Regia: Sylvester Stallone, John G. Avildsen
Attori: Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Geraldine Hughes, Talia Shire
Genere: Action & Adventure
Mia valutazione: 0
Rilascio teatrale: 1976 Classif.: Suitable for 12 years and over
Durata: 630
Riassunto: "Rocky" - The 1976 Oscar winner for Best Picture, John G Avildsen's "Rocky" is the story of a down-and-out club fighter who gets his million-to-one shot at a world championship title. In the title role, Sylvester Stallone (who also penned the screenplay) draws a carefully etched portrait of a loser who, in Brando-esque fashion, "coulda been a contender". Rocky then becomes one thanks to a publicity stunt engineered by current champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), while finding love courtesy of timid wallflower Adrian (Talia Shire) along the way. Burgess Meredith revives the spirit of 1940's genre pictures through his scenery-chewing performance as Rocky's trainer. An enormously entertaining film, "Rocky" is irresistible in its depiction of an underachiever who has the courage to start all over again--a description that could have been applied to Stallone's own life at the time. "--Kevin Mulhall"
"Rocky 2" - The Italian Stallion returns for a rematch with Apollo Creed, hoping, finally, to capture the heavyweight title. This time, even his girlfriend, Adrian, gives Rocky her blessing. Sylvester Stallone wrote and directed this exciting follow-up, with Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, and Burt Young all reprising their roles from the first film.
"Rocky 3 " - Rocky's lifestyle of wealth and idleness is suddenly shaken when a powerful fighter challenges him to a fight for the championship. After being beaten, the previously over-confident Rocky resumes his training in preparation for a re-match.
"Rocky 4" - A World Heavyweight Boxing contest is to be staged between the champ, Rocky Balboa and the Soviet amateur champion, Ivan Drago. Both men know that this is more than just a tough contest of strength and skill.
"Rocky 5" - Times are hard for Rocky Balboa. A lifetime of taking punches has terminated his boxing career and a crooked accountant has left him in financial difficulties. The Balboa family moves back to its roots in a downtown neighbourhood where an aspiring boxer turns to the champ for training...
"Rocky Balboa" - The sixth installment of the "Rocky" series picks up the story of the Italian Stallion 16 years after the morose "Rocky V". And sure, at his advanced age, Sylvester Stallone now looks like one of those sides of beef his character used to pound on. No matter. Somehow you buy the premise after all these years, even if it takes forever for Rocky Balboa to stop wallowing in self-pity (Adrian is dead, his old haunts are demolished) and get down to the business of drinking raw eggs and running up steps. The business at hand is an unlikely exhibition fight with champion Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which the near-sexagenarian Mr. Balboa has no business accepting. Of course, just as sure as the horns of Bill Conti's theme music are even now trumpeting through your head, the ol' Rock might have a punch or two left in him. Stallone wrote and directed, and there isn't much to say except that the movie steps in its pre-determined paces with a canny sense of what has come before (it's practically an homage to all the previous Rocky pictures, complete with fleeting flashbacks). Burt Young is around again, and Geraldine Hughes makes an appealing, rather chaste female companion for Rocky. Stallone's Rocky has gotten suspiciously articulate over the years, but he still knows how to slouch. If Stallone never forgets that, he can probably keep the franchise rolling. "--Robert Horton"
Attori: Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Geraldine Hughes, Talia Shire
Genere: Action & Adventure
Mia valutazione: 0
Rilascio teatrale: 1976 Classif.: Suitable for 12 years and over
Durata: 630
Riassunto: "Rocky" - The 1976 Oscar winner for Best Picture, John G Avildsen's "Rocky" is the story of a down-and-out club fighter who gets his million-to-one shot at a world championship title. In the title role, Sylvester Stallone (who also penned the screenplay) draws a carefully etched portrait of a loser who, in Brando-esque fashion, "coulda been a contender". Rocky then becomes one thanks to a publicity stunt engineered by current champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), while finding love courtesy of timid wallflower Adrian (Talia Shire) along the way. Burgess Meredith revives the spirit of 1940's genre pictures through his scenery-chewing performance as Rocky's trainer. An enormously entertaining film, "Rocky" is irresistible in its depiction of an underachiever who has the courage to start all over again--a description that could have been applied to Stallone's own life at the time. "--Kevin Mulhall"
"Rocky 2" - The Italian Stallion returns for a rematch with Apollo Creed, hoping, finally, to capture the heavyweight title. This time, even his girlfriend, Adrian, gives Rocky her blessing. Sylvester Stallone wrote and directed this exciting follow-up, with Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, and Burt Young all reprising their roles from the first film.
"Rocky 3 " - Rocky's lifestyle of wealth and idleness is suddenly shaken when a powerful fighter challenges him to a fight for the championship. After being beaten, the previously over-confident Rocky resumes his training in preparation for a re-match.
