Press Release Criterion Press Release: Raging Bull (1980) (4k UHD/Blu-ray Combo) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

With this stunningly visceral portrait of self-destructive machismo, Martin Scorsese created one of the truly great and visionary works of modern cinema. Robert De Niro pours his blood, sweat, and brute physicality into the Oscar-winning role of Jake La Motta, the rising middleweight boxer from the Bronx whose furious ambition propels him to success within the ring but whose unbridled paranoia and jealousy tatter his relationships with everyone in his orbit, including his brother and manager (Joe Pesci) and gorgeous, streetwise wife (Cathy Moriarty). Thelma Schoonmaker’s Oscar-winning editing, Michael Chapman’s extraordinarily tactile black-and-white cinematography, and Frank Warner’s ingenious sound design combine to make Raging Bull a uniquely powerful exploration of violence on multiple levels—physical, emotional, psychic, and spiritual.

FILM INFO​

• United States
• 1980
• 129 minutes
• Black & White
• 1.85:1
• English
• Spine #1134

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES​

• New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• New video essays by film critics Geoffrey O’Brien and Sheila O’Malley on Scorsese’s mastery of formal techniques and the film’s triumvirate of characters
• Three audio commentaries, featuring Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker; director of photography Michael Chapman, producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, casting director Cis Corman, music consultant Robbie Robertson, actors Theresa Saldana and John Turturro, and sound-effects supervising editor Frank Warner; and boxer Jake La Motta and screenwriters Mardik Martin and Paul Schrader
• Fight Night, a making-of program featuring Scorsese and key members of the cast and crew
• Three short programs highlighting the longtime collaboration between Scorsese and actor Robert De Niro
• Television interview from 1981 with actor Cathy Moriarty and the real Vikki La Motta
• Interview with Jake La Motta from 1990
• Program from 2004 featuring veteran boxers reminiscing about La Motta
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: Essays by poet Robin Robertson and film critic Glenn Kenny
  
  New cover by Eric Skillman
  
  July 12, 2022

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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[Jeffrey D]

Nice cover art.

 

[Kevin Antonio (Kev)]

Day 1

 

[mskaye]

Day 1

F yes !

 

[Kevin Antonio (Kev)]

F yes !

To see this in 4k on my 100 inch screen already gives me goosebumps. I try to watch this film every several years so it can hit me the way it did the first time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

A great film, but I have a harder time watching this movie today than when I first watched it in a movie theater in 1980.

 

[Kevin Antonio (Kev)]

A great film, but I have a harder time watching this movie today than when I first watched it in a movie theater in 1980.

On first viewing it was a exhausting experience. This film definitely packs a punch, no pun intended.

 

[mskaye]

On first viewing it was a exhausting experience. This film definitely packs a punch, no pun intended.

It's brutal and grim but it is visual genius. One of a kind performances. Made in a white heat of inspiration. Packs an emotional punch (sorry) for me...redemption stories often do.

 

[Robert Crawford]

It's brutal and grim but it is visual genius. One of a kind performances. Made in a white heat of inspiration. Packs an emotional punch (sorry) for me...redemption stories often do.

I don’t see much redemption for Jake.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I don’t see much redemption for Jake.

He does try, in his own way, to make up with his brother. That’s the only redemption, and even then, not really.

 

[mskaye]

He does try, in his own way, to make up with his brother. That’s the only redemption, and even then, not really.

I disagree - and I think Scorsese would too - won't get into spoilers per se but the final card after the final image says it all. I don't think its even debatable. How all viewers feel about this character is another story.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I disagree - and I think Scorsese would too - won't get into spoilers per se but the final card after the final image says it all. I don't think its even debatable. How all viewers feel about this character is another story.

Well, I think it's debatable because Scorsese's intention just doesn't work for me. There is a difference between being at peace with what a person did to himself and his family versus what I call personal redemption. A filmmaker is a storyteller, but how other people interpret that story could be different than what the storyteller intended.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I disagree - and I think Scorsese would too - won't get into spoilers per se but the final card after the final image says it all. I don't think its even debatable. How all viewers feel about this character is another story.

The point I was trying to make, and I guess I failed, is he didn’t apologize to his brother while he met up with him after all that time passed. I don’t think he said he was sorry to his wife after the big incident happened at the brother’s house either. Jake obviously didn’t have “I’m sorry” in his vocabulary, and the film made that pretty clear. Redemption would have been for him to apologize, not express to everyone that this is me, whether you like it or not. My take.

