A Film at 45: Rocky II

0:00 Hello everyone, and welcome back to nineteen seventy nine in a Film Buys limited series A Film at forty five. I'm David Burns and I'm Scott Hoffmann, and as always, we're dusting off the end of a decade the changed cinema forever with a fresh look at modern classics and hidden gems that we can't stop watching. In this episode, we're stepping back into the ring for one of the biggest sports sagas in film history, Rocky Too. It's one thing I wanted your tree? What give me? When? Wit? Wait? Wait, you got the decision? Man. I'm fun, but I didn't beat him. I just want to say what there to my wife? You'll wait, dude, you adrid, I did it. We are headed into the ring with the Italian Stallion Rocky Balboa and Sylvester Stallone's Rocky two. But we are not doing it alone. Joining us in this heavyweight rematch is a huge Rocky fan, and we had no doubts he would be joining us for this one. We have the one, the only Jeff Johnson. Jeff, Welcome to a Film at forty five, guys. After so many episodes and so many amazing movies, you guys have captured in seventy eight and already in seventy

1:32 nine. I've been looking forward to this one. I was so excited when you invited me on this one. So thank you very much for that. Absolutely I got we wouldn't do it without you. There's no way. Soon as I saw this on the list of like and just go ahead and pimple jeff In, Oh yeah, that's a good Yeah, absolutely so, gentlemen, I have a question, and a very serious one. I must ask why do cowls wear bells because their horns desert? Oh? I got it. I killed too many times. It killed in third grade. I don't know why. It was laughing right, well, Scott, just like Alien that we recently covered, I'm hoping that everyone has seen this film, but just in case they haven't, how would you describe this film to them?

2:16 Well? And hopefully those same people have watched the first Rocky otherwise this will make a lot of sense. The ring of the last bell is still echoing as we catch up with Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa shortly after their latest match shook up the boxing world. Rating world champ. Apollo won the fight, but not as easily as expected. This leaves Apollo plagued by doubt that's compounded by the public. Was Rocky just lucky or is Apollo still worthy of being the champ. Rocky is also realizing that post life isn't all that he expected. The money doesn't last long, and everyone wants to cash in on his fame. All he wants to do is start a nice life with Adrian and leave the fight behind. But the last bell is still ringing. Apollo wants a rematch, and Rocky struggles with a big decision. Go for another round risks his health and possibly his life, or leave the boxing world behind.

3:04 This is a film that proves that powerful boxing movies are about much more than what happens in the ring. This is Rocket two, and you know, Rocky needs to learn how to budget because he didn't do a really good job at that in this movie. Yeah, you know so much. I gotta tell you, so, he tells Gazo. He clears thirty seven thousand dollars after you know, after the fight. Yep, taxes, taxes kill you. It's it's a shockingly small number when you're watching it in twenty twenty four, But then you got to think adjusted for inflation, that's nearly one hundred and sixty thousand dollars. So Scott's absolutely right. He he blows through this money in a hurry. Well he's bleeding right like it's it's just money that's going as the clock ticks and no prospect of what to do next other than you know, weird Fred Flintstone type commercials on the side. Right, he staffed to shave the poor guy. Come on, let's give it a break.

4:06 Yeah, not very good at being an actor that, there's no doubt about. That. Failed at that, failed at the meat packing. Well he didn't fail at it. I guess they just let him go. He hit the he hit the bad road of it all, and luckily Adrian came through went back to work at the pet store. Right, but let's back up a little bit. So this film opens up what first six minutes seven minutes are the ending of the first Rocky. We're getting to see a himt Apollo Creed uh duking it out a little bit again. And then we pick up right there with the trip to the in an ambulance to the hospital, and of course Pollo Creed wants to apparently continue to fight there in the lobby of the hospital. Yeah, he's a little upset, a little a little it definitely felt like I had some Karate Kid two vibes right where it's just kind of like, all right, right after the last one, here's where it, you know, picks up kind of the aftermath of the fight, and yeah, he's he's trying to taunt him in front of the press the whole time, and it's just kind of like, guys, calmed down, Yeah, you can't walk, you know, Scott, I liked I liked that you you mentioned Kardi Kid too, because I'm wondering and you guys might might have the answer because I don't. The beginning of this film, that's that six to seven minutes, which is basically the end of the first one.

