Category: Honors

“Rocky” All Time Favorite Again

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rocky

On July 26, 2009, Nathan Dominitz of Savanah Now.com posted his All Time Top Ten Favorite Sports Movies.  “Rocky” came in 3rd and here’s what he had to say:

3. Rocky (1976)

Hero: Boxer Robert “Rocky” Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)

Plot: Balboa, a palooka fighter/inept loanshark muscle, has few career options until heavyweight champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) needs a hand-picked tomato can for a Philadelphia bout. Enter the Italian Stallion to prove that underdogs, through earnest training and guts, can go toe-to-toe with superior talent, speed, experience and size. It’s often forgotten by politicians and the like adopting the underdog “Rocky” persona that he lost (by 15-round split decision) in the original. Oscars went to “Rocky” in 1977 for best picture and director.

Quotable: “Yo, Adrian!” “Cut me, Mick.” Anything uttered by Balboa’s crusty trainer, Mickey Goldmill.

Backstory: The story goes that Stallone, a broke actor/screenwriter, sold his screenplay for $350,000, contingent that he star as Balboa. He did, but made scale as the lead actor and nothing more for writing. Studio United Artists wanted a big name (Burt Reynolds? Robert Redford?) but was contractually stuck with Stallone. The rest, including numerous sequels, is cinematic history.

You can read the complete list by clicking here.

“Rocky” All-Time Favorite Again

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rocky

Larry Phillips of the Mansfield News-Journal.com posted his all-time favorite sports films.  “Rocky” came in third and here’s what he had to say:

3. Rocky (1976)

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire. Supposedly, Stallone was inspired to write this picture after watching a 1975 fight in Cleveland when Muhammad Ali struggled to put away Chuck Wepner. Rocky Balboa is the quintessential palooka, a southpaw with a Philly left hook as his only weapon against the world. The brilliance of this film, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, is captured in the final seconds. One has to listen closely to discover who won the big fight. Of course by that time we all know a winner isn’t judged by a scorecard.

You can read the full piece by clicking here.

“First Blood” Makes the List

Craig / / 2009, First Blood, Honors

Beliefnet.com lists “Ten Military Movies to Celebrate Memorial Day” and “First Blood” makes the cut.  Here’s what they had to say:

“First Blood” (1982): This movie featured no war footage and, in fact, was set entirely in a little Northwest town. But it told the tale of Vietnam vets after they came home and illustrated the unfairly rough journey so many of them had to face. And Sly Stallone was both believable and restrained as a war hero who won sympathy for a generation of those who lived his on-screen fate.

Click here to see the full list.

“Victory” for “Rocky”

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rocky, Victory

On April 17, 2009, The National Post listed their choices for the Top Ten Sports Movies of All Time. Any guesses who had two films make the list?  That’s right, Sly.  “Victory” came in at number 8 and “Rocky” was #1.  Here’s what they had to say about each film:

8. Victory!

Pele and Sylvester Stallone in the same movie? Count me in, though what I mostly remember about this is trying to watch it on HBO with my father as his snoring pretty much drowned out everything that either men said.

1. Rocky

His whole life was a million to one shot. This movie was so good that they tried making it a million more times. I heard Stallone wrote nearly 100 drafts of the original Rocky script. There’s a reason it one best picture, I guess.

You can read the who article by clicking here.

Another “Victory” Victory

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Victory

The DailyRecord.co.uk reports that “Victory” has again been voted the all time best football [aka soccer] movie.  Here’s what they had to say about the movie:

ESCAPE To Victory has been voted the best football movie of all time by film fans.

The star-studded World War II drama told the story of a team of allied prisoners of war forced to take on the German national squad in a showpiece propaganda match.

But they turn the tables by using the event to plot an escape bid.

The cast featured movie stars Michael Caine and Sylvester Stallone, alongside a host of football heroes, including Pele, Bobby Moore, Ossie Ardiles and Scotland’s own John Wark.

The 1981 movie topped a poll of more than 1000 members of DVD rental website LOVEFiLM.com to mark the cinema release today of Brian Clough biopic The Damned United.

You can read the full article here.

“Rocky” Essential Viewing

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rocky

Starting on March 7th, once a week, Alec Baldwin will join TCM’s Robert Osborne to introduce classic movies that every film buff should see.  The series is called “The Essentials.” On March 14th, the movie classic that will be shown is “Rocky” and here are some “fun facts” that the web site lists:

MARCH 14  Rocky (1976)
Inspired by the 1975 championship fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Weber, Sylvester Stallone wrote the Rocky screenplay.  It was the second highest-grossing film of 1977, behind Star Wars.  Robert Redford, James Caan and Burt Reynolds were considered for the role of “Rocky,” but Stallone refused to sell the rights to the film unless he was the lead.  Bette Midler was offered the role of “Adrian” but turned it down.

You can read the entire piece which includes a mini-interview with Alec Baldwin and the entire year’s listing of the classic movies that they’ll introduce simply by clicking here.

“Rocky” Honored Again

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rocky

Former Lightweight boxing champ, Sean O’Grady, was interviewed recently by Ring Sports.  When asked what is his favorite book or movie about boxing replied:

Sly Stallone did a wonderful job on the Rocky Movies. My favorite one is the first. He was terrific and did a great job presenting the struggles. The first Rocky had so much depth to it. Great!

Who can argue with the champ?  You can read the full interview here.

Rambo Honored

Craig / / 2009, Honors, Rambo

MTV plans to name the Top Ten Movie Tough Guys and Rambo is in the mix.  Here’s how they describe it:

The search for the Greatest Movie Badass of All Time is on! MTV News has asked accomplished filmmakers, actors and you, the audience, to vote for your favorites. Now we’ve tabulated the results and found our 10 finalists for the top spot. Who will reign supreme as the Greatest Badass of All Time? Find out on February 6 at 7:15 p.m. when MTV announces the winner live at New York’s Comic-Con and right here at MTV.com

Click here to read the full report.