Mr. T. With the feather earrings. And the furious eyeballs. Also the apparently bottomless checkbook – because he can fly about the country (and the world) to sit in the stands at Rocky’s various fights and glower menacingly.
A great villain. When he yells up at Adrian, “WOMAN! HEY! Woman!” There’s a time and place, Clubber, and this ain’t it.
Also, how ’bout Hulk Hogan in that beginning “fight”? HA!!! What I love about it is how he scowls and grunts and acts like a complete animal – throwing cops into the stands, punching Paulie to the ground, whirling Rocky around – holding him high above his head – behaving like a total savage.
Then after the fight – Rocky (who looks like a teeny little midget next to Hulk Hogan) says, “Hey … how ’bout gettin’ a Polaroid with me and my wife?”
And Hulk Hogan, in this articulate deep clear voice, says, “I’d be happy to.” Or some other urbane mannerly comment … totally different from his in-the-ring persona.
And let me talk about Adrian for a second – and her role in the whole “training montage in LA” sequence. Here’s the deal. To those who resent women in movies like this in general – you’re never gonna be happy. You’re also morons, and you have completely missed the point of the entire Rocky franchise, which is too bad. It’s not that Adrian is trying to kill the rally, or trying to domesticate him. It’s the total opposite, actually. She senses that Rocky’s heart isn’t in it. He doesn’t have “the eye of the tiger” (how many times does Apollo Creed say that in the film? It could be a good drinking game. You’d be wasted by the end.) And she doesn’t want to see Rocky be half a man, she doesn’t want to see him do ANYthing out of obligation. She doesn’t want to see him carve himself up into little slices … she wants him to be whole. She, who knows him better than anybody, just senses that he somehow isn’t engaged … he doesn’t want to win. And why fight if you don’t want to win? Her husband is a winner – but for the beginning of that sequence in LA he is not acting like a winner. Adrian, in that scene on the beach, has to pull out the boxing gloves of her own, and tell him to act like a champion, to change his attitude – or to NOT fight.
In my opinion – if you look at her role in that sequence and roll your eyes and think she’s being a wet blanket – then you’ve got some problems with women in general. You don’t like the female element to be near your sporting events at all (and I know guys like that – and female sports bloggers definitely are up against that kind of attitude – not from everyone, so please don’t take this personally if it doesn’t apply to you!!) – but most men have women in their lives. Most men are not single-minded ambitious machines – they have multiple concerns. Rocky’s got a wife. He considers what she has to say. he’s not gonna be like, “SCREW YOU, ADRIAN. I’M GONNA FIGHT NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY.” Can you imagine him saying that? It would be so out of character. Especially because he thinks he’s dumb, and she’s smart. She’s smart and, like he says in Rocky IV (which I also watched last night. Help. I have a sickness.) “Adrian always tells the truth.” Rocky is not just a boxer. He’s got other “roles” in his life – husband, father, all that stuff. He’s a man- a three-dimensional character.
So anyway, I really liked the scenes with Adrian watching Rocky train and seeing her think, “Something’s wrong. He doesn’t want to win.”
I love Clubber Lang. I love his crazy. I love how he punches out the photographers, and paces around like a tiger (eye of the tiger, eye of the tiger, eye of the tiger) in his locker room, snarling (literally!!) at the press. He is uncivilized. The shots of him running along the streets – are reminiscent of the shots in the first Rocky of Rocky running. They have a grit to them, they almost look like a documentary – the shot isn’t “set up”. It’s a long shot. Contrast that to Rocky’s ridiculous “training” in the Waldorf Astoria, or wherever he is. With an orchestra playing, as he punches the bag, interrupting himself to pose for pictures or sign autographs. It’s good story-telling. Clubber Lang is in gritty gyms with filthy floors, by himself, pushing himself. You can see how far Rocky has come from who he used to be.
And I think the fight itself is spectacular. Those guys are amazing together. It looks real. Don’t you think? There’s something exciting, to me, about watching actors who are also athletes – or have athletic ability – really doing something. You can tell that 90% of that up there is them. Or who knows – maybe 100 – not sure if there were any doubles … but that’s real work going on up there. The punches are fake, but the athletic ability is real. And, in my opinion, Stallone is set apart from other “action heroes” – at least in this franchise, where he is very human – and the action is real, as opposed to comic book style. He feels pain. He takes punches. He has … emotions … as he goes through the fight. You can tell. He gets scared. He gets cocky. He gets mad. It’s all going on. Think of other action star actors – and many of them could never get all that nuance in there. Especially when they are supposedly showing off their athletic prowess.