5:28 You know, Scott had mentioned like, hey, if you haven't seen Rocky, you might be a little lost. But but I don't know how lost you'd be because we get this this uh, this this interesting opening. I don't know if that had ever been done in a in a film franchise before, had it. I can't recall if it had it or not. To this point, I don't think so. And I mean some of the other sequels might not necessarily be picking right up where it left off kind of ideas, right, It's kind of like more of the same but in a different setting, right, Yeah, because I mean right, I mean, the Rocky franchise kind of sets us up as like this is we we always expect it, right when you when you go to see Rocky three, you know you're gonna get the ending of two, and when you see four, you know you're gonna get the r inga three. It's when we expect it from from this franchise. I just I think it's pretty cool, Like I don't recall that ever happening with another film franchise. That is that is interesting to think about. But yeah, I mean it sets up the whole story right then and there for you, so you know what to expect. I mean, some good things happen to Rocky here, right. You know, he gets he proposes to Adrian at the zoo. You know, they get married, she gets pregnant with her child. They get a house or a condo or a townhouse, wherever you want to call it. So some good things have happened. He's retired. You know, things are seemed to be going the correct way for Rocky here. But of course, you know, things come tumbling down for him, and you know he's unfortunately gonna have to find his way back into the ring. And it's not just because he wants to. Obviously, it's Apollo Creed who really pulls him back into that ring

7:00 because he's what the Italian chicken, uh basically is what Apollo is calling him. The one scene that I absolutely loved is when he came home and he's loving on his dog, you know, the TV's on, and then you get that interview with Apollo, you know, calling him out, and I think the interviewers too are calling him out that you know, he needs to come back and do it, and you could see it in his face his reactions, and he really didn't say anything to Adrian. He just what turned around, walked up the steps and uh, you know Adriane come out of the kitchen, you know, so you could just see it on his face what was going to have to happen. It's crushing because you know, you get Conti's that that sad score, that sad Rocky score, and there's so much going on inside of inside of this guy that he's not he's not sharing with people and I'll go ahead and say it, I this is some of I think this is someone Stalone's best work in the Rocky franchise when it comes to emoting, you know what I mean? You know Dave like, yeah, you know what I you know you mentioned agent going back to the pet store. Just the shame and the embarrassment that he has having that conversation with her. He doesn't want her to do it, but he you know, he's kind of given. He's kind of like, you wouldn't mind doing that, You're sure you want to do that? And when she's like, yeah, we need the money, he finishes his workout. But then he gets that snarl that that Mickey loves, and you just see the anger is releasing him when he's hitting that, he's punishing that bag in the basement. I know there were some kind of autobiographical beats from Stillone with this as well,

8:33 right knowing that he had what was it before this? There is Paradise, Paradise Ye Fist And both of them did well, so they weren't necessarily failures, but they weren't as successful as Rocky. So I think maybe a lot of that went into his emoting. Like you said, Jeff his performance in these scenes to be like, you know, is this who I want to be because it seems like it's who everybody wants me to be, and him him coming to terms who who he is. You know, he has that moment with with Adrian that we we just discussed, you know, don't I never asked you to stop being a woman. Don't ask me to stop being a man. But again back to his his his range that he shows here when he's like, you know what, I'm just gonna be what they expect me to be. I'm going to be a fighter. Mm hm. When he goes to Mickey to say, hey, let's let's get back in the gym, let's fight. Uh. You know the disappointment that he gets when Mickey's like, you know you don't you got the heart, but you don't got the tools anymore, and just the desperation where he's like, hell, well maybe I could help out around the gym, and you know, mix like what do you want to carry towels and spit buckets? Where's your dignity?

