Why the hell was Rocky so disrespected in this one?
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spasek — 10 years ago(August 01, 2015 12:36 PM)
It seems you misunderstood a few things.
Rocky IS an underdog in this fight. Something that is pretty obvious, so I'm not sure why you have an issue with that.
Any boxer, even if he was a former champion, would undoubtedly be chopped down and pretty much be made fun of in the press. Come on, do you even watch ESPN? These guys chew up athletes on a regular basis, so do all of the other sports shows. That's the point that Stallone is making.
You're also forgetting that even those people closest to him, except for Marie, are telling him that he's nuts for undertaking this endeavor. Sure, they change their minds and get behind him, but they weren't at first.
Rocky has always been a character who defies the odds and the rules to live the dream; the dream of being who you are no matter what anyone says. He points this out several times in the film.
You may not like the fact that the media is poking fun at him, but that's what they do, and that's what they WOULD DO! Stallone had that part pegged perfectly.
However, remember the end. Much like the original Rocky (remember the media poking some fun at him too? If not, go watch it again), Rocky gets the respect of nearly everyone who watched that fight. Even the announcers can only say, "Incredible."
If this movie bothers you so much, then I'm going to point out something glaringly obvious to you: Don't watch it. -
jmsocool — 10 years ago(August 02, 2015 04:46 PM)
At the end of the scene where the promoters go to Rocky's restaurant to talk to him about the exhibition fight, the one promoter comments to the other one that Rocky, in his prime, would have pounded Mason Dixon (the actual dialogue is a little ambiguous, do to the use of pronouns, but Stallone clarifies it in the commentary). and during the fight Max Kellerman and Jim Lampley seem respectful towards Rocky. Larry Merchant comes across as a bit of a jerk. I wonder if the commentators ad-libbed their lines, because they did sound fairly natural.
"My girlfriend sucked 37 d*cks!"
"In a row?" -
TerraFirma69 — 10 years ago(August 17, 2015 05:51 AM)
Just weak easy writing. Boring. Making him the underdog again when in the reality of the Rocky universe he'd command massive respect. Especially considering he's always been so humble, that goes a long long way in the world of sports. Any commentator dissing him would be told to pull their head in right quickly.
then whoa, differences -
spookyrat1 — 10 years ago(August 24, 2015 02:41 PM)
and yet in this movie we get lines like "I hear he runs a restaurant nowwhat's his specialty, pounded chicken"?
Yet IRL, these are the sort of lines you get from some smart arse TV sports observers trying to force a laugh. -
Huskie_Jon — 10 years ago(September 08, 2015 09:01 AM)
The media in all Rocky movies are a bunch of jerks. Remember, in Rocky V, how they were ripping on Tommy's "cheap" girlfriend right in front of him. I do not believe I have ever seen the real world media stoop that low.
A dope trailer is no place for a kitty.
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FirstBlood1982 — 10 years ago(November 26, 2015 07:55 PM)
As others have pointed out, if a 60'ish year old boxer comes out of retirement to fight the 30'ish undefeated world heavyweight champion that's knocked out every opponent thus far, he'd be a laughing stock, regardless of how long his list of past accomplishments decades ago were.
How that's depicted in the film is very realistic.
+++by His wounds we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5+++ -
Bernnard_Black — 10 years ago(December 02, 2015 10:03 AM)
But to the OP's point, I can see how they might think he'd have no chance, but the one guy was disrespecting even his past achievements. He makes the comment that he never bought into the Balboa mystique, and then had that pounded chicken comment. Both make it sound like he didn't think Rocky actually fought any tough fights, and worse, was a coward in some inexplicable way. Even if you think he'll get mauled by Dixon (and there's every reason to think he would be), anyone with any sense at ALL would know he was a hell of a fighter in his day. His victory over Drago alone would cement his place in boxing lore and history, never mind his winning the title from Apollo, beating Lang, etc. The dialogue in question really did seem forced and stupidly over the top.
Whores will have their trinkets. -
WarpedFX — 10 years ago(December 16, 2015 03:01 AM)
I think the movie worked BECAUSE he was so made fun of throughout the movie- that is the basis of his arc. The reality is that it's a movie about someone who's so past his prime he's for all intents and purposes not even washed up- he's that old. If they ignored that salient point and treated him like a badass it would look ridiculous. But in using his age as a dramatic point it sort of sells the suspension of disbelief because that's an obstacle he must undertake.
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Bernnard_Black — 10 years ago(December 16, 2015 04:44 AM)
The ageism wasn't a problem at all. But the guy the OP references wasn't talking about him based on his age, he was talking about him like he had never done anything impressive at all. THAT's the weird disrespect thing. I can totally see any and everyone thinking he's too old to fight. But to pretend he never was a good fighter? Preposterous, given the events of the previous films. Only a total moron would think Rocky's fight with Drago, for example, wasn't impressive.
Whores will have their trinkets. -
bigpapapumpct — 10 years ago(March 03, 2016 06:37 AM)
I agree with the OP, but I think more of the reaction was from Balboa coming out of retirement at his age to fight the current champ. People thought it was a joke, the same as if Mike Tyson came back to fight the current champ. So it's understandable. They had no idea Rocky still had it.
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Luke_was_a_terrorist — 9 years ago(August 24, 2016 08:49 AM)
While I understand what you're saying I think you're forgetting
1, Rocky has lost 20 fights
2, those 10 boxers he beat as champ were bums as Mickey was taking easy fights and ducking real competition
3, Tommy Gunn was a joke of a champ
4, he's in his 60's and has retired twice, once due to eye injury and again because of brain damage and wants to return to the ring, against the current champ, HE IS THE UNDERDOG
5, IT'S A ROCKY MOVIE, AGAIN, HE HAS TO BE THE UNDERDOG cause the movies are about lacking talent but making up for it in heart.
Although I agree the "pounded chicken" comment was off, "pounded veal" fine but if there is 1 thing Rocky has never been it's chicken(in fact all the movies are about how he's not a chicken)
"We stayed up all night dry humping, it was awful, I think she gave me poison ivy." -
digitalboy72 — 9 years ago(January 04, 2017 09:33 AM)
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was taken aback by those commentators remarks! The one that always gets me is when that one guy called Rocky "overrated"! What lol?
Did that dude not follow Rocky's career close enough or was he just one of those contrarianists who dislikes him merely because everyone else loves him?
I mean damn, Rocky beat the ever living beep out of a giant Russian, on Russian soil I might add, but that gets him nowhere with that guy lol?