Oh, and I think my favorite dialogue in the movie is when Rocky, Adrian and Paulie are first walking through Apollo’s ratty ghetto boxing club in LA, and Paulie is freaking out. We don’t belong here … this is bullshit … this is a rat trap … we deserve better than this …. etc. At one point he says something vaguely aggressive towards Apollo and Apollo gets his back up a bit. Rocky, immaculate in his black suit, intervenes, gently, and says to Paulie, “Now don’t get mentally irregular.” Which just CRACKS ME UP. Then Rocky turns to Apollo and says, in the tone of a peacemaker, “It takes about 6 years to get to know him.” Apollo snaps, “I don’t got 6 years.” and walks away. But that whole part made me laugh. “Be patient. Wait 6 years. Paulie starts to grow on you after 6 years.” hahaha
I’ll write more but these are just my thoughts right now.
And Rocky IV is so damn campy and I still – STILL – love every second of it.
It’s ridiculous. I mean … Rocky chopping wood in Siberia? With a beard? HAHAHAHA It’s genius. And ludicrous. Dolph Lundgren’s dead Soviet eyes. “I vil break you.” I love that movie.
“mentally irregular” – hahahaha! I can hear that in my head right now. I have to watch these all again….hahahahahaha.
…after seeing Rocky III, did you ever wonder who Mike Tyson’s role model might be???
Jayne – I know! It’s such a funny line – he can feel Paulie getting nuts.
Sheila, have you heard Mr. T’s album???? It is AMAZING. Completely ridiculous, oddly catchy. It’s a morality album for pre-teens, with songs like (and I’m paraphrasing here, because it’s been a good decade since I’ve heard the album): “Be Nice To Your Mother,” “Don’t Talk To Strangers,” etc.
Oh, and “Rocky chopping wood in Siberia? With a beard?” SO FUNNY.
I love all the montages in the 4th Rocky movie because, in most movies, a montage is used to quickly propel the movie forward, but in the 4th Rocky movie, the non-montage scenes are used to propel the movie towards another montage. (Seriously, there are, like, 20 montages in Rocky 4! I love it.)
D – ha. I know! He has that tiny “cameo” in Rocky Balboa, member? – I mean, you just see him in the stands, briefly, with that crazy tattoo on his face.
Erik – HAHAHAHAHA I know – the montages are endless! The one where Rocky is driving around late at night, obviously troubled about the entire Soviet Union … hahahahahaha Meaningless montage.
And then training in Siberia – pulling Paulie in this little reindeer sled?? HAHAHA Lifting rocks up via pulley in the big barn.
It’s all so ridiculous. Oh and then you keep cutting away to the Russian training – with his dead eyes – and his steroids – and his cold blonde wife …
Genius!
And no – haven’t heard Mr. T’s album. I always thought it was great how different he was from that character. He’s so not like that in real life. hahahaha
I love the observation that he’s “obviously troubled about the entire Soviet Union.” HA. Yes! That is completely what he’s playing in that scene. I love it.
And the Gorbachev look-alike who plays the Premier. Well, it’s Gorby without the birth-mark.
Oh, and there’s also a moment when Rocky helps a Siberian peasant man with his snow-buried sleigh … it’s during the 10th montage of the movie … Seeing Rocky wrestle with this freakin’ sleigh is genius.
There IS no tomorrow!
THERE IS NO TOMORROW!
THERE IS NO TOMORROW!
Sorry. I’m better now.
Never apologize for something like that. :)
“I’M AFRAID, okay? Is that what you want to hear? You want to break me down? Fine! I’m afraid!”
“I must break you” – Drago
“Go for it” – Rocky
How ’bout Paulie and his robot girlfriend? haha
“He’s a wreckin’ machine; he’ll knock you into tommorrow” – Mick
BTW, is Burgess Meredith still alive?
You know what else always cracks me up? Brigette Neilsen was married to Sly, so in essence, Stallone not only beat up Ivan Drago in Siberia, he also stole Drago’s wife. BWAHAHAHAHA!