9:46 And he that line, you know, he's near tears stallone. You can see the tears welling up in his eyes and he's like, I gotta be around it. Yeah, he even says, you know, you're royalty around here, so you would be seen on that, you know, just the idea that he's willing to sacrifice his dignity just so he can be a part of that that world. And like I said, the tears welling up in his eyes and then mix saying all right, you know, see it tomorrow. And when his voice breaks, like when you listen and you hear his voice break it when he says thanks Mick, you know, he's walking down those steps crying. Oh yeah, it's it's such a it's such a it's such a heartbreaking scene. Well, and it's one of it's one of the better rocky Balbo moments in this entire franchise as far as I'm concerned.

10:31 Yeah, well, I mean, and I think he's feeling like not a lot of people are accepting him, like he's not really worthy of Adrian. I think is part of the thoughts that's going around in his head. Even when he's proposing, it's in his usual kind of you know, the way he delivers the dialogue and his usual speech pattern, but it almost sounds a little apologetic, like he's creeping into it, like real slow, like testing the waters before he does it, because I think he's always thinking, like, you know, I'm not good enough for this lady. And for me to be able to continue to be good enough for I got to do everything that I can't. Yeah, well, I think one thing to take in as well here, I mean, think about this is the late seventies, and when we saw this the first time, we were we were little kids, right, so we didn't at least I didn't connect make this kind of connection. But think about the the average guy going to see this in the in the late seventies and think about Rockies, think about the hit that his masculinity takes because in the late seventies, like the man was the was the breadwinner, right, the man had to provide for the family. The man like that. That whole, that whole aspect, that whole way of looking at things. So you gotta wonder, like, you know, if you're if you're an adult male watching this in nineteen seventy nine, how are you connecting with Rocky And what kind of what kind of stuff is that you know, dredging up in your in your head? Yeah, you know, one of the things that really bothers me in this is when Polly approaches Adrian in

12:03 the pet store. Yeah, yeah, that's you know, I understand what Polly's trying to do, because I mean, let's let's let's really think about this. Rocky was struggling in training because his mind was not in it, because he thought Adrian didn't want him to do it right. So he was struggling on training and we're getting closer and closer to the fight with Apollo, and Nicky's right, man, you're gonna get yourself killed. You know, even got there to embarrass yourself because you're not ready for this. And I forgore with the number he threw out there. It's like forty five minutes. You gotta do what forty five hundred hours or forty five thousand? That's what, forty five thousand minutes. And you know they didn't have time to waste.

12:46 But Polly approaching Adrian like that in the pet store, man, that just broke my heart because it's like, what are you doing? Man? You know she's pregnant, she's working her butt off, and you approach her like that. Really? Yeah, I mean, I'll tell you Shires, another person that has great performances in this and I've always felt sorry for Adrian because she always feels like somebody who probably has a history of mental or verbal abuse in some way. So you know that she's always kind of wilting, she's always kind of like bowing her head, possibly with family, possibly with Pollie, And that's that's not the way to go about it. That is absolutely not the way to go about it, and it big backfires in a big way. Scene. This scene is so important not only to the film but to the character of Polly because we need to see he's always been that guy that you don't like him, but you have to love him because he's family. And when you think about his relationship with Adrian in the first film, Scott, You're absolutely right there is there's a long history of abusive, abusive treatment where he is. He's always been ragging on her. He's always been, you know, tearing her down, whether it's emotionally or mentally.

14:03 Uh, you gotta wonder physically sometimes. But this scene kind of harkens back to the that whole, that whole thing in Rocky where we need it so that she can make a stand right she does. She met she does a great moment, the pivotal moment of the first Rocky film where she loses it and she's like, what do I owe you? I do? You know, she kind of she stands up for herself the first time. Yeah, you can't expect that the relationship is mended in that moment. So we're gonna have to see it through the rest of this franchise now, albeit it gets a little bit more easy, I guess, a little more, a little more nicer along the way. But but that moment, you know, he's Pauli is one of those guys, like you got to take issue with him, but you can't be all the way angry with him because he's just trying to help. He's not doing it the right way, but he's just trying to help. In this scene, in this moment, it was it was just tough to watch. You know, It's exactly why it was there.