"Rocky 4" - A World Heavyweight Boxing contest is to be staged between the champ, Rocky Balboa and the Soviet amateur champion, Ivan Drago. Both men know that this is more than just a tough contest of strength and skill.
"Rocky 5" - Times are hard for Rocky Balboa. A lifetime of taking punches has terminated his boxing career and a crooked accountant has left him in financial difficulties. The Balboa family moves back to its roots in a downtown neighbourhood where an aspiring boxer turns to the champ for training...
"Rocky Balboa" - The sixth installment of the "Rocky" series picks up the story of the Italian Stallion 16 years after the morose "Rocky V". And sure, at his advanced age, Sylvester Stallone now looks like one of those sides of beef his character used to pound on. No matter. Somehow you buy the premise after all these years, even if it takes forever for Rocky Balboa to stop wallowing in self-pity (Adrian is dead, his old haunts are demolished) and get down to the business of drinking raw eggs and running up steps. The business at hand is an unlikely exhibition fight with champion Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which the near-sexagenarian Mr. Balboa has no business accepting. Of course, just as sure as the horns of Bill Conti's theme music are even now trumpeting through your head, the ol' Rock might have a punch or two left in him. Stallone wrote and directed, and there isn't much to say except that the movie steps in its pre-determined paces with a canny sense of what has come before (it's practically an homage to all the previous Rocky pictures, complete with fleeting flashbacks). Burt Young is around again, and Geraldine Hughes makes an appealing, rather chaste female companion for Rocky. Stallone's Rocky has gotten suspiciously articulate over the years, but he still knows how to slouch. If Stallone never forgets that, he can probably keep the franchise rolling. "--Robert Horton"
Regia:
Attori: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna
Genere: Action & Adventure
Mia valutazione: 0
Rilascio teatrale: 1982 Classif.: Suitable for 18 years and over
Durata: 489
Riassunto: Rambo: First Blood [1982]
It's easy to forget that this Spartan, violent film, which begat the Rambo series, was such a big hit in 1982 because it was a good movie. Green Beret vet John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into the wrong small town to find a fellow 'Nam buddy and gets the living heck kicked out of him by the local law enforcement (led by Brian Dennehy). The vet strikes back the only way he knows how, leading to a visceral, if unrealistic, flight and fight through the local mountains. Based on the 1972 novel by David Morrell, this film saved Stallone's then-foundering career and the Rambo character became the inspiration for countless political cartoons. But this film is "Deliverance" without the moral ambiguity. --Keith Simanton
Rambo: First Blood Part II [1985]
After Rocky and its sequels, Sylvester Stallone cast about for another character that would bring him the same kind of box-office hit--and found it in disillusioned Vietnam vet John Rambo in "First Blood", a solid little action thriller. So when all else failed, Stallone went back to the same well in hopes of recapturing the same commercial success. Which this film did. But where "First Blood" was a no-nonsense thriller that pitted Stallone against a worthy (and not necessarily bad) Brian Dennehy, this one is a sadistic chest-thumper in which Rambo gets to go back to Vietnam: ostensibly, he is there to rescue missing POWs, but in fact the movie was a lame excuse for him to refight the Vietnam War--and win. Audiences ate up the cruel Vietcong (and their Russian manipulators) and Stallone's bogus heroics, but it was strictly by-the-numbers action. --Marshall Fine
Rambo III [1988]
And the hits just keep on coming. Sylvester Stallone, who can't seem to draw flies unless he's playing Rocky Balboa or John Rambo, went back to the Rambo well (or septic system, as it were) to show his well-known solidarity with the Afghan freedom fighters who battled the Soviet army in the 1980s. This time it's personal: his handler, Richard Crenna, is captured by the Evil Empire and so it is up to Rambo to leave his work in a monastery in Southeast Asia (no, seriously) in order to rescue him from the Ruskies. Ever wonder why the Russians had such a miserable time in Afghanistan? It was because Rambo took them on single-handed and sent them packing with hammer-and-sickle all the way back to Moscow. Cartoonish action, taken ever so seriously by Stallone, who was working desperately to scrape away the unsightly wax build up from his reputation. --Marshall Fine
Rambo [2008]
Twenty years after the last film in the series, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has retreated to northern Thailand, where he's running a longboat on the Salween River. On the nearby Thai-Burma (Myanmar) border, the world's longest-running civil war, the Burmese-Karen conflict, rages into its 60th year. But Rambo, who lives a solitary, simple life in the mountains and jungles fishing and catching poisonous snakes to sell, has long given up fighting, even as medics, mercenaries, rebels and peace workers pass by on their way to the war-torn region. That all changes when a group of human rights missionaries search out the "American river guide" John Rambo.
