Top 10 Guide Picks - Top Boxing Movies (Fiction)If you're a boxing fan - or even if you're not - you've undoubtedly seen some of the following boxing movies. Some were box office hits while others are relatively obscure. A few even garnered Academy Awards! Enjoy! Still great if you can possibly watch it without being distracted by thoughts of Rocky II through V -- all of which were dramatically inferior to the original. Academy Award winner for best picture catapulted Stallone to international fame and such classics as Rhinestone, Over the Top and Judge Dredd. Ugh! Classic film tells the story of ex-prize fighter Terry "coulda been a contender" Malloy (Marlon Brando) and his struggle against union corruption along the New York waterfront. Winner of eight Academy Awards: Best Picture, Director, Actor (Marlon Brando), Supporting Actress, Story & Screenplay, Cinematography, Art Direction-Set Decoration and Editing. Humphrey Bogart's final film sees the screen legend playing the role of an out-of-work sportswriter who takes a job as a press agent hired to build the reputation of a no talent fighter. A riveting look at the seedy side of the fight game. Directed by John Huston, Fat City is the tale of two small-time fighters - Stacy Keach and Jeff Bridges - whose careers are going in opposite directions. Not a classic by any stretch but a personal favorite. Spike Fumo is a Brooklyn street kid who aspires to become a champion boxer. Unfortunately for Spike, the rich girl he falls in love with also happens to be the daughter of the local Mafia boss (Ernest Borgnine). If you like The Sopranos - and who doesn't? - check out this flick. Mountain Rivera (Anthony Quinn), a fighter at the end of his career, his sleazy manager (Jackie Gleason) and his sympathetic trainer (Mickey Rooney) are the central characters in this grim tale about gambling and fight fixing. Look for a small role by a very young Muhammad Ali -- so young in fact that he was still Cassius Clay. Nominated for six Academy Awards including Kirk Douglas for his role as Midge Kelly, a boxer increasingly seduced by the fame and fortune that accompanies his rise in the sport. John Garfield stars as Charlie Davis, an up and coming fighter that must deal with difficult choices when faced with unethical promoters. Nominated for three Academy Awards. Best (only?) film on female boxing with a great performance from newcomer Michelle Rodriguez as an 18-year-old aspiring pugilist. A pampered millionaire (Buster Keaton) falls in love with a mountain girl during a hunting trip and ends up having to back up his claim of being a champion prizefighter. A perfect role for Keaton to showcase his gift for physical comedy. | 
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