14:52 You know, it's it's tough to watch, but you know it leads us eventually. We we know she goes into a calma. You know, she has the baby, Rocky still struggling, and it leads me to another scene that I absolutely love between Mickey and Rocky when they're in the chapel. That's another one of my favorite scenes in this movie. And you know, Mickey again, you know, he knows things are going on, he knows Adrian's and Acoma. Rocky is struggling with that, but he still has to approach him about, you know, being in the ring, you know, because it's important to him, because he doesn't want to get Rocky killed for crying out loud. You know, he knows he has to get prepared, and they're running out of time, and it's just that conversation they have right there I thought was really really not a good place to do it, maybe not with what was going on with Adrian before the story. I think it added so much more depth. Would you guys consider that moment with Burgess Meredith, Would that be one of his better moments in the three movies that he's or the four movies that he's a part of. I would say yes, I think so. You know, he clearly he's a surrogate father for Rocky yep and Dave, I think you hit it right on the head, like a good father. He's trying to explain to him what he needs to do, what his responsibilities currently are. But He also, like a good father is like, you know what, I'll sit here with you. If that's what you need to do, then I'll stay as long as you as long as you like. So it's a very tender moment and one of the better moments for Mickey Goldmill as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, I totally agree,

16:22 and I mean the fact that he he wants him to succeed because he wants to see Rocky succeed. He doesn't want to ride the coattails of that and be in the corner of a multimillion dollar chant. He just wants this kid that he's always believed in to be able to do the best that he can and find happiness in a way that's you know, not breaking legs or breaking the law, right, It's about loving him and supporting him wherever he is, whatever he decides to do, and knowing that there's moments to push and there's moments to prop him up. I think Purchas Mary that does a fun nominal job in this aside from being absolutely golden entertainment every time he's on the screen, especially like the scene where he's you know, having him chase the chicken and his voice is breaking a little bit, and that whole uh, that Popeye type inflection that he has is just it's just entertaining to listen to, like God in another world. I wish there was a Popeye movie starring Burgess Meredith. That would just be amazing. It kind of reminds me of when we covered foul Play last year when he played mister Hennessy. Remember you guys, you guys did that one with Jason Colvin. That's a that's a fantastic episode. I love that one. Every time I see my screen, I think you have missed mister Hennessy and I just laugh. But yeah, Birds, Meredith knocked it out of the park in this movie. There there's no doubt about that, you know. And he does stick right there with

17:53 him, you know, he's there in that entire montage where Rocky is, you know, reading the books to Adrian, right there with her the whole time and builds up to Jeff I know, is one of your favorite moments when when she says There's one thing I want you to do for me win. That was just spectacular moment, right that. That might be the best kickoff to a Rocky training montage in the entire series, as far as far as I'm concerned, he is. Rocky is just so happy and elated that Adrian's out of the coma. He's just moving wanting to move forward. Hey, you don't want to mix it with Creed no more. We'll figure it out. And when she gets behind him, you know, because we know, like typically, Adrian is not overly supportive of Rocky's fighting career. And it's not because she doesn't think he can win. It's because she's she's concerned for his health and as well being. Right the first movie, she comes from a position of why do you want to fight? And you know, and it's not that she has a choice in it. She just wants to understand it. But in the second one, she does understand it, and she knows the consequences and she's and then you know, this is where we see Adrian take that stance of you can do anything you want, you just you don't have to be a fighter. So for her to get behind him like that and just you know, one thing I want you to do for me win And then Kanci's score hits yep, Mickey, what are we waiting for? You know? So good, We're already behind Let's go. Yeah.

