Stallone Sports Movies Special: Paradise Alley, Victory, Over the Top & Grudge Match

[00:00:00] This podcast is a production of Unfiltered Studios. If you would like to know more about joining Unfiltered Studios, please visit our website at unfpod.com for more information. Talking to you, for me, having been a fan of yours for so long is, it's pretty cool man, I'll be very honest and, and obviously the movie Rocky, for a show like mine is directly up the alley of the sports slash pop culture. Right, right.

[00:00:29] So what caused you as a guy and you're getting started out in your career like, you know, I'm going to sit down and write this and make this and make it sort of a mission for you? Like what, what caused you to come up with this concept of Rocky? So I thought that I was very, very frustrated like most people are with their lives because I think the, the, the concept of actually going all the way and becoming a champion is a rare one.

[00:00:59] And it's not really validated by much success. Most people, all they want is an opportunity to take a shot at the golden ring. And if they fail, they say, well, at least I tried. I had that moment, but when you're not get, you don't receive that moment. You're not afforded that privilege of competing and showing what you have. You live a very frustrated life.

[00:01:22] And that's the way I was living one as an actor. I was not being taken seriously or as a writer as anything else. And I thought, well, no one really cares about how to work actor, but boxing, the sport itself is such a metaphor for life. Because it really is about getting up, taking the beating, going forward, overcoming your fears, this and that. So I use that metaphor and the embodiment of Rocky to basically tell everyone's story.

[00:01:50] So I'll ask you the same question. I asked Carl Weathers a couple of years ago. Is Rocky a sports movie in your estimation? Never. No, no, not even close. And I used to get so upset with it. Oh, it's like Hoosiers. I said, no, it's not like Hoosiers or anything else. It's a love story about a broken down, unexciting fighter who's actually lost more than he's won.

[00:02:14] And the whole point is, once you find a goal or an object, an ideal to fight for, like a family, for example, you fight much harder than you would if you're doing it on your own. You realize you have all these other people dependent on you. So until he finds love, he goes, wow. And then all of a sudden, everyone barnacles on him. They realize their entire lives are now joined together.

[00:02:41] And this fella here is going to give some credence of value to their very existence. So that's what the whole thing was about. Without Adrian, there's no Rocky. Period. It's interesting. Carl said the same thing, that it's a love story, but he said it's a love story between Rocky and Apollo Creed was his answer on that one. I think Carl was drinking that day. No, you just, I guess he was talking about the whole arc, obviously, of your characters, right?

[00:03:08] But yeah, I mean, I like Carl's cologne and everything, but we're not having a love story here. No, it was, it was just a, an answer again, that it is not a sports movie, you know, that it is not. No, no, no, no, no. Because there's probably six and a half minutes of actual boxing. Yeah. Does he train? But the sports are completely secondary. It's not about winning. Okay. We're going to pull together. It's not remember the Titans at all.

[00:03:37] Matter of fact, he doesn't even care if he wins. He just wants to go the distance. That's it. His goal, which I think all people, you know, subjectively have, I just want to make it through my life, take care of my kids, pay my taxes, go on a few vacations and say, yeah, I did it. I ended up on my feet. And that's what the objective in the message was. We missed.

[00:04:06] We loaded. We edited. Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun. Here is a reshuffled mini episode. All right, all.

[00:04:34] So you're going to be hearing me go in and out talking about the different Stallone themed sports movies. That's right. He has a bunch of those. Basically, it all started with Paradise Alley, which was a script he made before Rocky, but was filmed after once that was a surprise hit and they wanted more of those kinds of movies.

[00:05:03] This surprisingly isn't as widely available, but it's just so fascinating hearing Stallone talk about this. And he works again with his fist and Judge Dredd co-star Armand Ashanti. And basically, they play Carbani brothers. He's the con man Cosmo. And his brother is a war veteran, you know, Lenny. That's the Armand Ashanti character.

[00:05:29] And then you got the dim-witted Victor, played by Lee Kana Tito. And this will make you feel like you're in 70s New York slum portion. And basically, this maintains watchability. It has Saturday Night Fever type, you know, credits. It's more of a crime gangster kind of backdrop.

[00:05:52] But it's very surprisingly engaging, despite, again, Stallone reusing his, you know, composer Conte from Rocky. He, unfortunately, pulls a rhinestone and decides to sing over some of the credits. So just fast forward for that part and get to the main story. You'll be entertained. It's a slow burn, but sports fans will definitely get more out of it.

[00:06:21] But I just had fun with it just as a 70s curiosity. And just was glad that it wasn't a cheapie, like you would think with these kinds of movies. So, yeah, Paradise Alley, surprisingly engaging.

[00:06:36] All right.

[00:07:36] The second sports movie here is Victory. Despite an inspiring tale, you know, it's a cool backdrop. And one of many collaborations with Stallone and Michael Caine. And basically, these Nazi officers, you know, organize a propaganda event where an all-star Nazi team will play a team composed of allied prisoners. And this is just one of those, I would see it on the movie channels, often on Starz or HDNet.

[00:08:05] And, yeah. Pee Lee, you know, plays Louise of Trinidad. Trains with Robert Hatch, played by Stallone. And they all while planning a mass escape from the camp. And despite directed by John Huston, you know, James, who you're going to hear in a bit, really liked this more than I did. I just always find it just ho-hum.

[00:08:30] Despite Max von Sydow being fun as the soccer-enthusiastic POW head, it's just... Michael Caine's the main reason to watch this. But you could tell they were just doing this just because this was easy, you know. Hey, he's Rocky, so therefore let's have him in another sports drama. Yeah, the melodrama just becomes way too much.

