Anyone who watched Hong Kong movies when they were young will remember a scene: Chow Yun-fat took a dozen raw eggs and sat at the dining table, crushed them one by one into a cup, and poured them all in one breath.
After drinking, he said to the people next to him: "Bruce Lee passed this trick to Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan passed it on to Stallone, Stallone passed it on to Ti Long, and Ti Long taught it to me."
This segment is from "The Tiger Comes Out", which is actually a tribute to "Rocky", and at the same time cue "The True Colors of a Hero".
In Chinese action movies, Bruce Lee is the pioneer of Chinese Kung Fu movies, bringing Chinese Kung Fu to the international stage, Jackie Chan, Jet Li and other people have carried forward it.
In American action movies, Stallone and Schwarzenegger are Tarzan and Big Dipper in the ranking of martial arts movie stars.
Personally, I don't like the "Terminator" series very much, so I didn't touch Schwarzenegger's movies.
But I like the "Rocky" series played by Stallone very much. I think the "Rocky" series is more than just an action film. It combines the narrative method of a documentary in the form of a movie and tells the life of the legendary boxer Rocky. 6 All films talk about boxing, but not boxing at all.
The sequels of many movies generally fail to surpass their predecessors, especially martial arts movies, but "Rocky" is one of the few exceptions.
One of the drawbacks of martial arts movies is the fixed ending. We say that movies are imperfect art because they are affected by the box office. If the movie does not sell well, the audience does not buy it, the investor will have no money, and the director will not have the resources to make the movie. Therefore, movies are somewhat commercial, which often affects the artistry of the work, that is, "dancing in shackles".
This is the limitation of the movie. The director understands what kind of ending the audience wants to see. Even if he wants to change, the investors are unwilling to change, and the audience is unwilling to change-people don't want to see the hero being defeated.
Then in the case of a fixed ending, the director wants to arouse the emotions of the audience, he needs to use the arduous training of the plot characters, wonderful fights, ups and downs, plus a series of methods such as music rendering, editing shots, etc. to highlight the tension. Exciting atmosphere.
Beginning at the end
The "Rocky" series from 1 to 6 talks about the life of boxing champion Rocky, from his fortune to his fame, from the peak to the fall, and from Dongshan to the heroic twilight.
What’s more rare is that each movie uses different rendering techniques to arouse the audience’s atmosphere. Even if the same theme song is used, in each movie, as long as the theme song is played, your blood can’t help it. It starts to boil, your hands start to wave, your throat growls involuntarily, your eyes are wide open, staring at the fist to the flesh on the ring, can't help clenching your fists, and slam every punch in the rhythm of the boxer.
In series 1 and 2, the script is set as a pure inspirational film routine. An unknown boxer, with only talent but no fighting spirit, can only become a loan sharker. Suddenly he was picked by the boxing champion Apollo and gave him a chance to have an exhibition match with the boxing champion. When everyone was not optimistic, he seized the opportunity. After months of hard training, he finally fought with Apollo. It became a tie.
Rocky 1 is an autobiographical film by Stallone, and it is also his own script. When he sold the script to MGM, one of the conditions was that he had to star in the movie as the protagonist.
The script of Rocky 1 is relatively ordinary and the film funding is tight. It is a small production. The protagonist Rocky’s starring Stallone’s expressions and lines are slightly stiff, but these hardware conditions cannot affect "Rocky" to become a classic. One factor is the film's main theme-the American dream, and the other factor is the filming technique of the film.
Each era has its own film characteristics. Some films will use shooting techniques to render the sense of the times. For example, "Schindler's List" and other films will use documentary black and white colors to restore the historical sense of the silent film era of World War II. "The Godfather" and "Once Upon a Time in America" used heavy film colors to render the chaotic era of American gangs rampant in the 1940s and 1950s.
"Rocky" itself has a strong sense of realism in the 70s and 80s. The character depiction, the background of the story, and the soundtrack of the lines are all in place. It truly describes the experience of the little character struggling and turning over. This is a popular script.
"Rocky" has a simple structure and sincere feelings, which is a very important point for inspirational films. But the reason why many movies have become classics is that they created a precedent. Before "Rocky", fewer movies would use physical training as a selling point to incite the audience's emotions. Rocky did it and was imitated by many movies. .
