Robert De Niro’s metamorphosis into boxing legend Jake La Motta (AKA the Bronx Bull) is one of the most impressive acting transformations ever filmed. Martin Scorsese’s bold decision to film "Raging Bull" in black and white pays off enormously in capturing the internal and physical struggle of a distinctive anti-hero set on a course of self destruction in the boxing world of the ’40s and ’50s. The glorious boxing scenes in "Raging Bull" are standard fare for university filmmaking classes due to Scorsese’s facile use of cinema language to convey La Motta’s character traits. "Raging Bull" is widely considered to be one of the best films of the ’80s. Special features include three audio commentaries and a second disc of terrific special features that include four edifying featurettes, a making-of documentary, and newsreel footage of the real Jake La Motta fighting. Aspect ratio is 1.85:1 Widescreen with sound reproduced in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround and Stereo. (Movie – Four Stars, DVD features Four Stars) Rated R. Over 5 hours total running time. (MGM)