19:23 So I you know, I've seen this movie a thousand times probably, and every time when that happens, I jump up. Yeah, you know, I'm excited. It is an incredible moment. And yeah, and leading into that amazing montage of Rocky training which we see us so much. But man, you just cannot get enough of that at all, and Kanti score, how it just builds and builds and builds, and then we go into the running scene where he runs and you get all those kids running behind him, and then when he goes full speed and you just hear that go, go go, and he just digs off running and that score. Oh my god, man, just it gives you a chill. It's give me kills now. Yeah. Well, and what's awesome about this moment we get and I got a lot of this credit goes to Kanty, right, because we get the going the distance track from the time that you know, she says when we get a whole training montage, and then that segues into the popular track from the first film, Gonna Fly now. So it's like it's almost like double double bill CONTI greatness because we get the fight the training montage and then it goes right in this running which I don't know if you guys looked into this, but Andy, Tom and I when we talked, when we talked Rocky on the nineteen seventy six series, which was a fantastic episode.

20:44 He's from Philly. If you're running from South Philly to the museum, Yeah, it's just over thirty miles. Rocky steps at the end, Yeah, and then steps. Rocky is doing four miles more than a marathon on one of his training days. I just is that ridiculous? Absolutely, but I still love it. I still absolutely love it. You know. Well it makes it a kind of an interesting time capsule too, because he runs up to the top of those stairs and there's no Rocky statue yet. Yeah. Right, but you see what it means to Philly, You see what it means to all these kids that are running right alongside with him, And yeah, it's a powerful moment. That's when with Creed making the fight there in Philly just fed into Rocky, which was a silly move on Creede's part.

21:33 I understand what Crew was trying to do. He was trying to, you know, he wants to embarrass him on his own turf, you know, those kinds of things. But you know you're feeding into those fans, You're feeding in the audience as you know, you know, fans can really win things for people, football, baseball, you name it, and you just the athlete just feeds off of that, you know, and you know I felt it did it in this too. So let's talk about this final fight, guys, very very interesting. I know a lot of things happen, and despite a lot of choreographing going on, there's some very humor here too that I found funny. So when they are in the ring together and Creed comes up, you know, they're getting their introductions and stuff like that, he says that you're gonna you're going down and he goes back and Rocky is like, you know, uh, he's still angry, he's still upsett.

22:22 Yeah. Well, even when it comes out, you know, he's he kind of mentions a you know, Mickey's like, it's a polo. He's like, who do you expect? He's like, he's kind of hope he wouldn't show, you know, but can we talk a little, you know, you want to talk about this fight. Can we talk about how great Carl Weathers is doing in this film because he's I love the fact that he has established the iconic character of Apollo Creed in the first film. He's you know, he's we all know it's a play on Muhammad Ali, right, yep. And he's he's a bit of a prankster. He's a jokester. He's he's smiling throughout throughout all of Rocky One, he is smiling and have a great time. The man does it smile once in this film. He's playing It's almost like he's playing a whole new character. This is a this is a different side of Apollo Creed that we've never seen. The guy is angry, he's bitter, he's he's feeling challenged because everyone, you know, everyone's saying, ah, yeah, you carry the guy. It's a fake it was a fake fight. You know. I love. I love Carl Weather's Apollo Creed in this one. Yeah, yeah, I mean it makes it very important to the entire franchise overall. What we see in the next few Rocky movies. This is very important for Apollo's arc. It's tremendously important for somebody like me who's a giant fan of the New Creed movies. Oh yes, and the background that you get seeing this kind of movie, seeing

23:56 where his mental state was, wondering at what point did Adonnis come into the picture to see him as a boxer, as a champ that's theoretically near the end of his career, as this up and coming boxer, as just at the beginning of his right and also aside from you know, the talent is a boxer, there's the the businessman side of him who knows exactly what to do. He's got that savvy that Rocky isn't anywhere near having. But he sees what that could possibly do to how he's providing for his family, how he's creating a legacy for himself, how he's you know, he's got a lot of people in his corner that are depending on him, and it's it's a phenomenal performance, Dave. I think one thing that you mentioned that's what's kind of interesting is choosing to have it in Rocky's hometown. Technically it's a it's a win either way. So if Apollo wins, then he's humbled this man in his own hometown, so he has that to kind of build on.