I don’t know if there are other boys who used Rocky’s theme song as an alarm clock, urging him to learn Rocky’s morning run, but I actually lost 20 pounds because of this song.
In Rocky 1 and 2, a word often appears-chance.
The opportunity for a small person to stand up is also an opportunity that must be firmly grasped. In order to show Rocky's dedication to this opportunity, the director continues to portray the toughness of Boxer Rocky, from constantly challenging the limit in training to toughness in fighting, not hesitating to cut his swollen eyelids, and fight his opponents with blood.
Therefore, the fighting scenes of the films in 1 and 2 ended with Rocky's difficult 15 rounds.
Make a comeback
In order to avoid aesthetic fatigue, in Rocky 3, the director used another rendering technique-rendering opponents, Rocky also began to use tactics in boxing.
This rendering technique is very successful. From a personal point of view, Rocky 1 and Rocky 3 are the two best shots in the series, and Rocky 6 is the second best.
In Rocky 3, the portrayal of the final opponent Clauber Lim was very successful. The director resembled the image of the arrogant Apollo at the beginning, and reshaped a gloomy, tyrannical, deformed and powerful boxer Klau. Bo Lim’s role as the villain incited the hostility of the audience, making everyone eager to see the scene of the villain being abused in blood.
The director also figured out what the audience wanted to see, and in the third round, Rocky knocked out his opponent.
At the same time, Rocky’s own fighting literacy has also been continuously improved. It is obvious that the final fighting scene in Rocky 3 is more exciting and exciting, with punches to the flesh, both sides punching faster and more powerful.
Rocky also evolved from the “orangutan play” and “clumsy footsteps” at the beginning to an excellent boxer with agility and tactics. As Mitch said: “10% of boxing is in the body, and the remaining 90% is in the body. In the brain."
What has improved at the same time as his skill is Rocky's acting skills, his expression and language are more natural and more agile. The life of a boxer is in the ring, and Rocky has become more flexible in the ring and his style of play is becoming more mature, just like his life outside the ring.
In Rocky 4, politics was introduced into the movie as an element.
The shooting year of Rocky 4 was 1985, when the Soviet-American competition was intensifying. The story of Rocky 4 was also described in the political background at the time.
Sports competitions can easily be linked to politics and ethnicity, which is why the word "Sick Man of East Asia" often appears in early domestic Kung Fu movies.
People believe that fighting is one of the indicators that best reflects the strength of a nation. Therefore, as long as kung fu movies can involve political significance, the incitement to the plot tends to rise exponentially, and it can play a huge role in promoting box office, word of mouth, and level.
China is a master of kung fu movies, starting from the Bruce Lee era, to the Hong Kong film era, and then to the Wu Jing film series in recent years.
Therefore, in almost all sports competitions, we have a tacit understanding. It is glory to be able to play internationally.
This is especially true for fighting. If you win internally, you are the champion of the ring; if you win externally, you are a national hero.
The director used this kind of rendering to set Rocky as an American hero. In the ending, he also added a statement calling for peace in an attempt to sublimate the theme, but the result was not satisfactory.
The treasure is not old
The most important point in Rocky 5 is inheritance, as Adrian said, Rocky's purpose is to pass on his warrior heart.
Starting from Rocky 5, Stallone hoped to express his inner attitude with boxing. On Rocky 5, I saw the shadow of Rocky 1, also with sincere emotions and passion.
In Rocky 5, we see Rocky's affection for his son as a father. Seeing his summary and experience of his life, seeing his maturity, stability, and forgiveness, seeing his gradually vicissitudes of face, seeing his gradually becoming wise.
We also saw his longing for Mickey, his love for boxing, and his attempt to pass on his fighting spirit to Tommy's hopes.
"Rocky" is a series of films with a strong autobiography of Stallone. He is like many middle-aged people who have been in life for many years and have seen many dark middle-aged people. He gradually understands who has been protecting him in his early life. , Staying away from those dark and filth, allowed him to continue his ring career as a pure boxer.
And he has also reached the age to guide the next generation of youth, which made him nervous and excited. As he said, he seemed to live a lifetime again and walked the championship road again.
