky Balboa on Prime Video
We had to start this selection with the boss. Because if there is one who made boxing popular in the cinema, it is Sylvester Stallone with his saga around Rocky Balboa. And when it came to choosing between six films and two derivatives, we could only select the one that inspired the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson fight. In Rocky Balboa, the boxer has hung up his gloves for a while, but he agrees to return to the ring at 61 (3 years older than Tyson) to express his rage one last time against a young champion who is too sure of his strength. Doesn’t that remind you of anything? More than a boxing match, this sixth opus is a magnificent conclusion for the character to which is added beautiful life lessons around what he has always embodied: strength, courage, effort, adversity and resilience. Unfortunately, reality has not been able to overcome fiction.
The Rage in the stomach on Max
A boxing film rather unloved by fans because of its proportion of accumulating numerous clichés of the genre. Nevertheless, we continue to appreciate The Rage in the Belly because beyond its effective staging in the ring, we are touched by the emotional side of the film. Jake Gyllenhaal, transformed physically, is immense in this role of boxer unable to overcome his grief and who risks losing even more. The film tackles difficult subjects in a somewhat naive way, but it has the merit of modernizing its locker room and sweaty setting a little. A film resolutely geared towards family, directed by Antoine Fuqua who has lost none of his energy and who continues to prove that the ring is a breeding ground for great stories and bloody fights.
Real Steel sur Netflix
Tired of conventional boxing films? We advise you to switch to robotic boxing! Real Steel sees Hugh Jackman play a former champion who has become a lousy manager since the ring is occupied by metal giants. But under the leadership of his blind son, they decide together to build and train a robot capable of fulfilling both of their dreams. More than combat, the film mainly tells a story of transmission around a visually exhilarating idea. We quickly become attached to this heterogeneous trio, to this father-son relationship which evolves in front of the camera of Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine). The references are there, but they are assumed and nicely adorn the crown of this family entertainment which brings together our three passions: boxing, robots and Hugh Jackman.
Snatch on Prime Video
Yes, we know, Snatch is not strictly speaking a boxing film. However, the ring is a centerpiece in Guy Ritchie’s script, the setting for a final twist as the director-writer knows how to do so well, coupled with a five-star performance from Brad Pitt as a gypsy boxer. Snatch is the story of a quarrel between gangsters around an underground boxing match where everyone will find themselves overtaken by the events. Which brings a film which constantly moves from one sequence to another with an infectious and, above all, jubilant energy, carried by a huge cast and very British humor. A hallucinatory delirium which is assumed and which is always (re)watched with as much pleasure.
Raging Bull on UniversCiné or MUBI
We could not conclude this selection without mentioning the boss of boxing films. And yet, this takes place in the background. Because the interest of this biopic on Jack La Motta is not so much in the ring as in a home where a man is constantly torn between his desire to rise and his inner demons. An uncompromising portrait, as beautiful as it is chilling, around not a sport, but a man, brilliantly played by Robert De Niro. Everything is violence, love, madness in this poignant drama masterfully directed by Martin Scorsese. Raging Bull is a wild work as perfect as its subject is human imperfection itself. A rich work, a clinical shock and, in the end, simply a masterpiece.
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