Name - Rocky IV
Released - 1985
Director - Sylvester Stallone
This week we have a really tough choice because of some amazing sports movies that have been made. First, let me run through a few of the contenders.
A top contender is a really great film starring two of my favorite actors: The Fighter. This is an awesome movie where Mark Wahlberg plays himself as he does in all his movies but Christian Bale as the brother was just phenomenal. It was hard for me not to choose this film.
Another big contender for me was The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke which was a touching story with a great soundtrack. It reminded me of playing wrestling at school somehow.
Finally, Jerry Maguire for me was a great and inspirational movie starring another Hollywood heavyweight Tom Cruise. Who could forget the show me the money scene and the emotional performances of Tom and Cuba Gooding Jr?!
But the crown has to go to the obvious king of sports movies Sylvester Stallone for his blockbuster movie franchise Rocky. The whole story of how Sly wanted to make the movie is very inspiring as is his determination to produce the film.
The series has everything you can think of as a complete package in a movie. It had some of my favorite childhood heroes such as Mr. T (Clubber Lang) in a starring role. Why wasn't he in more movies?!? What a legend.
But the film that stood out the most for me was Rocky IV. The reason is that this film had it all. The bad guy wins against Creed, an all-American hero who comes out of retirement to fight this exhibition match. Rocky then goes to Moscow to avenge his friend.
► My favorite scene
This has got to be the start of the fight between Creed and Drago. The musical legend James Brown sings the awesome song "Living in America" and it has to be one of the best boxing introductions ever. I still love playing this over as I love the music by James Brown.
When I was younger and saw this, I didn't see the propaganda being played East vs. West. I just saw Rocky and Creed as the good guys and Rocky has to take Drago down. The whole world has been wronged and everything Drago is doing is bad.
This time we didn't have the famous Rocky Run that he is famous for. We instead see Rocky out in the snow, sawing wood like a true American hero! The film is full of cliches' like these but they are of the endearing kind and build up to the excitement of the big fight.
Watching Rocky was my first introduction to boxing. Little did I know back then that this was the WWF (before it changed its name to WWE) version of boxing. And it was awesome.
Rocky (naturally the underdog) is nearly half the size of Drago and it didn't matter to me at the time. LOL. I still thought it could be real. But advertised as the fight of the century, it didn't let us down with action.
The beautiful punches and moves. The somehow fulfilling sound effects. The great commentary. We are constantly worrying about Rocky getting a cut. We know he is going to take a beating and somehow come back from it. It is predictable.. but we want it, we want a happy ending.
I didn't mention the music when it kicks in that builds the excitement and tension. It captures the best of the sport and somehow makes it wholesome and fun. You are on the edge of the seat egging Rocky on to win. The film complies with the wrestling moves that you would never see in boxing. But this isn't important. This is Rocky! If he can't do it, nobody can!
Sly is an artist who has mastered the art of storytelling and made Rocky and his boxing a household name around the world. Not only that, I think there is a deeper side to Sly. And you can see this in most of his films. He motivates you to get up and chase your dreams and goals.
From the Rocky Run in earlier films, where he trains like mad and the infamous running. Here in Rocky IV, he trains to achieve the impossible goal of going to Moscow to avenge his friend. Then we also see in the Rambo films, particularly First Blood, that he isn't to be stopped from doing what he wants. One man on a mission is unstoppable.
But after the Rocky Run, the most powerful impact of Sly for me in the Rocky series is his motivational speech to his son in the later Rocky Bilbao (2006) film. You get the feeling that Sly is speaking to his own son somehow and I think most men can relate to this speech when they think about their father-son relationships and achieving their goals.
For me, it gives some insight into what has driven Sly and how he made and starred in such great movies.
► Trailer
Thanks for reading.
Resources:
Images are still shots taken from the released trailer here.
The title image was created also from a still shot from the trailer.
Used under fair-use section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976.