By Rocky 6, the Rocky series is not just boxing itself, it is the heart of fighters, facing invincible enemies, turning fear into flames, never giving up, and facing the irresistible oppression of life. , Struggle hard.
The following scene can be used as a summary of the "Rocky" series.
"The hard blows life gives you are not how many hard blows you can take, but how much you can withstand, just like a boxing against your opponent in an arena. No matter how much you take, you should keep moving forward with the hard blows."
This is the improvement of Rocky itself. In Rocky 1, he is just a downcast street gangster, a bum.
Apollo gave him a chance, and he used his tenacity to seize the opportunity to climb up, which made his life improved to a certain extent. But living with him is like being on a ring. Although he is resilient, he is not flexible and adaptable, and his outlook is still downright after a while.
We can see that at Rocky 1, Stallone's expression and language are obviously insensitive, but at Rocky 2, this feeling is less.
Until Rocky 3, trained by Apollo, he gradually approached the black boxer's style of play, with flexible footwork and agile speed. Just as he has become more agile and agile in his life, he has evolved from a pure boxer to a boxer who can use strategy.
Until the next few episodes, Rocky gradually formed his own tactics in his play style, and also formed his own philosophy of life. He has been as Mickey expected at the beginning, and he can take care of himself in life outside the ring. All right.
Life Mentor-Mickey
Every little person has a heroic dream hidden in his heart, just like every young man once lived with a rock in his heart.
But not everyone can discover their inner dreams. Bole does not often have them.
Mickey is Rocky’s Bole, like a master like a father.
The Rocky series is a record of the growth of the boxing champion, from obscurity to fame to the best. But when he was silent, only Mickey believed him, and only Mickey had different hopes for him, spurned him and wasted his talent, and deplored his self-willingness and depravity.
When he got the chance to face off with Apollo, everyone thought he had no chance of winning, only Mickey thought he had hope and made a complete training plan for him.
In "Rocky 1", Mickey laid the unique path for Rocky's rise: constantly surpassing the limit. The greatest significance of training is to challenge the limit, challenge yourself, constantly exceed the limit, and constantly surpass yourself.
The passing of Mickey was also a huge blow to Rocky. In the following decades of life, whether in the arena or in life, Mickey once taught him things, and Rocky regarded it as a life motto.
Mickey became the beacon of Rocky's life, whether it was encountering an unrivaled opponent in the arena or training the next generation as an avatar instructor, he gave him the direction to move forward.
Forever opponent-Apollo
"Rocky" has always conveyed a belief that an excellent fighter can use all the tools to make himself stronger, and the most important thing is the warrior's heart.
Fight against people and fight against nature.
We all know that drama always needs a variety of conflicts to set off the climax of the plot.
In the Rocky series, the conflict of the plot is the struggle between boxers. This struggle is not only in the ring, but also between the conflicts of the boxers' personality.
If the Lodge is water, it is low-key and restrained, calm like a lake, and turbulent like a sea. Then Apollo is the opposite fire, fierce as the wind, and majestic as a mountain.
Two completely different personalities, due to the battle, create a strong friendship between two people.
One of the most implemented missions of Rocky's six parts is the Heart of Warriors.
All external factors such as money and status cannot change the heart of a fighter. Boxers fight for glory, while fighters fight for battle. Just like Apollo said, "A fighter is born cruel. He is not like a radio. It’s like turning on and off at will, but you must fight."
we were born to be a fighter.
True friendship is not only like-minded, but also a deep understanding.
Before Apollo in Rocky 4, Rocky had a hunch, but he couldn't stop it. He understood what his comrades-in-arms and his opponents hoped for.
In the end, Apollo was killed in the arena, and when Rocky held the white towel that stopped the battle tightly, the warrior's drum in his heart had also sounded.
"Live to death."
This is a motto that a good boxer must have, as Rocky said when facing a strong opponent: "Maybe I can't win, maybe the only thing I can do is to endure his punches like a rain. But to beat me , He must kill me; and to kill me, he must have the courage to stand in front of me; and to stand in front of me, he must die at all costs."
"When you can't stand it, hold it for another round, it will make your life different."
Boxing is true, life is also true.
View more about Rocky reviews
