ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Patience Watson One of those movie experiences that is so good it makes you realize you've been grading everything else on a curve.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Edgar Allan Pooh . . . as it's a gladiator sport pairing people whose sole intent it to beat each other's brains out. Now, if we live in a World in which diminished Brain Power were a Virtue, boxing would actually make sense. But a recent survey conducted by the Ring Physicians Group (or RPG) discovered that the average pugilist lost one IQ point per fight. Since 40 bouts constitutes a typical ring career on the ropes, and 121.7 is the median Intelligence Quotient of boxing rookies, "lucky" boxers retire with an IQ in the 80 to 83 range. (Unlucky boxers die in the Ring.) This sort of mental deterioration not only bans them from driving in 18 states, but it also more than doubles the time they must spend to solve a crossword puzzle. (Though the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that most retired boxers are not eligible for the Death Penalty due to their diminished faculties, many of them might be better off taking up NFL football, as Jury Nullification exempts the NFL's Best and Brightest killers from ever facing the Needle.) Bugs Bunny skates around all of these issues during RABBIT PUNCH, before he tires of such a tawdry exercise and literally cuts this cartoon short.

TheLittleSongbird Rabbit Punch reminded me very much of Bunny Hugged, except I think Rabbit Punch is better, the pacing is more secure here for one thing. The story may be nothing special, but what does compensate are some wonderful, colourful animation and a beautifully orchestrated music score. What also added to the sense of fun was some nice witty dialogue and clever visual gags. Not to mention a great performance from Bugs, voiced as ever with real exuberance by the one and only Mel Blanc, who immortalised these great cartoons and characters that shaped my childhood, and for that I am very grateful. Overall, a very good Bugs Bunny cartoon, that is definitely worth watching. 8/10 Bethany Cox

slymusic Written by Tedd Pierce & Michael Maltese, and directed by Chuck Jones, "Rabbit Punch" is a fine Bugs Bunny cartoon that teams him up with a familiar burly, mean-looking prizefighter who I believe was later known as the Crusher. This film certainly has the look and the boisterous atmosphere of an outdoor nocturnal prizefight, where plenty of funny gags abound as Bugs and his gargantuan opponent are not above a fair amount of subterfuge in order to win the match.There are a couple of scenes in "Rabbit Punch" that I think especially stand out. After Bugs dares to boo the multi-muscular palooka, Bugs makes a couple of hilarious facial expressions as he gets hoisted out of his hole, literally thrown into a dressing room and flying out wearing a pair of pink boxing trunks. While Bugs has a struggle with one of his challenger's legs, the big galoot peacefully lies onto the canvas playing solitaire, to the familiar accompaniment of Mendelssohn's Spring Song.As with all of Bugs' larger-than-life nemeses, in "Rabbit Punch" he takes care of his opponent not with his brawn, but with his brain. Problem is, after 110 rounds, I'm still unsure as to who the winner is.

paulo20 Avid fans may note the resemblance of this toon's plot to Freleng's Baseball Bunny (1946); i.e. Bugs berates big, hulking athlete(s) for playing dirty and boasts that he can defeat said athlete(s) and athlete(s) takes him up on it (actually, lots of toons borrowed plots and themes from other toons, but whatever). Chuck Jones was a big fan of Friz Freleng and didn't think he was in the same league (though I myself would beg to differ). I see this cartoon as either an attempt to place himself in that league or a tribute to recognize Freleng's ability. Whatever it is, it's a great cartoon. Those toons where Bugs defeats his adversary but not without taking a few lumps himself tend to be the best Bugs cartoons. This one's one of my favorites.