JFH – He died about 10 years ago. :( wasn’t he just great? so crotchety.
Nightfly – Ha!!! and now isn’t Brigitte Nielsen having some kind of soulmate kindred-spirit relationship with Flav a Flav? Have I made that up??
Also I had a little nostalgic moment seeing James Brown whoopin’ it up in Rocky IV.
Speaking of Brigette and Sly, have ya’ll seen the wonderfully awful Cobra.
Worst. Stalone. Movie. Ever. And that’s saying something when we’re comparing it to movies such as Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Over the Top
Cobra! Oh my God, it’s been years – but yeah, I saw it. Wonderfully awful indeed!
Anyone see Copland? I love that movie anyway – I own it – so I pulled it out and watched it this weekend. Great stuff from everybody – Ray Liotta is fantastic (big surprise) and I love Robert DeNiro’s part (“you bleeeew it!!”) – and Stallone as the shy half-deaf sheriff – really cool stuff. I love the movie.
Commentary track is great too – Jim Mangold, Stallone, and the producer – really cool stuff.
I didn’t see Cobra, but allow me to put in my two bits that Nighthawks actually wasn’t a half bad little movie. It was formulaic, sure, but professionally executed by all hands.
Burgess Meredith died right after they finished filming Grumpy Old Men 2, I think.
If you’ve never watched the outtakes of GOM2 and missed 80+ year old man rattle off a bunch of euphemisms for the sex act (He’s riding the skin boat to tuna town!), well, you’ve missed something.
“My prediction? Pain.”
I think Ray Liotta has been good in everything he’s been in, even if not everything he’s been in has been good.
After looking at Sly’s IMDb page, I might have to check out his uncredited appearances in Stayin’ Alive and Bananas.
I think he played a thug on the subway in Bananas, dorkafork. Been quite some little time since I saw it, though.
— didn’t Burgess get the Oscar for Rocky 1?
I just noticed this, Sheila. I feel like I’m to blame for getting you angry about the Adrian in LA thing. Perhaps I shouldn’t have brought up Bill Simmons, but that was just to contrast the impression he gives about Adrian to my impression when watching Rocky III.
Anyway, obviously I agree with you here. To me, the best thing she says is after he says, “But what if I lose?” She says something like (paraphrasing), “Then you lose. But I know you can live with that.” *That’s* what shows you that she knows and loves her husband. Losing is ok — hey, he lost in Rocky I. Not trying will destroy what makes him what he is. She weighs that against her personal fears for him and makes the hard but right choice.
I love Mr T — could anyone act that part better than he? He’s campy, sure, but he’s also articulate — the interview he gives right before the big fight is great. “No, I don’t hate Balboa.” He combines animal ferocity with intelligence. I found him a sympathetic character in some ways.
Forgive the long post — I could discuss movies I like forever.
DAW – oh no no – it wasn’t you!! You didn’t make me angry! Yes, you mentioned Simmons – but I’ve always been pissed at him for his view of women in movies like this.HA. No worries!! I just think he’s flat out WRONG in this case … (sometimes he’s right – and as you know I hate the “female as wet blanket” cliche – because it’s so often just lazy and … tiresome)
Especially when watching Rocky III – I was like: Hmmm, how on earth could anyone see her as a wet blanket here?
And totally agreed about Mr. T. I enjoy watching him so much. It’s funny to see him before he got famous and so notorious – but it’s all there, he was just waiting for the big break.
I pity the fool!
A small comment:
I could have done without Apollo and Rocky slo-mo frolicking in the surf.
But I just … the movies (except for the first and second one) are full of moments that are a bit cheesy or overdone … and to me, it just flat out does NOT matter.
“slo-mo frolicking in the surf”
Oh dear. I am sure some folks appreciated that, but I was not one of them.
PS No one has mentioned Stallone’s stellar performance in “Rhinestone” with Dolly Parton. I even had a pair of jeans from that movie in ninth grade, that I bought at Trader Fred’s.
PPS I am home from school sick today. That is why I am cimmenting at this time of day.Brrr it’s cold!
Trader Fred’s!!! hahahaha I love you.
Can you believe I’ve never seen Rocky IV?
DAW -really?? You have to! It’s completely implausible – but SO fun.