Category: Honors

Top 10 Training Montages: Rocky Series Wins

Craig / / 2010, Honors, Rocky, Rocky 3, Rocky 4

When IGN.com decided to post their choices for The Top 10 Training Montages, you just knew that some from the Rocky series would make the cut.  I’m happy to say that Rocky, Rocky III and Rocky IV all made the top ten.  Both III and IV made the top five and IV came in at #1.  Here’s a bit of why…

10.  Rocky: The original and most iconic, Rocky demonstrated how powerful and popular a movie montage could be. Set to Bill Conti’s rousing ‘Gonna Fly Now’, the locals cheer on Rocky as he pounds the pavements of Philadelphia in preparation for his David vs. Goliath battle. The final shot of Rocky running up the 72 stone steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art became so culturally significant that it’s now a popular tourist destination, was re-named ‘Rocky Steps”‘ and has a bronze statue of Stallone by sculptor A. Thomas Schomberg at the foot of the building.

05.  Rocky III: It’s a given that any scene set to ‘Gonna Fly Now’ will be thoroughly enjoyable and writer/director/star Sylvester Stallone knew better than to tinker with greatness. The music may be the same but everything else is different; old foe Apollo Creed is now helping Rocky train, the ‘Rocky Steps’ have been replaced with a beach and the cheering children have been swapped for homoerotic slow-mo shots of Rocky and Apollo’s bulging thighs.

01.  Rocky IV: Rocky may have inspired the movie montage as we know it, but it’s Rocky IV’s fantastically ludicrous four-minute training sequence that gets the fan vote every time. With John Cafferty’s synth-tastic ‘Hearts On Fire’ blasting in the background, Rocky and his opponent Ivan Drago’s hardcore training sessions overlap throughout, allowing the audience to judge which is the most ridiculous. Whilst Rocky crumples photos of his opponent, lifts the weight of three people and does sit ups at an impossible angle, Drago trains the old fashioned way, with injections, a bank of hi-tech computers, and Brigitte Nielsen. It also has the distinction of the greatest end to a montage, with Rocky’s triumphant sprint up a mountain followed by a primal scream that says he’s ready to do battle. Endlessly watchable and ripped off by everyone from Family Guy to fans on YouTube, Rocky IV dealt a knock-out blow to the competition and remains the montage champ.

To see the full list, simply click here.

Sly & Dolph Receive Awards

Craig / / 2010, Celebs, Expendables, Honors, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky 6, Rocky Balboa

From Yahoo News!

Actors Sylvester Stallone (L) and Dolph Lundgren receive an award from the Guinness Book of World Records for creating the most successful sports franchise in film history with their movie “Rocky” during a news conference for the upcoming Lionsgate motion picture “The Expendables” at Comic Con in San Diego, California July 22, 2010.

REUTERS/Mike Blake

Rocky Balboa IS the American Spirit

Craig / / 2010, Honors, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky 6, Rocky Balboa

In honor of Independence Day, Cinema Blend posted their choices for the Ten Movie Heroes Who Make Us Proud to be Americans.  Making the list were:

  • Scarlett (Gone with the Wind) O’Hara
  • President James (Air Force One) Marshall
  • Captain John H. (Saving Private Ryan) Miller
  • John (Die Hard series) McClane
  • Atticus (To Kill a Mockingbird) Finch
  • Jason (The Bourne trilogy) Bourne
  • Will (High Noon) Kane
  • Sarah (Terminator series) Connor
  • Bryan (Taken) Mills
  • Rocky (Rocky series) Balboa

Here’s some of what they had to say about Rocky…

Everyone loves an underdog, and that’s the reason why Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa is such a great character

Balboa is a hero because of the inspiration he provides,

Rocky Balboa IS the American spirit.

Click here to read the full piece.

LA Times Covers Sly

Craig / / 2010, Honors

On June 24, 2010, Mark Olsen for the LA TImes Entertainment Section wrote an excellent piece about Sly’s event at the LA Film Festival.  Here are some highlights:

  • In conversation lasting a little over an hour that was engaging, freewheeling and candid, Stallone charmed the sold-out crowd…
  • …Stallone entered to the first of three standing ovations he would receive through the night.
  • …the night was squarely on the bigger arc of Stallone’s stardom, moving from the dual-edge of optimism and pessimism represented by Rocky and Rambo to other characters of his career.
  • A brief question-and-answer period with the audience simply underscored how meaningful a figure like Stallone — so easy for some cinephiles to ridicule or dismiss — is to his faithful fans.
  • At the end of the evening, LAFF Director Rebecca Yeldham presented Stallone with a small statuette honoring him as a special guest of the festival. “I don’t do this very often,” Stallone said, accepting the award. He then addressed the audience directly: “No man is an island. I’ve realized as long as I’m in touch with people like you then I can always be able to write stories about people like you. So I want to thank you very much, because as much as you got from me, I got from you.”

To read the full piece click here.

“Rocky” Rated Top Film Franchise

Craig / / 2010, Honors, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky 6, Rocky Balboa

On June 22, 2010, We Are Movie Geeks.com posted their selections for the Top Ten Film Franchises.  Back to the Future; Planet of the Apes; Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter; Rocky; Alien(s); Lord of the Rings; James Bond; The Godfather and Star Wars all made the list. Here’s some of what they had to say about the Rocky series:

…you cannot dismiss the genius of the character of Rocky Balboa.

Rocky was nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Screenplay that Stallone wrote, and won 3, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Rocky stole the heart of America and reminded us why we should always root for the underdog.

You can read the entire post by clicking here.