Watch The Champ For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

Best movie ever!

Absolutely the worst movie.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

After just recently viewing this 1979 film "The Champ", it has a little bit in common with three more contemporary films:-Million Dollar Baby (for the gritty, real-world perspective that director Franco Zeffirelli brings to the movie)-Rocky (for the underdog story)-Over The Top (for the father/son relationship and custody battle)For a basic plot summary, "The Champ" tells the story of Billy (Jon Voight) and his son TJ (Ricky Schroder). Though Billy is adored by the best son a father could ever want in TJ, Billy is also a compulsive gambler and drinker, thus not being able to provide the best environment for the young boy. When the boy's mother (Faye Dunaway) comes back into the picture, Billy (once a professional boxer) decides to step back into the ring again to try and make a few more big paydays to take care of his beloved boy.There are a few things that this film doesn't quite nail, but they are so far overshadowed by what it does right:-The acting is terrific. Schroder turns in perhaps the greatest child-star performance of all-time, while Voight and Dunaway also turn in dramatic and emotional roles.-The direction of Zeffirelli is, much like a modern-day Clint Eastwood, very realistic and down- to-earth. Much like life, there are shades of grey thrown into every decision the main characters do or do not make. It isn't just a wild soap opera with easily distinguished bad guys and heroes.-This film also pulls at the male heartstrings (yes, they do exist!) like almost no other. The themes of the father/son relationship and Billy's enduring struggle with gambling/alcohol, all eventually summed up in a sporting-atmosphere that men can relate to, create a perfect storm of male emotion that is difficult to not get overwhelmed by. If you don't shed a tear when the credits roll, you'll have to question whether you are alive at all.Overall, this is one of the better dramas you will ever watch. The overall screenplay could have been a bit tighter, but the emotional scenes more than make up for those shortcomings. Make sure to watch with the Kleenex box by the couch. As clichéd as that seems, for this film it's just the truth.

This is a remake of the classic Wallace Berry original from 1931, it was well made and is a more modern uptake of the original. The theme and plot of this movie is timeless, it transcends eras and is as relevant today as it was in 1931! This is a "must see", I also recommend you find the time to watch the 1931 original, BOTH are excellent watches and well worth the time. I sometimes wish Holleywood would get back to movies like these, they are always worth the price of admission and are good for the heart. We can only hope! This will be a great movie to view with the whole family, just put on the pop corn, fill your glass with your favorite beverage and prepare to be completely entertained! Your children will remember this one!

Details are a little vague (I saw this back in 1979) but here's what I remember: Story about an ex-boxer (Jon Voight) who's bringing up his son (Ricky Schroder) alone when his wife (Fay Dunaway) left them. Then she returns and wants her son back. She's rich now. Voight has to become a boxer again to provide for his kid...but it might kill him. OK--it's well acted (all three leads are great) and well-done but man is it SYRUPY! The movie is just so cloying and sweet that I started to get annoyed watching it. Also the story is old and has been done many times before. You know how it's going to end. And yeah--I cried at the end but how could you not? This movie went out of its way to wring tears from the audience. I don't mind tearjerkers but this one is so openly trying to make you cry that it gets ridiculous. When a movie starts forcing reactions from its audience that's not good. This gets a 3 only for the actors and a well-done production.

A young Rick Schroder makes his cute-as-all-get-out film debut in this 1979 tearjerker from director Franco Zeffirelli. Jon Voight plays Billy Flynn, a former champion boxer now given to drinking, gambling, and raising his son T.J. (Schroder, billed here as Ricky) as best he can. The ups and downs of the devoted codependent pair might be enough movie on their own, but soon enough Annie (Faye Dunaway) shows up and displays a strangely protective interest in T.J. Though the plot jumps around too much to quite hold together, The Champ is certainly affecting, and all three leads take the film so earnestly that somehow it works. Voight is believable both as a boxer and as a well-intentioned screwup of a dad, and Schroder is a fine young actor (and irresistibly adorable). Special DVD features include audio commentary from Jon Voight and Rick Schroder and the documentary Behind the Scenes with the Champ.