A “masterpiece” biopic starring Robert De Niro is streaming for free in the UK. Raging Bull (1980) is a biographical sports drama film adapted from the memoir of world champion boxer Jake LaMotta.

De Niro stars as Lamotta, whose “violence and determination led him to the very top inside the ring but destroyed his relationships outside it”, the BBC‘s synopsis reads. The cast of the film, which was directed by long-time De Niro collaborator Martin Scorsese, also includes Joe Pesci as Jake’s younger brother and one-time manager, and Cathy Moriarty as Jake’s long-suffering wife Vickie. The film won two Oscars, including the Best Actor gong for De Niro, Best Editing for Thelma Schoonmaker and is held up as an all-time classic.

A post on film blog Taste of Cinema hailed it as the “greatest biopic of all time”, praising its performances and “surrealist” boxing scenes.

Fans have taken to IMDb to shower the film with praise, with one calling it a “masterpiece” as they lauded Scorsese’s direction. “The fight scenes are famous for their brutal realism and it’s easy to see why,” they wrote.

“He puts you right in the ring with the fighters and you cant help but admire their technical brilliance. However, the most stunning aspect of all is Thelma Schoonmaker’s editing.

“It’s some of the best editing I’ve ever seen especially during the fight scenes where it’s positively breathtaking.”

A second said: “Besides the legendary performance of Robert De Niro, there are many things in this film that will remain in my heart forever: the splendid black & white, the contrast between the slow moving scenes and the frenetic ones, the choice of the music and the sense of loss which entangles the whole movie.”

A third said the fight scenes “are the most brutal that I have ever seen on film even though theres only like 12 minutes of them and the editing is simply brilliant”.

“It should have earned Scorsese a best director Oscar but at least they had enough sense to award de Niro the best actor Oscar,” they said, adding: “I’ll come back to this film forever.”

A fourth, who gave the film a 10/10, said: “Terrific performances by the leads, particularly De Niro and Joe Pesci. Overall this is rightfully one of the greatest films ever made!”

The film has a 15 certificate and contains strong violence, domestic abuse, sex references, and very strong language – so viewer discretion is advised.

Raging Bull is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.