Life is what happens when you are making other plans~ John Lennon
An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind~Gandhi
The time is always right to do what is right~ Martin Luther King Jr.


Friday, December 17, 2021

10 Films Inspired by Rocky

Since 11/21/2021 was the anniversary of the release of the famed 1976 film Rocky, the people at Ultimate Classic Rock took a look at some of the films of the 1980s, where the main character is an underdog-type person, overcoming extreme odds to accomplish a dream or something else. Here are 10 films inspired by Rocky.

Flashdance (1983)

-The "Rocky" of the dance floor

-This film centers around a blue-collar steel worker named Alexandra "Alex" Owens (Jennifer Beals) who works as a steel welder during the day and a dancer by night, with dreams of acing the audition to get into a prestigious dance school, specifically the Pittsburgh Conservatory of Dance and Repertory. Along the way, she also finds love in the form of Nick Hurley (Michael Nouri), the owner of the steel plant. There's also an inspirational song and a series of scenes showing her getting into shape, inspired by Rocky









Footloose (1984)

-The "Rocky" of high school

-Kevin Bacon plays city kid Ren McCormack, who moves to a small Midwestern town that outlaws dancing and rock music due to the influence of the local reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow). Ren falls in love with Reverend Moore's daughter Ariel (Lori Singer). It's then he decides to not only win her hand and heart, but get the town's ban on dancing removed. Like Rocky, there are scenes showing Ren doing what he does best - gymnastics - and showing his friend Willard (Chris Penn) to dance. Of course, there's also an inspirational song, a song of the same name as the movie by Kenny Loggins

The Natural (1984)

-The "Rocky" of baseball

-This film stars screen legend Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs, a young but already talented pitcher who learns the game of baseball from his dad and even carves his own bat out of wood from a tree struck by lightning. Before his tryout for the Chicago Cubs, a deranged fan shoots him in the stomach, nixing his tryout. Sixteen years later, he's aged and struggling to find a chance in baseball. He gets a chance with a last-chance, no-hope team and his story intermingles with theirs. He manages to lead the team to a one-game playoff and manages to fall in love with the girl he left behind years ago. He goes up to bat and hits a home run into the stadium lights and he and his team are going to the World Series

The Karate Kid (1984)

-The "Rocky" of karate and the West Coast

-Ralph Maccio plays Daniel LaRusso, a middle class kid from New Jersey who moves to the suburbs of Los Angeles with his mother. At his school, he gets bullied by members of the local martial arts school Cobra Kai. Legendary actor Noriyuki "Pat" Morita plays the role of Mr. Miyagi, a Japanese immigrant and the handyman in Daniel's apartment building. He's also a master of karate. He teaches Daniel karate without Daniel even realizing it. He does this by having Daniel do menial tasks around Mr. Miyagi's house and when Daniel finally confronts Mr. Miyagi about karate lessons, Mr. Miyagi then shows him that he has been learning all along, through the tasks he's been assigned. At the same time, Daniel falls for his classmate Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue). The movie comes down to a final fight at the All-Valley Karate Championship. The final fight is between Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Daniel wins by using the "Flying Crane" move he seen Mr. Miyagi doing once

Rocky IV (1985)

-"Rocky" on Steroids

-It might be surprising to see one of the Rocky movies here, but this one is here because it's Rocky himself who is once again the underdog

-Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is now a highly successful boxing champion. Because of the wealthy lifestyle he's suddenly gained, he's gone a little soft. When his good friend Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) takes on a Red Army officer/boxer named Ivan Drago, this fight turns fatal. Drago kills Creed in the ring. Now Rocky decides to take on the Russian himself. Drago uses state of the art technology and a strict training schedule and even the use of the steroids to get himself in shape. Rocky travels to Russia and trains without technology to get himself in shape. When the final fight comes, he is in the best shape he's ever been in. At first, people aren't impressed with his fighting style. But as the fight closes in on the end, even Drago is impressed. Rocky wins the fight and the approval of everyone, including the top Russian government officials in attendance









Top Gun (1986)

-"Rocky" takes to the skies

-Tom Cruise gets his first action role here as Navy pilot Pete Mitchell, nicknamed "Maverick". He gets a chance to train at an elite flight school for pilots. He's considered an underdog due to his father, who was also a pilot, had a misunderstanding in an air battle which resulted in his death. He also falls in love with a scientist (Kelly McGillis)

