F.I.S.T.
by Norman Jewison
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Actor: David Huffman, Melinda Dillon, Peter Boyle, Rod Steiger, Sylvester StalloneDirector: Norman Jewison
Brand: Sony
Writer: Sylvester Stallone
Cinematographer: László Kovács
Producer: Norman Jewison
Editor: Graeme Clifford
Producer: Gene Corman
Producer: Patrick J. Palmer
Writer: Joe Eszterhas
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 145 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-13
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
DVD Reviews of F.I.S.T.
DVD Review: Stallone's first take at anti-hero
Summary: 3 Stars
F.I.S.T. scriptwriter Joe Ezsterhas recalled the explosive collaboration with his "co-writer" Sylvester Stallone in his autobiography published last year. Robert De Niro, still considered to be the best actor of his generation and at the top of his creative peak shortly after his Oscar-nominated performance in Taxi Driver (1976), was originally asked by director Norman Jewison to take on the blue-collar anti-hero. But De Niro could not make up his mind and by the time he finally agreed, it was too late - another Italian-American upcoming star already agreed to make Johnny Kovac his first project after the roaring Oscar success of Rocky (1976).
Jewison happily agreed to Stallone's request at rewriting Ezsterhas's script - after all, Stallone just received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Rocky (as well as a Best Actor nomination, competing with the likes of De Niro). But Ezsterhas, who spent several years researching for his account of the tragedy of the union movement, was less happy that Stallone would also receive a writing credit - the only thing that Stallone did was to shorten Ezsterhas' uneconomically (from a Hollywood feature perspective) long script.
The production of F.I.S.T. (1978) was characterized by a growing confrontation between Stallone and both the director and ("real") writer of the film. Jewison bought Ezsterhas's view of Johnny Kovac (loosely modeled on Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa) as a corrupted leader destroyed by his dealings with the mafia. Stallone, however, preferred a more Rocky-esque view of Kovac, more along the lines of trade union icon Walter Reuther than the thuggish Hoffa.
Stallone was very unhappy with the end result and refused to do any promotional work for F.I.S.T. Jewison filmed a number of alternative endings and, after audiences at a pre-screening session reacted indifferently to the various endings, Jewison decided to end the movie as he originally planned (before Stallone's botched attempt to interfere with Jewison's plans). Let us not spoil the movie except to say that this was a very un-Stallone-ish ending. Compare this ending to the original ending of First Blood (1982), now available for the first time on the Ultimate Edition DVD released last year. If we compare the ending of the original Get Carter (1971) and the Stallone version released in 2000, we see that, as in the case of First Blood (based on David Morrell's 1972 novel) Stallone's heroic conception of what is essentially a 1970s anti-hero won the day.
Despite the negative critical reception at the time of F.I.S.T.'s release, critics today will agree that this was one of Stallone's best performances in which he (despite the Rambo-esque aggressiveness) actually gave a fairly credible dramatic performance of blue-collar vulnerability along the lines of Rocky and Copland (1997). At the time of Rocky, Stallone was compared with the likes of De Niro and in Copland Stallone actually plays alongside De Niro - but their portrayal of anti-heroes were polar opposites. Notice the difference between boxing champions Rocky Balboa and Jake La Motta of Raging Bull (1980), between disturbed, vengeful Vietnam vets John Rambo (as portrayed in the sequels) and Travis Bickle of Taxi Driver - and between Johnny Kovac and Noodles (gangster involved in trade union corruption) of Once Upon A Time in the West (1984).
Description of F.I.S.T.
Sylvester Stallone stars in this hard-hitting, boldly ambitious drama that powerfully reveals a significant slice of American history. As union leader Johnny Kovak, Stallone's performance confirmed his stature as one of Hollywood's hottest stars. Closely paralleling history, the film follows the rise and fall of Kovak, from his beginnings as an idealistic blue-collar worker to his final position as head of one of the country's most powerful unions: the Federation of Inter-State Truckers. But there are no unscarred heroes in this world. To achieve his dream of justice for the working man, Kovak must accept the muscle of organized crime. Ultimately, F.I.S.T. is a story of idealism corrupted and betrayed. Oscar® winner Rod Steiger (1967 Best Actor, In the Heat of the Night), Peter Boyle and Brian Dennehy are featured in the fine supporting cast. Directed by Norman Jewison, with Laszlo Kovac's darkly moody cinematography and a heroic score by Rocky composer Bill Conti, F.I.S.T. is "a particularly American kind of epic" (Vincent Canby, The New York Times).Bestsellers in DVD
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