F.I.S.T. (1978)

Wonderful Movie

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The acting in this movie is really good.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This is Stallone's first movie after "Rocky" . Obviously a tough act to follow. Sadly , this and "Paradise alley" didn't even came close to match the quality of John G. Avildsen sport drama. It doesn't mean however , that they are not worth watching , just for the fact to see Stallone in a dramatic role.FIST is a fictional biopic of a fictional organized labor leader very loosely based on the life of Jimmy Hoffa. F.I.S.T stands for the "Federation of Inter State Truckers". It tells a story about a struggling blue collar worker back in the 1930s of USA. Soon he becomes an organizer for Labour Unions. "FIST" shows his rise to power and fall from grace."FIST" ignores the communists part in creating the formation of the unions, which is mistake on the movie part. On the plus side it shows well how corruption infected big unions. It's sad story about working class betraying itself.Good performance by Stallone , however the rest of the cast is rather mediocre and doesn't leave impression. Watch out for Brian Dennehy (sheriff from "Rambo first blood").The screenplay written by Stallone and Joe Eszterhas ("Basic instinct") is not bad , if not slightly cliché and predictable . Bill Conti's music is nice , so is the photography by Laszlo Kovacs. The direction by Norman Jewison is solid.Good pseudo biography that towards the end runs out of steam and loses the clarity and effectiveness of the early sequences. It is still a nice little drama how noble causes can be sullied by ambition and hubris. It's sad that it was unappreciated back then and seems forgotten now. I give it 6/10.

F.I.S.T. is Sylvester Stallone's first film after gaining success and stardom in Rocky.In it,he plays Johnny Kovak, a Cleveland warehouse worker who becomes involved in the labor union leadership of the fictional "Federation of Inter-State Truckers" or F.I.S.T. He finds that he must sacrifice his principles as he moves up through the union and attempts to expand its influence. Among them is getting involved with the mob.It was loosely based on the Teamsters union and their former union president,Jimmy Hoffa.It was definitely an enjoyable and entertaining film as the viewer get to see Stallone play a different role that relies on his capability as an actor rather than an action star.He did well as a Kovak.Also,the film provides great insight on unions and how the mob gets involved with it through its detriment.This also is a signature films for unions and union members.As for the performances,the rest of the cast played their roles with conviction and director Norman Jewison was steady behind the camera.

One of the best Stallone films set in the 1930s in which gives a good performance as a worker who joins the Teamsters trade-union in a local factory and being accompanied by a fine supporting cast . It deals with a love between a man, a country, the people he led and the woman he loved . Johnny Kovak (Sylvester Stallone) is an employee who works his way up as organizer and leader of Federation Interstate Truckers . Meanwhile he falls in love and marries a worker (Melinda Dillon) . As he climbs higher and higher thanks his connection with the Mob (Tony LoBianco). As his methods become more corrupt and ultimately senator Madison (Rod Steiger ) begins a campaign to discover the truth about his allegedly greedy practices .This poignant film packs emotion , thrills , a love story political events and being quite entertaining though contains some ,predictable moments and cliché-ridden . The picture details biographic events about an Union leader , Jimmy Hoffa-lookalike, from his starts until his fall . Jewison cast some largely known actors as Sylvester Stallone , Melinda Dillon , Peter Boyle and a remarkable support cast as Richard Herd , Tony LoBianco , Peter Donat , Kevin Conway, Cassie Yates , Richard Herd and the veteran Henry Wilcoxon and several others . Stallone , also screenwriter along with Eszterhas creates an even more interesting character than Rocky Balboa . Atmospheric musical score including moving sounds by Bill Conti and appropriate cinematography by excellent cameraman Laszlo Kovacs.The motion picture is well produced and directed by Norman Jewison . He is a prestigious and veteran filmmaker, his greatest film is of course Jesus Christ Superstar . He directed successful movies as Fiddler on the roof , Agnes of God , Moonstruck , Thomas Crown and Cinncinati Kid . However , he also got some flops as Bogus, In country , Only you and Other's people money and his last picture titled The statement . He considers The Hurricane (1999) the last in a trilogy of racial bigotry movies he's realized, the first two being In the Heat of the Night (1967) and A Soldier's Story (1984). Rating : Good, worthwhile seeing for its epic moments and thought-provoking issues .

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.