Hoosiers (1986)

-"Rocky" takes to the court

-Gene Hackman plays Norman Dale, a basketball coach no longer allowed to work the college basketball circuit because he punched one of his own players. With no options left, he agrees to become the coach, in addition to history teacher, at a small, rural school in Indiana. There are obstacles everywhere he turns. The team only has seven players. The best one on the team doesn't want to play. The school is dwarfed by larger rivals in the area. His assistant coach (Dennis Hopper) is an alcoholic. But, through his own wisdom and hard work, in addition to intense training, Dale turns the team around and takes the team to a final game for the Indiana State championship. The team wins and Dale wins the heart of a woman he's interested in (Barbara Hershey)






Dirty Dancing (1987)

-"Rocky" on the 1960s dance floor in New York

-This is one of those classic girl films or "chick flicks". Patrick Swayze plays Johnny Castle, a dance instructor at a wealthy Catskills resort. Jennifer Grey plays Frances "Baby" Houseman, the daughter of a doctor who is on vacation with her family. When Castle's dance partner is unable to fill in for a short time, Baby offers to step in her place and fill in. Castle teaches Baby everything related to dance, all sorts of different dance styles. At the same time, they fall in love. This movie shows scenes where Baby is learning to dance and the movie ends with everyone out on the dance floor for the end of season talent show and Baby's father accepting Johnny for who he is

Over the Top (1987)

-"Rocky" enters the world of arm wrestling

-Some might think there is some favoritism towards Sylvester Stallone because of at least two of his movies being on here. It's not that; it's just this movie is considered one of those "underdog overcomes odds" type situations. Sylvester Stallone plays Lincoln Hawk, a truck driver who moonlights as a professional arm wrestler. He is separated from his wife and his son Michael (David Mendenhall) is living with his grandfather (Robert Loggia), who enrolled him in a military school. When Lincoln finally gets his son back, he shows Michael the world of arm wrestling, which is as foreign a concept to Michael as you can imagine. The only way for Lincoln to get ahead in life is to win the World Arm Wrestling Championship, being held in Las Vegas. The prize is a brand new truck and a cash prize. Not surprisingly, there is that series of scenes showing working out - in this case, Hawk working out to make sure he's in top shape. The final scenes show Hawk at the World Arm Wrestling Championship and his son, now a loyal supporter of his dad, on the sidelines, cheering him on. Hawk wins the championship with his famed move "Over the Top", by putting the thumb over the opponent's hand






Bloodsport (1988) Kickboxer (1989)

-"Rocky" enters the world of kickboxking and martial arts

-As a side note, I'm unsure why some people think of Jean Claude Van Damme as a poor man's Sylvester Stallone. I don't think that. For one thing, Jean Claude Van Damme is an expert martial artist; Sylvester Stallone is not. Both have different acting styles. I have never seen of Jean Claude Van Damme's movies, but I still give him the benefit of the doubt of being a good actor.

-These two films feature a Belgian actor named Jean Claude Van Damme. In Bloodsport, he plays Frank Dux, a US Army Captain/martial artist who is asked to compete in an illegal martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. To win the tournament and avenge one of his comrades, who was killed, he gets himself in shape to fight the top fighter Chong Li (Bolo Yeung). In Kickboxer, he plays Kurt Sloane, younger brother to a kickboxer who is paralyzed from waist down as a result from a fight with a Thai kickboxing champion named Tong "The Tiger" Po (Michel Qissi). To help his brother get some payback, Sloan engages Po in a fight. He makes sure his skills are up to par by training hard and intense.


Tuesday, December 14, 2021

Creed II (2018)

This is a sequel to the 2015 film of the same name

Summary

-With former boxing champion Rocky Balboa acting as his coach, Adonis Johnson, the son of late boxing legend Apollo Creed, takes on Viktor Drago, the son of former Russian boxing champion Ivan Drago







Cast

-Michael B. Jordan: Adonis Johnson

-Sylvester Stallone: Rocky Balboa

-Tessa Thompson: Bianca

-Phylicia Rashad: Mary Anne Creed

-Dolph Lundgren: Ivan Drago

-Florian Munteanu: Viktor Drago

-Russell Hornsby: Buddy Marcelle

-Wood Harris: Tony "Little Duke" Burton

-Mile Ventimiglia: Robert Balboa

-Robbie Johns: Logan Balboa

-Andre Ward: Danny "The Stuntman" Wheeler

-Brigitte Nielsen: Ludmilla Drago

Did You Know?

