Pluskylang Great Film overall

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Cineanalyst "The Champ" is the most disgraceful sort of manipulative melodrama. A pointless remake of a has-been 1931 film of the same name, this one pummels its audience--employing filmic techniques developed since the original--in its comeback to try to inflict even more tears than its saccharine predecessor.The 1931 version is bad, but at least the camerawork allowed some distance for the actors to develop a decent father-son bond on screen before the hokey histrionics are punched up. Not so here--zoom-ins, especially on the kid and mother, and a greater emphasis on close-ups force the audience to see every tear in the characters' eyes and, the filmmakers' hope seems to be, likewise force the waterworks out of viewers, as well. To today's eyes, at least, even the look and any deterioration of the 1970s film stock has the appearance of being filmed through a teary lens. Moreover, there are a greater series of crying scenes in the remake before the finale compared to the original. Early talkies, such as the 1931 "The Champ," also didn't feature non-diegetic musical scores. This 1979 remake, however, adds one, which rarely allows a moment without informing us what we're supposed to feel. This manipulative music was nominated for an Oscar. It's bad enough that there was never anything intelligent or particularly interesting from Frances Marion's script, another inexplicable Oscar honoree, but the remake doesn't even allow for any genuine emotional involvement. Every time I felt the film's machinations working, it inevitably left me feeling betrayed and abandoned, like T.J. ultimately is at some point by both parents.Padding is added to the narrative, compared to the original, to allow for the heightened sentimental shenanigans. The original also had an injury at the horse track that foreshadows the film's finale, but this one adds more clutter there. I don't get the Old Tom Parr reference, either. Given the ending, is that supposed to be ironic? There are also two swimming scenes with T.J. and another pointless scene where we watch the father watching children playing on a beach (c'mon, we already know he likes kids). With star Faye Dunaway in the role, the part of the mother is expanded, too. It's over an hour and a half before the Champ begins training for his comeback--a length longer than the entire 1931 film.In the wake of "Rocky" (1976), the boxing scene in the 1979 "The Champ" is certainly better than that in the 1931 version, which might be the most laughably-pathetic boxing contest ever filmed, and there's a brief Rocky-esque training montage. Wallace Berry, another undeserving Oscar winner, was literally unfit for the role of a former heavyweight champion. At least, Jon Voight was in better physical shape, and he doesn't ludicrously lunge forward, throwing haymakers each round. Jack Warden, who played a similar role in the prior year's "Heaven Can Wait," another pointless sports-related remake, is brought in as the Champ's trainer, although he's introduced rather late in the feature--seemingly relying on his credibility from the prior film instead of developing his character here.Part of the surge in boxing films piggybacking on the success of "Rocky," "The Champ" also seems to somewhat anticipate the anti-Feminist message of "Kramer vs. Kramer," released later in 1979, by focusing on a father-son relationship under threat from the re-emergence of the mother who abandoned them. Yet, it's shallow on both accounts, boxing and child custody. Emotional manipulation is the contest of concern here. Hopefully, you come out unscathed.

lbishopkyo I remember reading mostly negative reviews for this film, and reading that it was regarded as the saddest movie ever. I just had to watch! Now, is it a bad movie? No. As a matter of fact, I actually love this movie. I normally don't do drama films, especially of this sort, but I love this film mostly because it's charming, heart wrenching, but the film is the saddest at the ending. I remember watching the ending and I immediately reached for the tissue box and was sobbing and sniffling like a poor guy. I enjoyed the movie, but I was in total sadness at the end. I normally can never cry, but this was an exception. I have watched the ending and not cried before, but either way, it's still a very sad, if not the saddest, finale to a movie.It seems however that the ending is the only scene that everyone remembers from this movie. It's iconic, yes, but what about the rest of the film? The rest of the film is all really good. It is very similar to the original 1931 film, which I have seen and did not find as upsetting (though it still is), however, we go deeper into certain story elements that we didn't get into the first time around. For one thing, we get to see more of Champ's life with his son T.J. (renamed from "Dink"). Also, T.J. doesn't have any friends or half-siblings like Dink did in the original, but it only adds to the sadness factor in this movie. At least in the original film, when Dink saw his father die, he still had his friend, half-sibling, and mother. Here, he had no one but his mother. It was as if his father was his only friend, and he's gone...Rick Schroeder puts on a superb performance in this movie. I've said before how much I hate kids, but at least Schroeder's character isn't too bratty. For the most part, he's pretty happy, and only cries when necessary. Even when he gets upset, I actually feel sorry for him (in other films with annoying kids, they seem to cry about stupid things, but that's another story), and I'm also impressed. One of the things that got Schroeder popular was the fact that he could cry convincingly, or just show any emotion convincingly. As said before, I can barely cry myself! John Voight is also great. He is quirky, fun, and just a very lovable character who does make mistakes, but at least he learns from them.Overall, The Champ (1979) really isn't as bad as most people say it is. I couldn't really find anything bad about it myself, but I'd give this movie a watch and see how far into it you can go without crying. I remember at the end of this movie, I rushed downstairs where my dad was, and I just hugged him, telling him "I'm so thankful that I still have you, Dad." (He was confused as to what was going on). But enough of that, go see The Champ today! It does not disappoint!

PandoraProductions4 The Champ is by far the saddest film I have ever seen. If you want to cry your eyes out, this is the film for you. It follows the story of Billy Flynn (Jon Voight) , an ex-boxer who is struggling to make a life for himself and his young son (Ricky Schroder) . Billy is very well played by Voight; he has just the right mix of tough guy and loving father.Faye Dunaway and Jack Warden both do a good job in their roles as well, but Ricky Schroder steals the show, in one of the finest performances from a child actor ever. The last 10 minutes of the film are guaranteed to make even the most hardened people weep. The director of the film, Franco Zeffirelli, is known for his film adaptations of Shakespeare plays, and indeed this film feels like it would make a good play. With a charming score by Dave Grusin, and some beautiful cinematography, it's a wonder how more people haven't seen this film. I recommend it to anyone willing to bring a set of Kleenex along!

disdressed12 this remake of the 1931 film of the same name,is pretty darn impressive.just like the original film is all about the love a father has for his son,and the son has for his father.Jon Voigt plays the father,a washed up former champion boxer,now an alcoholic and gambler.he also happen to be a father to an eight year boy,played by Ricky Schroder.in the original film,nine year old Jackie Cooper played the son and stole the show.the same thing happens here.Eight year old Ricky Schroder owns the film.the only complaint i have about this film,and it's minor one,is that it's maybe a bit too long.other than,i prefer it to the original.the ending packs a real wallop.for me,The Champ is an 8/10