Throughout the history of cinema, boxing rings have seen personal triumphs as well as moments of tragedy and heartbreak. They’ve made the audience laugh, they’ve made them cry, and all the jazz that can come in between. They’ve forced the respective characters to bleed and sweat for the fictional fans in the stands, as well as for the real viewers at home watching their travels play out on Netflix.
Robert De Niro, Denzel Washington, Daniel Day-Lewis, Hillary Swank, Will Smith, Christian Bale and Russell Crowe – all of these Oscar winners have stepped into the boxing ring at some point during their respective careers. Other high profile names include Jake Gyllenhaal, Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan and of course Sylvester Stallone. And their respective boxing projects are among some of the highest quality films ever to hit the silver screen.
Fantastic movies set in boxing rings
Of course, almost all movies set in boxing rings will be sports dramas related to the genre. And no doubt the most famous films of this ilk fall within the same franchise, all set after the events of the famous best picture winner, rocky (1976). It saw five main sequels along with a spin-off series called Beliefin which, of course, Michael B. Jordan plays the leading role.
However, apart from that juggernaut franchise, there are also Oscar nominated masterpieces like Raging bull (1980), The hurricane (1999), Million Dollar Baby (2004), Cinderella man (2005), and The fighter (2010). A lot of those picked up wins, too. Of course, there are also more underrated or forgotten movies of this kind, such as Fat city (1972), The boxer (1997), Southpaw (2015), and Blood for this (2016).
But that’s the point: those are all critically acclaimed films, save for one or two – which is not to say Southpaw was bad anyway. Just divisiveness among critics. Meanwhile, regarding other sports: basketball has Hoosiers (1986), sure, along with He got game (1998) and the more recent one Rush (2021). And then football leaves just as much to write home about Rudy (1993), Jerry Maguire (1996), Remember the Titans (2000), and Friday night lights (2004).
So, basketball arenas and football stadiums have given boxing rings a decent run for their money over the years, but its biggest quality competitor has undoubtedly been the baseball field. Beat the drum slowly (1973) ranks among the best, as it is Money ball (2011) with Brad Pitt and 42 (2013) with Chadwick Boseman. But besides sports, there are of course dozens of other specific locations in film history that make memorable stories possible.
Other great settings in the cinema
Think about it this way: you’ve been to a fair, haven’t you? And that stands out as a very specific location, like a boxing ring maybe. But how many movies can you name off the top of your head that actually take place in a carnival, or a circus, or something like that? A few projects may come to mind, but most probably revolve around theme parks, not fairgrounds – movies like Holidays (1980) and Adventureland (2009), for example.
And of course, there are of course projects that take place in fairgrounds, not theme parks – take it Nightmare Alley (2021) by Guillermo Del Toro as an example. As for more iconic settings, they really are endless, but this confirms the prevalence of more specific locations. No states or countries, no general “house” or a “building” or anything like that. It should be more specific, such as “haunted house” or “restaurant.”
Think courtrooms, summer camps, insane asylums or casinos. Some of the most famous movies of all time are set in those locations, such as Some good men (1992), Friday the 13th (1980), One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (1975), and Ocean’s Eleven (2001) respectively. But there are so many other movies from that area that make them stand out.
Courtrooms have other hits like Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), A time to kill (1996), Great fear (1996), ed The Rainmaker (1997), just to name a few. Meanwhile, there are also other films set in summer camps meatballs (1979), Wet hot American summer (2001), Moonrise Kingdom (2011), and Fear Street Part II: 1978 (2021). And madhouses have other hits like awakening (1990), 12 monkeys (1995), Girl interrupted (1999), and of course Shutter Island (2010) by Martin Scorsese.
As for casinos: apart from the Ocean’s trilogythere is of course Casino (1995) – also by Martin Scorsese. But then there are more underrated projects of the highest quality like The gambler (1974), Hard eight (1996), Rounders (1998), ed dealer (1998). And then, of course, there are other settings worth writing home about, related to sports other than boxing.
But the thing about baseball parks, basketball arenas, and football stadiums is that none of those sports have spawned as many classic movie pieces as the sweet science of boxing. Of course you could say that a location like a battlefield has just as many striking classics, but boxing rings are not only notable for the number of high-quality projects that have taken place.
Why boxing rings stand out
Instantly recognizable boxing rings stand out because, when a respective character steps into a character, the film’s genre is essentially conveyed on the spot. These settings are narrow enough to pinpoint blocking choices perfectly, so the audience knows where every protagonist is – from the fighters in the ring and the official guard, to the cornermen shouting advice and the commentators making play-by-plays. When it comes to a battlefield, characters can be anywhere.
But boxing rings in particular also allow for memorable moments of cinematography – shots of the camera standing at the ring looking through the ropes. Shots from a bird’s eye view, shots from the nosebleeds from the audience, shots from the ring following the fighters themselves. The possibilities aren’t exactly endless, but adding different angles and movements into the mix makes that word much more appropriate.
If boxing movies are a sub-category of the sports genre, then it’s hard to argue that it’s the most popular sub-genre of them all. Of course there are other hugely popular ones, such as slashers within the horror genre or gangster movies within the crime genre. But all the movies in those respective categories are probably set in different locations. Meanwhile, boxing movies are undoubtedly the most popular subgenre that cinema has to offer, and they stand out for always being set in the ring.
High schools have coming-of-age dramas from John Hughes, horror movies from Kevin Williamson, and similar comedy tents Fast times at Ridgemont High (1982), Ferris Bueller’s day off (1986), Dazed and confused (1993), Super bad (2007), Easy A (2010), and more. And then there are more action-packed settings, such as the aforementioned battlefield. Sure, some war movies like Apocalypse now (1979), Platoon (1986), and Saving Private Ryan (1998) are among the most acclaimed projects ever made.
But a random room in a high school would never have the tension of Balboa vs. Be able to translate Creed rockyor the climactic comeback at the end of Rocky 2 (1979). A bar full of alcohol and not much else could facilitate the technically masterful camera work of never Raging bull. And, regarding the heartbreak of Million Dollar Baby: sure, maybe a battlefield with exploding limbs and gruesome death scenes could recreate similar emotions from the audience.
But when fighters step into a boxing ring, you know what to expect: an intense and gripping back and forth, from the first frame of the film to the last bell of the fight. When two combatants step into the ring, the same plot point will always come true. It’s how the respective filmmakers add originality and intrigue to the fights that make boxing rings stand out. Anything can happen on a battlefield, from a firefight or an interrogation of the enemy to a medical procedure or a simple conversation in the trenches. But in a boxing ring you can always expect one thing: a fight.