-This is the fifth film to feature two turtles named Cuff and Link. In real life, they are Sylvester Stallone's pets and have been for nearly 50 years

-Rocky is two years old than Mickey, the man who coached Rocky in the original 1976 film

-Just like the 1985 film Rocky IV, none of the Russian characters are played by actual Russian-born people. Dolph Lundgren, who plays Ivan Drago, is Swedish. Brigitte Nielsen, who plays Ludmilla, is Danish and Florian Munteanu, who plays Viktor Drago is German-Romanian

-Dolph Lundgren worked with director Steven Caple Jr to change his appearance and visibly age the character Ivan Drago. He did this to show the poverty and suffering the character had experienced

-Brigitte Nielsen is actually an ex-wife of Sylvester Stallone. They were engaged during the filming of Rocky IV, married after the premier and divorced two years later



-The search for the perfect person to play Viktor Drago took several months and trips around the world. The production crew met with several comedians and athletes who were also disciples of martial arts, kickboxing, boxing and American football. After searching through hundreds of photos, the right man had been found. German-Romanian boxer Florian Munteanu, known as "Big Nasty" was chosen

-When shooting her scenes, Brigitte Nielsen was 7 months pregnant. Filming was made to shoot around her ever increasing stomach. She gave birth to her fifth child, but first daughter, who she named Frida, exactly two weeks after filming concluded

-The film crew, Sylvester Stallone, Michael B. Jordan and Steven Caple Jr spent ten weeks filming in and around Philadelphia and then filmed the desert scenes in Deming, New Mexico

-This was filmed during the Anthony Joshua v. Joseph Parker fight in Wales on 03/31/2018

-Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren trained just as hard as the people they were coaching in the film, just to make sure they were in shape just like Adonis Creed and Viktor Drago

-One of the people fighting hard to get the role of Viktor Drago was UFC fighter Sage Northcutt

-The fight between Adonis Creed and Danny "The Stuntman" Wheeler took place at the newer version of MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Ironically, in the fight between Apollo Creed and Ivan Drago, that fight took place at the old MGM Grand, now Bally's, in Vegas

-In both this film and Rocky IV, Adonis gets his ribs broken by Viktor Drago just as Rocky got his ribs broken from Ivan Drago

-This film does not begin with recap of the final fight scene, like in Rocky Balboa and Creed

-In order to be seen as a credible fighter on screen, Michael B. Jordan underwent a strict diet and trained 2-3 times a day

-Michael B. Jordan wanted coach Patrice "Boogie" Harris to train him like a real boxer so he can develop these skills and develop his speed and coordination

-In this film, Bianca is suffering from progressive hearing loss while her daughter Amara is totally deaf. It's very rare for someone with progressive hearing loss to create a totally deaf child with a partner who has no hearing problems themselves. In this case, Adonis Creed

-During the 1st weigh-in, Ivan Drago tells Adonis "You're not as big as your father". Carl Weathers is 6'1'' while Michael B. Jordan is only 6'

Monday, December 13, 2021

Creed (2015)

This film is a spinoff of the highly successful Rocky series. This one focuses on Donnie Creed, the son of fallen boxing legend Apollo Creed from the first film.

Summary

-Former heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Balboa acts as trainer/mentor to Adonis Creed, the son of former boxing legend Apollo Creed





Cast

-Michael B. Jordan: Adonis Creed

-Sylvester Stallone: Rocky Balboa

-Tessa Thompson: Bianca

-Phylicia Rashad: Mary Anne Creed

-Andre Ward: Danny "The Stuntman" Wheeler

-Tony Bellew: "Pretty" Ricky Conlon

-Ritchie Coster: Pete Sporino

-Jacob "Stitch" Duran: Stitch

-Graham McTavish: Tommy Holiday

-Wood Harris: Tony "Little Duke" Burton

Did You Know?

