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Best movie of this year hands down!

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to F.I.S.T.How do you follow up a movie like 'Rocky'?? A worldwide smash and winner of Best Picture at the Academy Awards.Stallone chose this Norman Jewsion produced and directed drama. Plot In A Paragraph: plays Johnny Kovak (Stallone) a Cleveland warehouse worker who becomes involved in the labor union leadership of the "Federation of Inter-State Truckers". He finds that he must sacrifice his principles and ideals as he moves up through the union and attempts to expand its influence. Stallone gives possibly one of the most under rated performances of his career, and is brilliant here. It's often forgotten that long before he became the action hero legend that people know today, Stallone was a very talented young actor. This movie gives a glimpse of what he could have been had he not gone down the path that he did!! It's a real hidden gem in his filmography, and I recommend everyone to check it out.Whilst Stallone carries most of the movie on his broad shoulders, he is ably backed up by Rod Steiger, David Huffman, Melinda Dillon, Peter Boyle, Kevin Conway, Cassie Yates, Richard Herd and Tony Lo Bianco. It could use a bit of trimming here and there to tighten it up, as it drags here and there and feels like it runs a bit longer than its two hours running time. But for me, this is in Sly's Top 10 non franchise movies/performances.This movie would be the first time Stallone meddled with things behind the scenes. He rewrote Joe Eszterhas' script, saying "Joe Eszterhas wrote a script that was nearly 400 pages and was more of a novel than a shootable screenplay. A great deal of work was done by myself, along with Norman Jewison, to hammer it into shape, but Joe had conceived a great concept."

This is in my opinion an almost forgotten kind of film which is itself is marvelous and unique in a way that for the first time it really showed the metal of Stallone 's inside acting talent which was later faded due to his personification of roles like Rambo , Rocky etc. Some how Sylvester Stallone really managed to throw some power performance in his serious complex character of this movie. I with very difficulty found this film , but before watching an old clip at the you tube i truly understood that it would be the movie containing Stallone s original acting capabilities. Now i wonder why Stallone did nt get any academy award nomination for his performance. Those who are his critics now must realize that Sly always had capabilities of being an actor , the thing happened was being labeled and stamped as a pure action hero after appearing in full action flicks like Rambo ,demolition man ,tango & cash.

I was never impressed with Sylvester Stallone, or his movies.The Italian Stallion may have made a splash by showing off his pectorals and oversize guns in the ROCKY and RAMBO flicks... and he got some underground success in a few youthful, starving actor porno flicks. But the ability to impress teenage boys by making war, or the movie house Trenchcoat Brigade by making love, doesn't equal acting ability. ANY young Hollywood wannabe can do it.F*I*S*T was a sleeper out there... a film that was released without the big promotion treatment that Hollywood specializes in for turning loser films into box office winners. I'd never heard of it until a friend showed me a VHS tape of the film.He showed it to me because he knows that I'm a fan of Norman Jewison's work. Norman is a piece of the OLD Hollywood... he'd have been right at home in the old Warner Brothers stable. He's a man who makes movies that have a social conscience; films that are ABOUT SOMETHING.In my estimation, if you're a young actor you can't miss when Jewison is directing. He has a gift for getting the VERY BEST out of any actor who works for him. So it was with Stallone.Sylvester Stallone emerged as an actor with PRODIGIOUS acting chops in the first 30 minutes of F*I*S*T... Labor organizer Johnny Kovak came through the door of a Union meeting, pushing the wheelchair of Joe Harper, a disabled trucker.In a simple, emotional speech, Kovak laid it all on the line in no uncertain terms. Since he couldn't drive, the trucking company didn't care about Joe Harper anymore, but that's OK... Joe is a member of the Federation of Inter State Truckers, and FIST takes care of it's own. The Union will take care of his medical bills, and provide for the family Joe had worked so hard to support.The pure, gut wrenching emotion, outrage and sincerity that Stallone poured into that scene announced to the world that Sylvester Stallone had ARRIVED as an actor to be taken seriously.The part of rough cut, crude Johnny Kovak was a part that was made for Stallone; it fit him like a glove. He could project incredible strength by the soft, laid back delivery of a single line.In his first labor negotiations... "We're gonna cut 'em off, Pal. You know that?". The startled management negotiator laughingly responded "What did you say?". "Your BALLS, Pal. We're gonna cut 'em off and shut you DOWN!" Kovak replied. "You're suffering from small minds and fat asses!". Johnny Kovak was a smoldering volcano, ready to explode.Backed up by a powerful supporting cast, Stallone charged through the film like a bull.A Jewison project always seems to attract the best acting talent around... in this case, Peter Boyle and Rod Steiger. Stallone's talent stood side by side with them; he showed that he was able to match them, taking as well as giving. The scenes where they're together, especially the Congressional hearings where he clashed head to head with Steiger, are titanic.F*I*S*T is a film that's DEFINITELY worth the time.

This film proved that Sly could really act in lead dramatic role. What has happened since have been sub-par performances (although big grossing films) from Sly. This film is about Johnny Kovak, a blue collar factory worker during the 1930's who rises to the top of a national union called F.I.S.T or Federation of Interstate Truckers. It was said it was loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa who like johnny's character vanishes at the end of the film. This film really captured what it must have been like in the days before there was such a thing as worker safety, and that sticking your neck out to support a union would have gotten you killed. No one could have played this part better than Sly with his street smart looks, and tough guy persona which works in this film and does not lead to cheesy moments as his other films did. In this film it was about survival. Also what is interesting about this film is how it shows how power corrupts even the best of people when they are giving too much of it. Johnny Kovak rose to the top and gained a lot of power but in the process made enemies with the men who helped get him there. In any case if you are familiar with the story of Jimmy Hoffa you will understand when you see this film.Too bad Sly never stayed with these types of roles....he really could act...