Film Junk Premium Podcast: The Rocky Saga
As Sylvester Stallone returns to his roots once again with The Expendables 2, we decided that it was the perfect time to revisit the iconic movie franchise that launched the Italian Stallion’s career. From Rocky to Rocky Balboa, the six movies that make up The Rocky Saga span three decades of American pop culture and in many ways parallel Stallone’s own personal highs and lows. They also offer plenty of juicy topics for discussion including the music of Frank Stallone, favourite training techniques, how to reprogram a robot, and of course, the power of the montage. Is Rocky more American than apple pie? Is Sly Stallone really an underappreciated renaissance man? Should we even acknowledge the existence of Rocky V? Let’s start building some hurting bombs.
This series of premium podcasts was created to help support the regular weekly Film Junk Podcast. Head on over to Bandcamp and download full episodes for a minimum donation of just 99 cents. As always, let us know if you experience any technical difficulties or if you have any other suggestions for future specials. Thanks for your support!
Comments (24)
I get the message that part 7 is corrupted.
Downloaded the standard MP3 320 version if that makes any difference.
Posted by Kasper on August 21st, 2012Purchased!
@Kasper: I didn’t get any error messages here. Did you try and redownload?
Posted by Bob Bobson on August 22nd, 2012Acquired! 30$ as usual! Thx guys for another great installment.
Posted by Jay on August 22nd, 2012#2 Yes. I’ll try downloading in another format.
Posted by Kasper on August 22nd, 2012Kasper: You could even try redownloading that particular file in the same format. I’ve had a few people mention corrupted files with previous episodes but then they’ve downloaded it again and it was fine.
Posted by Sean on August 22nd, 2012The day is saved! Just for good measure I downloaded both in another format, saw Seans post, and then redownloaded in MP3 320 and it worked.
Posted by Kasper on August 22nd, 2012Now, listening to the podcast, this is an outrage! I can’t believe Jay is the only one who likes Rocky IV – the movie is amazing. I’m very disappointed…
Amazing soundtrack, tons of training montages (the more the merrier), hilarious comedic story, great fights, great one-liners and Dolph Lundgren, the best Rocky Villain of them all! 4/4 – 5/5.
Posted by Kasper on August 22nd, 2012Frank Stallone had some really itneresting discussion on an Adam Carolla podcast about the Rocky’s, his relationship with his brother, and how he only made like 200 bucks from the “Take it Back” song from the film. I guess y’all could try n google the episode.
Posted by Jason Martynowski on August 22nd, 2012I haven’t listened yet, but I agree with Kasper part IV is a “masterpiece”!
Posted by Curtis Williams on August 22nd, 2012I love (LOVE) that Jay pointed out that Rocky’s son changed significantly between movies, especially from IV to V. When Rocky went to the USSR did he use a strange time machine? That is the only way to explain his son gaining about 5 years in age over the span of a few months. I sensed then that V was headed in a very bad direction.
Posted by Bob on August 22nd, 2012OH, and Frank is dead nuts on about using the video game Fight Night as the simulation making more sense. ESPN uses EA games like Madden all the time to show how plays are run and stuff. They have the anchors standing next to life size models directly from the game and walk you through it. EA has the ESPN lisence. It would have made perfect sense to use it.
Posted by Jason Martynowski on August 22nd, 2012Sean is out to lunch, Tom Cruise runs better than anyone. Stallone is good, but not Tom Cruise good. TC can even walk with a level of intensity that most people could only dream of, club scene in Collateral is proof of this.
Posted by patrik on August 22nd, 2012the fact that rocky owns a restaurant also correlates with Stallone owning a restaurant: (Planet Hollywood)
also worths to mention how badly his films bombed from 1997-2006
he was no longer a movie star/boxer during that time.
Posted by kyri on August 22nd, 2012Rhetorical Question: (to remain unanswered)
What’s your Top 5 Stallone films outside Rocky/Rambo franchise?
No1 Judge Dredd.
No2 CopLand.
No3 Cliffhanger.
No4 Tango&Cash.
No5 Cobra.
Best director:
-Staying Alive-
Top 5 Sly films you haven’t seen yet. (I haven’t seen yet)
No1: Paradise Alley
Posted by kyri on August 22nd, 2012No2: Nighthawks
No3: F.I.S.T
No4: Daylight.
No5: Get Carter.
Clearly kyri has never heard of Demolition Man.
Posted by Colin on August 23rd, 2012About Mr. T — I watched the bouncer competition live, which Wikipedia reminds me was in 1980 on “Games People Play” on NBC. It was gloriously cheesy. Each contestant was timed running a bar-themed obstacle course. They started behind the bar and had to run from one end to the other, then vault over. There was a stuntman “drunk” they had to toss, then weave through a bunch of tables. The last obstacle was a closed wooden door they had to force their way through, and a bell to ring on the other side of the door.
Each of the prior contestants had to really lower their shoulder into the door to get it open, some more than once, then they would pull the string to ring the bell. Mr. T went last, and he broke the door down by punching it, then punched the bell and its housing off the wall entirely. Let me tell you, I hit the FUCKING CEILING when this happened. It was absolutely tremendous. I wish you could see it, but it doesn’t appear there’s any surviving video.
In retrospect, it seems clear that the whole thing was a sham, probably engineered by some talent agent specifically to make a star of this huge, glowering, mohawked black man. It looks clownish now, and there probably was a minstrel aspect to Mr. T all along, but he was the first black guy to be allowed to be that badassed in the dominant pop culture, I think.
Rocky III was the next time anybody saw him, almost two years later, so the effect was still there. Then, you’re right he was in a bunch of stuff right away, and began playing against type and cultivating a more cuddly, kid-friendly persona almost immediately. It really was a masterstroke of image management, even knowing he had to cash in as much as possible ASAP.
Posted by sansho1 on August 23rd, 2012@sansho1: That’s a great fucking story.
Posted by Greg on August 23rd, 2012I love demolition Man, but …Cobra has the tooth-stick
Posted by kyri on August 23rd, 2012I’m glad that Jay mentioned “Go for it!” It’s absolutely brutal, even more so in the Sage Stallone scene..
Posted by patrik on August 23rd, 2012Can’t believe no one mention Jay’s rendition of Hearts on Fire. http://youtu.be/16fO9tEzz0o
Posted by Bob on August 23rd, 2012“it’s the only thing from Rocky IV that doesn’t make sense”
Would it not be weird if we had two different parties in one Film? One for Paulies Birthday and then another for their anniversary? Clearly Rocky merged the two for the greater good..
Posted by kyri on August 23rd, 2012@kyri don’t bother seeing Daylight, it’s fucking brutal
great job guys
Posted by Tony D'Amico on August 23rd, 2012Has anyone been able to find the video footage for Mr T. in the Worlds Toughest Boxer Competition? I remember watching this back in 1980.
Posted by Bryan on September 30th, 2012I believe that Stallone made “Rocky” partly in response to not being cast in the Godfather movies. Almost all the actors of Italian descent were picked up for the Godfather movies and for some reason Stallone was overlooked. How different would Stallone’s career have been if he had been cast in The Godfather…
Posted by Dken1 on April 14th, 2013Leave a Reply