-During pre-production, Sylvester Stallone's son Sage died of a heart attack. Stallone admitted this sent him nearly into a full-blown mental breakdown, but Ryan Congler was able to calm him down and convince him to do this as a sort of dedication to Sage. Despite being resistant to the idea of the father-son relationships that appear in it, Stallone said at the Golden Globes that he hoped this would help him work out any issues with Sage's death

-Sylvester Stallone asked that Michael B. Jordan wear the same American flag trunks that Apollo Creed wore in the first Rocky film, Rocky III and Rocky IV to keep the tradition alive

-Carl Weathers, who played Apollo Creed, was extremely proud of the work Michael B. Jordan did and he gave a full endorsement to the movie and praised Michael B. Jordan's performance. Jordan felt highly honored by that

-Sylvester Stallone was 69 when this film was released. This was the same age as Burgess Meredith (Mickey) when the original film from 1976 was released



-Tony "The Bomber" Bellew, a real-life championship boxer from Liverpool, England, plays boxer "Pretty" Ricky Conlon

-The soccer game between Everton and West Brom was filmed on a Monday night. Since Stallone is an Everton fan, he asked if fans wanted to participate in the crowd shots in the film

-Andre Ward is a real-life Light Heavyweight boxing champion. He won the gold medal at the 2004 summer Olympic games in Athens, Greece. The gold medal he holds in the HBO promo scene is real and belongs to him

-During filming, Sylvester Stallone had to break up a fight between two boxers featured in this movie

-The quote Rocky says to Adonis "Women weaken legs" is the same quote that was said to Rocky by his coach Mickey in the original film

-Michael B. Jordan felt immense pressure doing this film. He says Sylvester Stallone put him at ease. Michael said "Sly did the biggest thing for me, which was to take that pressure off of me...to not worry about competing or living up to what the other Rocky films were - just to be myself."

-Michael B. Jordan underwent a strict regimen of working out 2-3 times a day, 6 days a week, a strict diet. With that, he gained 24 lbs of muscle and since he didn't have a body double, he had to learn how to box to prepare for this role

-Following the tradition of his father Apollo, Adonis is also named after someone in Greek mythology. Apollo was the god of the sun while Adonis is the demi-god of beauty and desire

-Tessa Thompson, who plays Bianca, is a real-life musician. She's part of an electro band called Caught a Ghost and three of her songs are featured here: "Grip" "Breathe" "Shed You"



-The placement of names on Donnie's uniform have a significant impact. On his shorts are the name CREED, which makes his opponent think about his father's legendary heavyweight champ title while on the back is the name JOHNSON which lets Donnie build his own name and legacy

-Both gyms used in the film, Front Street Gym and Mighty Mick's Gym are both located in the Kensington section of Philadelphia

-When Tessa Thompson and Michael B. Jordan fall asleep on the couch, the film playing on TV is Skyfall (2012)

-Tony "Little Duke" Evers, played by Wood Harris, is revealed to be the son of Duke, the trainer for Apollo and Rocky who appeared in Rocky (1976), Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990) and Rocky Balboa (2006). Duke was played by Tony Burton

-The intro music for Adonis Creed is "Hail Mary" by Tupac Shakur. It's a rumor that Michael B. Jordan will be playing the West Coast rap legend in an upcoming biopic

-Michael B. Jordan's fighting style was inspired by real life boxers Timothy Bradley, Pernell Whitaker and Andre Ward

Andre Ward

Pernell Whitaker

Timothy Bradley

-This is only the second time that Michael B. Jordan has portrayed a boxer. The first time was on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent titled "Inhumane Society"

-In 1969, it was said that Phylicia Rashad's movie husband Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) was coached by football coach Don Coryell at San Diego State University. In 1973, he coached her real-life ex-husband Ahmad Rashad for the St. Louis Cardinals

-Michael B. Jordan's character references a line from The Godfather (1972). This is a film, ironically, that Talia Shire starred in, as Connie Corleone. In the Rocky films, she plays Adrian. In addition, Joe Spinell, who played Tony Gazzo in the first two Rocky films, played Willie Cicci in the first two Godfather films

-During the Conan vs. Wheeler fight on SportsCenter, the scrolling ticker at the bottom indicates the Golden State Warriors NBA team beat the Los Angeles Clippers 113-86. Director Ryan Coogler is a native of Oakland and grew up in the Bay Area and is a fan of the Golden State Warriors

Mulan (2020)

Since Disney seems to be on this binge of making their movies into real life, this is the live-action version of one of my all-time favorite Disney movies, Mulan

Summary

-To save her father from death in military service, a young Chinese maiden goes undercover as a male soldier and thus, manages to save China from an impending attack from enemy forces







Cast

-Liu Yifei: Mulan

-Donnie Yen: Commander Tung

-Gong Li: Xianniang

-Jet Li: Emperor

-Jason Scott Lee: Bori Khan

-Yoson An: Honghui

-Tzi Ma: Zhou

-Rosalind Chao: Li

-Pei-Pei Cheng: Matchmaker

-Xana Tang: Xiu

-Ron Yuan: Sergeant Qiang

-Jun Yu: Cricket

-Chen Tang: Yao

-Doug Moua: Po

-Jimmy Wong: Ling

Did You Know?