[00:08:55] But it is interesting seeing Pelé in this because, you know, he's a guy who, again, is the greatest football player in the world. In football, meaning, you know, soccer. But it's just so wild how they cast an actual soccer player in this. Yeah, it's an interesting curiosity watch, but it's not one that you gotta watch.

[00:09:25] You know, it's a whatever watch. But whatever. Didn't he do a soccer movie with Pelé? Victory. Yeah, Victory. Yeah, he does Victory. Michael Caine, 1980, Michael 81. Michael Caine, Max von Sydow, Pelé, Sylvester Stallone. Stallone plays the goalie and has a bicycle kick to finish.

[00:09:52] And it's funny because I was about to make the point that, like, Rocky was one of the first sort of sports films and kind of created that formula. But then I was, like, thinking to myself, no, actually, Victory might be the one or Nine Yards, one of those two. I think you're right. And plus, I think that's what's cool about it is he's open to doing more than just straight up action. He's like, I can do an action-packed sports movie if you want. He fills up in a couple of Marvel movies, too. Yes, he does.

[00:10:20] Yeah, Guardians of the Galaxy. So far, it's just been a cameo kind of thing, though. Nothing major. Well, he did play King Shark in Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad. Really? One DC, one Marvel appearance. It's pretty wild. But, yeah, Victory is interesting. Although Dred counts as 2008. So, yeah, there you go. Or we make him arm wrestling champion. Oh, my God. Over the top. That's right. Over the top. It's a great grip, right?

[00:10:49] That was the one I probably used the most GIFs from. Yeah. It's absurd. The turning the hat back. If someone's like, you're not going to be there, I'll be like. Like, it feels like that should be a joke, like satire, like a demolition man. It's so. But it wasn't for real. And yet, no one got the memo. They meant everything they did. Yeah. No one got the memo. It just needed to be rewritten. And then we go to over the top. And what can I say? It's still a very, very, very bad canon movie.

[00:11:20] Only watch if you're a canon movie completist. Otherwise, just don't bother. It is trash. Big, absolute trash. It's just because it's just so cliche. The kid is annoying. And Stallone is very largely unlikable. And Robert Loja just plays a plot device as opposed to a character as the stepdad who wants to take him back.

[00:11:46] And because the plot is underexplained, there's no real interest unless you just want to see real life wrestlers and arm wrestling people in this movie. And again, the only good thing is that Kenny Loggins music. That's right. It charts. I still hear it on the radio. And the song was Meet Me Halfway.

[00:12:12] It's just like, it's a damn good song and a movie that does not deserve it. Even got its own music video. But, oh boy. And that brings us to Grudge Match. Again. It's fine for what it is. It's just the marketing goofed it up. The critics were cruel to it. Because, you know, it's easy to make fun of De Niro because he does anything. And Stallone, who also does everything.

[00:12:41] But I really thought that Naked Gun Free director Peter Siegel really handled this well. The laughs delivered on time. Kim Basinger was really awesome as the ex-wife. And it didn't overdo the drama and comedy in between. It really was a lot of fun. It's just, again, people were tired of different stuff. And really only boxing fans were going to want to seek this out. But I had a lot of fun with this. Even people who don't like this kind of thing were having fun. Because it's like, yeah.

[00:13:10] It's more than just making fun of the guys who used to be, you know, in Raging Bull and Rocky. It's also just that they've done boxing before. Let's have them in an everyday kind of former boxers going up against each other when someone places a bet. And just making fun of how absurd it is. How they realize how absurd it is. And the whole cast was really having a lot of fun. LL Cool J was playing himself in this.

[00:13:39] But it was funny because he was offering all some advice. And Alan Arkin played Lightning, one of the other guys overseeing the match. Kevin Hart plays the main guys getting these guys back together. And we also have Jon Bernthal. So, it's a stacked cast. But it really is a kind of fun take on how, again, these guys had a rivalry dating back to the 80s. And each scored a victory in two matches.

[00:14:08] That's just it. I think it's a fun joke. But people have to actually put some thought into it. And even actor Tim Kelleher was one of the script writers on this. He's done a lot of stuff. You've seen him in Dark Skies. Some Christopher Nolan stuff in 13 Days. But, yeah. I think it was just one of those. No one was ready to just see something like this.

[00:14:34] Because everybody, everything in the 2010s was so oversaturated. It was impossible to just jump right into it and get much. Unless you were just paying perfect attention or going to every trailer or screening of movies. But this is better than it has any right to be. It really is a lot of fun. And if you're going to rank top movies of the 2010s for Stallone, this is definitely one of his better ones. And De Niro had some of the best lines in this. He really was having a lot of fun with this.

[00:15:04] Compared to some of his other stuff where he's just De Niro. Have you guys ever seen the movie Grudge Match? With Stallone. I felt like that was a perfect tribute to that. Yeah. Raging Bull and Rocky fighting each other. But the thing I love about that movie is the one scene.

[00:15:33] He's in the meat locker. And Stallone's punching the meat. And he goes. And Alan Arkin goes, what are you doing? Don't do that. That's dirty. Don't do that. Yeah. That's just it. It was some inside jokes. They were making fun of their. It was just a fun comedy. And so many people hated it. And I'm like, at least they're just having fun with themselves. Like they're not just. Hope you enjoyed listening to this gang. And don't worry. There's going to be more for the rest of the week.

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