Category: Rocky Balboa

Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

Craig / / 2013, Cliffhanger, Cobra, Cop Land, Demolition Man, Get Carter, John Rambo, Judge Dredd, Nighthawks, Rambo, Rambo 2, Rambo 3, Rhinestone, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky 6, Rocky Balboa, Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot

On February 1, 2013, WhatCulture! posted Sylvester Stallone: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked.

  • According to WhatCulture! 5 that were Awesome: Rambo [First Blood and sequels], John Spartan [Demolition Man], Gabe Walker [Cliffhanger], Freddy Heflin [Cop Land], and Rocky Balboa [Rocky and sequels].
  • Their Choices for Not-So-Awesome: Judge Dredd [same name], Ray Quick [The Specialist], Marion Cobretti [Cobra], Jack Carter [Get Carter], and Joe Bomoski [Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!].

To Awesome I would delete Spartan and Walker to make room for Jack Carter and Deke Dasilva [Nighthawks].  To Not-So-Awesome I would delete Carter and add Nick from Rhinestone. – Craig

5 Essential Sylvester Stallone Films

Craig / / 2013, Cop Land, Expendables, First Blood, Get Carter, John Rambo, Nighthawks, Rambo, Rocky, Rocky Balboa

On January 30, 2013, AZCentral.com posted 5 Essential Sylvester Stallone Films.  Their choices [with embeded trailers]:

  1. Rocky
  2. First Blood
  3. Cop Land
  4. Rocky Balboa
  5. The Expendables
While it would be hard to argue with their list, I think I would pair Rocky/Rocky Balboa and First Blood / Rambo.  This would open up two slots and I’d add: Get Carter and Nighthawks. – Craig

Lady Gaga Gaga Over Rocky Balboa

Craig / / 2011, Celebs, Rocky, Rocky 3, Rocky Balboa

On May 23, 2011, Artist Direct posted an article titled titled “Lady Gaga Says Rocky Balboa is Her Dream Man.”  Gaga is quoted as saying…

  • “Rocky is my favorite movie – I love Rocky 3 because he gets his ass kicked in the first round and comes back.

Lady Gaga goes on to say…

  • “The Edge of Glory means a lot to me – it was written when my grandfather died. That song is about looking life in the eye and when you die saying ‘I won, I’m a champion’ like Rocky sprinting to the top of the staircase.”

You can read the entire article here.

 

Ranking the “Rocky” Movies

Craig / / 2011, Rocky, Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4, Rocky 5, Rocky Balboa

On February 9, 2011, ChicagoNow.com posted Ranking the Rocky Movies by Kyle Trompeter.  While I don’t agree with Kyle’s rankings, he does make a good case for each choice… and there is a surprise or two in his list.

And for the record, here is how I rank them:

1.  Rocky and Rocky Balboa.  {Perfect bookends to the series]
2.  Rocky III
3.  Rocky II [Depending on my mood sometimes I flip positions on II and IV]
4.  Rocky IV
5.  Rocky V [While many fans really dislike Rocky V, I am thankful that because of it we got Rocky Balboa]

– Craig

Welcome to Rockyland

Craig / / 2010, Demolition Man, Expendables, Rambo, Rocky 5, Rocky Balboa

On December 29, 2010, IFC News posted Matt Singer’s article, “Welcome to Rockyland: Sylvester Stallone’s Viagra Cinema.” In the piece Singer explores Sly’s resurgence to the top at an age when “action stars” have long since retired.  Here are some excerpts:

  • On July 6, 2011 Sylvester Stallone will turn 65 years old. At an age when most Americans are considering their Social Security benefits, Stallone’s career is the healthiest it’s been in decades.
  • His latest film, “The Expendables,” was the first he’s headlined to gross over $100 million in the U.S. since “Rocky IV” back in 1985. Ten years ago, Stallone’s career was dead and he was a joke. Now he’s the world’s leading manufacturer of viagra cinema, movies designed to showcase the aging male frame as it performs unnatural but remarkable physical feats.
  • What Stallone’s done is basically without precedent. All of his former rivals for action film supremacy have faded away or moved on; all of his predecessors turned to moodier and more reflective work by the time they were his age.

  • …the world of Stallone’s viagra cinema: a place of physical and moral decay, the Philadelphia of “Rocky Balboa,” the Burma of “Rambo,” or the corrupt fictional island of Vilena in “The Expendables.” The heroes Stallone plays in these films refuse to concede to the decay around them or bend to the physical limitations of their age. The world may decay; Sylvester Stallone does not.
  • Given Stallone’s age, and the fact that he surrounded himself in “The Expendables” with fresh action stars like Statham and Terry Crews, it seemed reasonable to assume that he was making the film as a symbolic passing of the torch; that it would be about what it’s like to realize you’re not faster than light anymore. Nope. Ross is correct about his skills… “The Expendables” isn’t about making way for a new generation. It’s about putting that new generation in their place and showing them how it’s done. Casting Stallone’s old contemporaries like Dolph Lundgren and Mickey Rourke was good for some chuckles; it was also good for showing how good Stallone looks in comparison to them.
  • In “Rocky V,” when Rocky was forced into retirement (a first time), his constant refrain was “I didn’t hear no bell!” signifying that his life is not over and that he continues to endure. Twenty years later, Stallone is still fighting, still refusing to hear the bell. The longer he refuses, the deeper he gets into Rockyland, the more strangely compelling his viagra cinema gets.

Singer has written an excellent piece and I highly recommend it to all SZoners. – Craig