-In the original 1998 Disney film, Mulan cuts off most of her waist-length hair to complete her disguise. This scene was not added into the live action version because it was considered unnecessary. In imperial China, long hair on men was common, so Mulan with long hair in the military camp would not have aroused any suspicion






-One of her soldiers is nicknamed Cricket, a nod to the lucky Cri-Kee from the original Disney film

-Martial artist/actor Jet Li initially refused the offer to play the Emperor because of pay and script. His daughters, however, reminded him that it's important to shed light on Chinese culture, so he changed his mind and accepted the role

-The film was made more historically accurate by making the enemy forces the Rouran, who lived at the same time and place of the original story, not the Huns

-When the film was released in China, Liu Yifei, Jet Li and Gong Li did Mandarin language overdubs

-The musical numbers from the original Disney film are not featured as prominently here. An instrumental of "Reflection" is played throughout the movie. An instrumental of "Honor to Us All" is heard playing when Mulan applies her makeup. Her commanding officer, Commander Tung, speaks some of the lyrics to "I'll Make a Man Out of You". When the soldiers talk about their dream girl, they speak some of the lyrics to "A Girl Worth Fighting For"

-More than 1,000 actresses auditioned for the role of Mulan. Casting directors were looking for specific things in the actress who play the famed Chinese legend. Skills in martial arts, ability to speak English and potential to be an international star were among the traits being searched for

-Gong Li, who plays the character Xianniang, was the real-life model for the animated title character's likeness in the 1998 film

-This is the first Disney live-action film to get a PG-13 rating. There only brief shots of corpses and scenes implying death and a few brief shots of blood drops

-In this film, Mulan is given a sister, Hua Xiu to make Mulan's decision to do what she does more impactful. In certain versions of the story of Mulan, she has siblings, such as a younger brother and sister

-When Liu Yifei showed up to auditions, she was suffering from jet lag, from her 14-hour flight from Beijing to Los Angeles. She overcame jet lag by completing four scenes for her audition, one of which lasted five pages and completed 90 minutes of weight training and her two-hour audition

-Mushu from the original 1998 film did not make an appearance here. Disney chose to keep this film as true and close to Chinese culture and traditions as possible. To keep that respect going, a phoenix was chosen. In Chinese culture, a phoenix represents peace and prosperity

-When Tony Bancroft, one of the directors of the original Disney film, heard there was going to be a live-action remake, he was overjoyed when he heard it was not going to be a carbon copy of the original

-This is the third Disney film for Jason Scott Lee. Prior to this, he played Mowgli in The Jungle Book (1994) and voiced David Kawena in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch (2005)

-Originally, Ang Lee was chosen to direct this, but he couldn't because he was busy promoting Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016)

-Four of the cast members - Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yoson An, Roger Yuan - were all part of the cast of Netflix's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)


-This is the second film where Liu Yifei and Jet Li worked together. The first film was 2008's The Forbidden Kingdom

-Tzi Ma and Ron Yuan provided their voices for the 2012 video game Sleeping Dogs

-Ming-na Wen, who voiced Mulan in the original Disney film, expressed interest in playing Mulan's mother, but her work schedule didn't allow it. Instead, she plays a guest who introduces Mulan to the Emperor

-There is a scene where Mulan is the only one carrying full pails of water up the mountain. This mirrors a scene from the original where she was the only one to figure out how to use the heavy medallions to get up the pole to get the arrow

-Rosalind Chao, who plays Mulan's mother, and Ming-na Wen, who played Mulan in the original, make brief appearances here. They both also starred in the film adaptation of Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, both as daughters Rose and June

Rosalind Chao as Mulan's mother in 1998

Rosalind Chao as Li (2020)

Ming-na Wen as Mulan (1998)

Ming-na Wen in Mulan (2020)