 

[Kevin Antonio (Kev)]

The point I was trying to make, and I guess I failed, is he didn’t apologize to his brother while he met up with him after all that time passed. I don’t think he said he was sorry to his wife after the big incident happened at the brother’s house either. Jake obviously didn’t have “I’m sorry” in his vocabulary, and the film made that pretty clear. Redemption would have been for him to apologize, not express to everyone that this is me, whether you like it or not. My take.

Jake was a POS but I think his redemption was that through it all he still was able to go on. Of course the damage of what he did will always be a glaring scar but he can still look himself in the mirror and change. Sometimes in life you don't get the privilege to apologize for your sins because what you did was so wrong their is nothing even to say.

 

[lark144]

The point I was trying to make, and I guess I failed, is he didn’t apologize to his brother while he met up with him after all that time passed. I don’t think he said he was sorry to his wife after the big incident happened at the brother’s house either. Jake obviously didn’t have “I’m sorry” in his vocabulary, and the film made that pretty clear. Redemption would have been for him to apologize, not express to everyone that this is me, whether you like it or not. My take.

OK, but why does a character have to be redeemed at the end? It may make you feel better as a viewer, but that might undermine the authenticity and integrity of the character. I think it was Brecht who said that showing the inherent savagery in everyday life was in itself a radical and redeeming act. There are characters who are unredeemable, yet they are unforgettable and teach us something essential. Both DeNiro & Scorsese were fascinated by LaMotta's story, his skill and charisma yet propensity towards violence, Like a character from Shakespeare, Jake LaMotta carried the seeds of his own downfall within him. I find that compelling and inherently dramatic. It may not be nice, but then, how many nice, or even redeemable, characters are the leads in a Scorsese film anyway? I can't think of any. Jake LaMotta is especially savage, and I think that makes the film greater, as the images match his intensity and hunger.

 

[darkrock17]

Almost all of Martin Scorsese character's from his films aren't meant to likeable, sympathetic, or redeemable by the end of the film. We as the audience make that happen though by seeing parts of ourselves in those characters. We personify emotions into those images that make them feel like they are a real living person.

 

[Jeffrey D]

OK, but why does a character have to be redeemed at the end? It may make you feel better as a viewer, but that might undermine the authenticity and integrity of the character. I think it was Brecht who said that showing the inherent savagery in everyday life was in itself a radical and redeeming act. There are characters who are unredeemable, yet they are unforgettable and teach us something essential. Both DeNiro & Scorsese were fascinated by LaMotta's story, his skill and charisma yet propensity towards violence, Like a character from Shakespeare, Jake LaMotta carried the seeds of his own downfall within him. I find that compelling and inherently dramatic. It may not be nice, but then, how many nice, or even redeemable, characters are the leads in a Scorsese film anyway? I can't think of any. Jake LaMotta is especially savage, and I think that makes the film greater, as the images match his intensity and hunger.

I agree with you that a character in a film doesn’t have to apologize for who/what he/she is. Unsympathetic characters are definitely an acquired taste.

 

[titch]

It may not be nice, but then, how many nice, or even redeemable, characters are the leads in a Scorsese film anyway? I can't think of any.

Um...Hugo? At least the cleaned-up version of it.

 

[jayembee]

OK, but why does a character have to be redeemed at the end? It may make you feel better as a viewer, but that might undermine the authenticity and integrity of the character. I think it was Brecht who said that showing the inherent savagery in everyday life was in itself a radical and redeeming act. There are characters who are unredeemable, yet they are unforgettable and teach us something essential. Both DeNiro & Scorsese were fascinated by LaMotta's story, his skill and charisma yet propensity towards violence, Like a character from Shakespeare, Jake LaMotta carried the seeds of his own downfall within him. I find that compelling and inherently dramatic. It may not be nice, but then, how many nice, or even redeemable, characters are the leads in a Scorsese film anyway? I can't think of any. Jake LaMotta is especially savage, and I think that makes the film greater, as the images match his intensity and hunger.

Well, I don't think Jeffrey was arguing that a character has to be redeemed at the end. He just seemed (to me, anyway) to be saying that he didn't see any redemption, and that what might be seen as redemption didn't strike him that way.

Personally, I don't think redemption is necessary in any story, but at the same time I'll confess that I'm always a sucker for a good redemption arc.