10 years before the debut of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1979, Bill Viola and Frank Caliguri dreamed up a contest pitting barroom bigmouths against wrestlers, martial artists, boxers, bouncers and brawlers, billed as no-holds-barred new type of competitive fighting. When the fights succeeded beyond their wildest expectations, they were swept up in a chain of events that ended in the first mixed-martial arts ban in the nation. “Tough Guys” chronicles the inception of Caliguri and Viola’s first bouts and the colorful, crazy cast of fighters who made them a hit as well as the politicians who brought it all crashing down. The film brings to life a moment when the national martial arts craze was building to a crescendo as the economies of Pennsylvania steel towns were plummeting to levels of unemployment never seen, breeding desperate men looking for a chance to prove their worth and make some money in the ring.
Directed by Henry Roosevelt, W.B. Zullo
Your score–
Not scoredVideos
1 clips
TrailerTOUGH GUYS | September 15 on SHOWTIME
Images
Cast
Related
My Mom Jayne
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Beyond Infinity: Buzz and the Journey to Lightyear
Heart of a Dog
Why We Fight: Prelude to War
Looking for Richard
Being James Bond
I Am Ali
Naqoyqatsi
Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red
Woody Allen: A Documentary
For the Love of Spock
I Am Heath Ledger
Pumping Iron
Necessary Evil: Super-Villains of DC Comics
O.J.: Made in America