When Sarah (Julie Benz) and Michael Bennett (Paul Schulze) approach him, they explain that since last year's trek to the refugee camps, the Burmese military has laid landmines along the road, making it too dangerous for overland travel. They ask Rambo to guide them up the Salween and drop them off in order to deliver medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe. After refusing to cross into Burma, Rambo changes his mind and takes them, dropping them close to one of the Karen villages.
Less than two weeks later, he receives a visit from a pastor tellng him the aid workers did not return and the embassies have not helped locate them. The pastor has mortgaged his home and raised money from his congregation to hire mercenaries to free the missionaries, who are being held captive by the Burmese army. Although the United States military trained him to be a lethal super soldier in Vietnam, decades later Rambo's reluctance for violence and conflict are palpable. However, the lone warrior knows what he must do...
Attori: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna
Genere: Action & Adventure
Mia valutazione: 0
Rilascio teatrale: 1982 Classif.: Suitable for 18 years and over
Durata: 489
Riassunto: Rambo: First Blood [1982]
It's easy to forget that this Spartan, violent film, which begat the Rambo series, was such a big hit in 1982 because it was a good movie. Green Beret vet John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into the wrong small town to find a fellow 'Nam buddy and gets the living heck kicked out of him by the local law enforcement (led by Brian Dennehy). The vet strikes back the only way he knows how, leading to a visceral, if unrealistic, flight and fight through the local mountains. Based on the 1972 novel by David Morrell, this film saved Stallone's then-foundering career and the Rambo character became the inspiration for countless political cartoons. But this film is "Deliverance" without the moral ambiguity. --Keith Simanton
Rambo: First Blood Part II [1985]
After Rocky and its sequels, Sylvester Stallone cast about for another character that would bring him the same kind of box-office hit--and found it in disillusioned Vietnam vet John Rambo in "First Blood", a solid little action thriller. So when all else failed, Stallone went back to the same well in hopes of recapturing the same commercial success. Which this film did. But where "First Blood" was a no-nonsense thriller that pitted Stallone against a worthy (and not necessarily bad) Brian Dennehy, this one is a sadistic chest-thumper in which Rambo gets to go back to Vietnam: ostensibly, he is there to rescue missing POWs, but in fact the movie was a lame excuse for him to refight the Vietnam War--and win. Audiences ate up the cruel Vietcong (and their Russian manipulators) and Stallone's bogus heroics, but it was strictly by-the-numbers action. --Marshall Fine
Rambo III [1988]
And the hits just keep on coming. Sylvester Stallone, who can't seem to draw flies unless he's playing Rocky Balboa or John Rambo, went back to the Rambo well (or septic system, as it were) to show his well-known solidarity with the Afghan freedom fighters who battled the Soviet army in the 1980s. This time it's personal: his handler, Richard Crenna, is captured by the Evil Empire and so it is up to Rambo to leave his work in a monastery in Southeast Asia (no, seriously) in order to rescue him from the Ruskies. Ever wonder why the Russians had such a miserable time in Afghanistan? It was because Rambo took them on single-handed and sent them packing with hammer-and-sickle all the way back to Moscow. Cartoonish action, taken ever so seriously by Stallone, who was working desperately to scrape away the unsightly wax build up from his reputation. --Marshall Fine
Rambo [2008]
Twenty years after the last film in the series, John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) has retreated to northern Thailand, where he's running a longboat on the Salween River. On the nearby Thai-Burma (Myanmar) border, the world's longest-running civil war, the Burmese-Karen conflict, rages into its 60th year. But Rambo, who lives a solitary, simple life in the mountains and jungles fishing and catching poisonous snakes to sell, has long given up fighting, even as medics, mercenaries, rebels and peace workers pass by on their way to the war-torn region. That all changes when a group of human rights missionaries search out the "American river guide" John Rambo.
When Sarah (Julie Benz) and Michael Bennett (Paul Schulze) approach him, they explain that since last year's trek to the refugee camps, the Burmese military has laid landmines along the road, making it too dangerous for overland travel. They ask Rambo to guide them up the Salween and drop them off in order to deliver medical supplies and food to the Karen tribe. After refusing to cross into Burma, Rambo changes his mind and takes them, dropping them close to one of the Karen villages.
Less than two weeks later, he receives a visit from a pastor tellng him the aid workers did not return and the embassies have not helped locate them. The pastor has mortgaged his home and raised money from his congregation to hire mercenaries to free the missionaries, who are being held captive by the Burmese army. Although the United States military trained him to be a lethal super soldier in Vietnam, decades later Rambo's reluctance for violence and conflict are palpable. However, the lone warrior knows what he must do...