4. Jake LaMotta Vs. Sugar Ray - Raging Bull
Martin Scorsese delved deep into the troubled mind of world champion boxer Jake LaMotta to deliver what is arguably Scorsese's masterpiece, Raging Bull. A never-better Robert Deniro went the extra distance to insure his portrayal of LaMotta packed that extra punch of realism, going so far as to competete in genuine boxing matches (winning 2 out of 3 of his bouts). Scorsese delivers a stomach-churning depiction of onscreen brutality in his dramatization of the final fight between LaMotta and Sugar Ray Robinson. Modelled after the infamous shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, the audiences feel ever skull-shattering blow as Sugar Ray's fists dismantle his helpless opponent. My favourite moment of film occurs shortly after this powerhouse scene, when a battered but still defiant LaMotta walks over to Sugar Ray's corner to gloat: "I never went down Ray. You never got me down Ray."