Sly and Mr. Perfect

Craig / / 2001, Celebs, Training

“Mr. Perfect” is the title of an article [by Joyce Maynard] about celebrity trainer BILL PHILLIPS. It appears in the August 6, 2001 issue of US Weekly. BILL PHILLIPS wrote the bestseller Body for Life and is a personal trainer who has worked with SYLVESTER STALLONE, MEL GIBSON, CLINT EASTWOODand others. SLY is pictured with BILL PHILLIPS and is quoted as saying, “BILL is at the top of his field… BILL is a fantastically gifted communicator who has a devout passion when it comes to training and creating a mindset.”

– Craig Zablo 
[July 28, 2001]

Sylvester Stallone Fights for a Parking Garage

Craig / / 2001, Celebs, Get Carter

by Tony Eufinger ABCNEWS.com

SYLVESTER STALLONE is on a new mission: to save a British parking garage from impending disaster.

Although a far cry from an action-packed Rambo plot, The Mirror reports the Hollywood tough guy is keen to stop the Gateshead Borough Council from tearing down the garage because it’s the setting for one of Britain’s cult classic gangster films.

The scene from the original “Get Carter,” released in 1971, features British actor MICHAEL CAINE tossing a local bad guy off the five-story building to his death. According to the tabloid, fans still flock to the site for photographs.

But not everyone wants STALLONE to come to the rescue.

“Instead of trying to save it he should put on his Rambo gear and blast it into oblivion,” suggests one observer who thinks the garage is an eyesore.

STALLONE starred in an American remake of “Get Carter” last year.

– Craig Zablo 
[July 28, 2001]

Rambo IV News Everywhere

Craig / / Uncategorized

Today CNN, Dark Horizons, and the Internet Movie Database have all reported that SLY STALLONE will be back in “Rambo IV.”

According to the reports Miramax‘s Bob Weinstein has stated that a budget of around $50 million is expected to tell the story of Rambo taking on drug dealers in a U.S. government building. The script will be re-worked this summer and SLY will return to play John Rambo.

Before we all get too excited, we should consider the following:

#1. SLY has not announced his return for the fourth film.

#2. Garth at Dark Horizons is basing his report on tips sent in by two fans who read it at IMDB.com.

#3. The IMDB item quotes Bob Weinstein. Weinstein was also quoted earlier this year about the same thing — that the script was being reworked and that it was HOPED that SLY would return. Right after that announcement was made  SLY was quoted as saying he had no plans to return to Rambo.

I think that most likely the IMDB item was based on the earlier report, or that Mr. Weinstein is again hoping to get fans [and possibly SLY] interested in a fourth Rambo.

In other words…until I hear it from an official source, I’ll consider it to be simply a rumor.

best,

– Craig Zablo

“Driven” DVD Pre-Order

Craig / / 2001, Driven

The DRIVEN DVD will be released on Sept. 18th at the low MSRP price of $24.98. Pre-orders can be made |HERE| now at the low price of $18.74!

Extra features include:
• Commentary by director Renny Harlin
• Theatrical trailer(s)
• 2 Behind-the-scenes documentaries: The Making of Driven and Conquering Speed Through Live Action and Visual Effects
• Jo Dee Messina Burn music video
• Widescreen anamorphic format

-Craig Zablo (July 25, 2001)

ROCKY COLLECTOR FIGURES

Craig / / 2001, Rocky

Most Sly Stallone fans are aware that there is going to be some new Rambo collector figures released later this year.

Many fans have wished for some new Rocky collector figures to be released as well.  Perhaps our wait is coming to and end!  Click [HERE – Link no longer works.] to see what could be very cool!  Thanks to SZ friend “Magic” Gary  for the tip!  – Craig Zablo  (July 22, 2001)

Danish Interview with Sly

Craig / / 2001, Celebs, Driven

By: Jeremy Hart and Kim Kastrup Translated by Steen Ulrich

London [Ekstra Bladet]

“As Rocky I’ve had MUHAMMAD ALI and JOE FRAZIER as sparring partners, and that went well. But to race against a legend like MICHAEL SCHUMACHER, that can’t be fun,” says SYLVESTER STALLONE.

In his new movie “Driven”, he plays the tough race driver Joe Tanto in the special American kind of racing called Cart series. A race that looks like formula one, except that it’s often faster and driven in the so-called champ cars on specially built tracks all over the world.

SLY toyed with death as the hard hitting boxer Rocky Balboa and as the Viet Nam veteran John Rambo. And as Joe Tanto he flirts with death in the fast champ cars, that can drive as fast as 400 km/h, and where even the smallest mistake, can mean the difference between life and death.

“I practiced at the Derek Daly Academy racetrack in Las Vegas – I started out in smaller cars. It was really crazy. The fastest I’ve driven in a champ car, was 325 km/h,” SLY proudly said during the interview in London. “I was very nervous. And the heat is almost unbearable in a champ car from shear concentration and fear. But then your inner speed demon gets the better of you, and you push the car, as much as you can. I’ve probably raced off the track 50 times during practice and while shooting. But luckily I never got hurt,” says SLY, who during filming made his insurance people bite their nails furiously.

Death Race

“You can’t escape the fear, but you can learn how to use it, before it eats you up. Unlike other sports, you can meet other cart racers at breakfast, and then only hope you see them again at lunch,” said STALLONE, who is the writer, producer and the star of “Driven” which opens in Danish theaters on July 13th
.
The movie is about the young race driver Jimmy Bly [KIP PARDUE]. His ambitious brother De Mille [ROBERT SEAB LEONARD] has pushed him so hard the results are starting to fail. Jimmy’s boss, Carl Henry [BURT REYNOLDS] hires ex-cart star Joe Tanto [STALLONE] to get Jimmy‘s tactics back in order. Tanto was once on top, but a terrible accident put a stop to his career, and now Tanto has to once and for all make up with all the demons from his past, to help Jimmy. Of course there’s also a love story between Joe Tanto and journalist Lucretia [STACY EDWARDS].

“Driven” was filmed over a period of eight months during nine real races in five different countries. The plot and the characters blend in perfectly with the real intensity on the tracks, and hundreds of thousands of real cart fans serve as very realistic extras. In the movie there are also real race drivers like Dario Franchitty and Juan Pablo Montoya.

No to Formula One

SYLVESTER STALLONE, who has been a huge fan of racing for many years, originally set out to do a movie based on Formula One. And he spent two years studying various races and negotiating with Formula One king Bernie Ecclestone. “Bernie was actually interested, but he demanded these unrealistic amounts of money for the rights, even though I told him, that in Hollywood, you usually only pay 1 million dollars for the rights to for example a best seller book.”

He doesn’t regret though, that it ended up being champ car races, because on the screen it works much better. In a 180 minute champ car race the lead can change 124 times between 10 different drivers, whereas in Formula One it’s usually much less. STALLONE says he hasn’t made a super realistic race movie. There are some very realistic scenes, but of course I’ve also taken some liberties to intensify the action. Just as it’s interesting to see King Kong running around New York, we also took two champ cars to Chicago, where they end up racing in the streets, explains STALLONE.

He thinks that there are three elements that add to the fascination of extreme racing: “First of all the driver is almost on his back while driving, only a few centimeters off the ground, while he’s doing almost 400 kilometers per hour. Then there’s the intense sound and the fact that you have 900 horsepower behind your back. And last, when you accelerate, and your vision is reduced to blurry shadows, your adrenalin kicks in and makes the drivers one with their cars.”

– Craig Zablo

SLY FEATURED IN VALLEY MAG

Craig / / 2001, Driven, Interview

Sly Stallone is on the cover and in the feature article of the June issue of Valley.  “In the Driver’s Seat with Sylvester Stallone” is the title of the interview by Bonnie Steele. Sly talks about Driven, racing, his career, advice to young actors, the 25th anniversary of Rocky, and Avenging Angelo and more.

This is not to be missed! Special thanks to SZoner Joe “Hummer” Tanto for the gratis copy! – Craig Zablo
(July 16, 2001)