25:07 If he doesn't, then he's made it possible for this hometown hero to make this big achievement in his own hometown. So either way, it's a win for the press, I would think, and it's a win for Apollo to be able to benefit from that. Carl Weathers just has like you said, he doesn't smile on the whole thing. It's It's a powerful performance and absolutely necessary for this character. I think one of the other things noteworthy about about Apollo Creed in this one is he, for the first time in his career, is dealing with doubt and pressure the way we see Rocky dealing with it again. I got to call it the scene where he's with his entourage, right and he's trying to promote the fight. He's trying to figure out how to get Rocky back in the ring. And Tony Burton, who plays Duke, Yeah, he's just you know, when when you think about the first movie where they're all hanging out and just like, ah, yeah, we're you know, they're talking business. It's not about training, it's not about you know, keeping Apollo Creede safe because he's untouchable in the first film.

26:11 This time around, I love that Duke's like, let's move on, let's let's go away, And it's my favorite. It's my all time favorite moment for Tony Burton's Duke, that that line he gives him, you know when well, first, you know, Polo Creed's like, do you think I beat him? He doesn't immediately respond with a course champ. You know, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't protect him there. He looks the other way because he doesn't want to his pants and he's like, yeah, I don't know if you want me to answer that with the truth, right, Yeah, but he's like, he's like, why don't you want me to fight him? I love when he's like, I saw you beat that man more than any man has ever been beaten down before, and the man kept coming after him. Yeah, yep, we don't need this kind of man in our lives. Like he's he's trying to protect Apollo the way Mickey's trying to protect Rocky's Tony. I love love that moment for Tony.

27:04 Yeah, no, that is a really good moment before we talk more about the boxing. Let's Rocky his list of things he wants with the money he's getting. Come on, that was hysterical, was it? Ernie Kermit? And yeah, I love it. Yeah, you like snow cones, don't you. I love the fact that this is done at a time when the Muppet Show was taking off in real life. Yep, the loan had recently done an episode of the Muppet Show. So to get a little Kermit not in there, that kind of makes me smile. It did, Scott. Scott was gonna ask you because I was wondering. I knew stillone had done the Muppet Show as as Rocky Balboa, but assess me straight the Muppet Show.

27:45 And I was just like, well, Scott's gonna know, like, is this before Rocky too? Is it after Rocky too? Yeah? Again, like just Rocky. I don't know what to say. I don't know, I don't know what to call it, but just his just the innocence that this character has, which is a funny choice of words when you think about him being a thirty year old former enforcer for the mob. They always elect wretor and collector, but he has like this childlike innocence when he's when he's talking about his family, when he's talking about his wife and his soon to be born child. I love that moment, David. Yeah, it's funny too. It is. So let's go on and talk about the boxing between Rocky and Apollo. I have seen this movie many times, but I got to tell you it still puts me on the edge of my damn seat.

28:37 You know, when you get to the end, they both fall down and you get that final countdown and both of them are trying to get up. Rocky is getting there, and we get to like what seven, and they're still neither one of them are up. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I still streamed at that television get up as loud as I could, knowing I know the end of this, but I was still so involved in this fight because it's filmed so well that I couldn't help myself. It's it's very hard to believe that Rocky makes it that far, given how many times he's punched in the head. Like at the fight choreography, it's it's like bouncing back like a like a speed bag. Yeah, knowing what happened in the previous movie, it's like, it's how is that possible? This could this could have happened again? And guess that very very tense climax.

29:30 Yeah, and those those slow motion scenes that you get like those. Some of those shots are brutal when you see their faces and stuff going sideways, and oh my god, it's it's so intense. We got to think about the the physical pain that Stallone is in while they're filming this, because you know, I we got to talk about the South Paul switch situation. Oh yeah, go ahead, you know if you don't mind, this is what this is again. This is this is genius where you know, anytime you have a writer that or a director that can that can adapt to a to a real life situation that they weren't planning for. You know, Rocky Balbo is a South Paul, and Mick has this idea like, hey, we're going to fool Apollo Creed because you're not gonna fight left handed. We're gonna you're you're I'm gonna train you to be a right handed fighter. And the idea behind that, where where it's born out of, is that, uh, Stallone has a training injury when he's working out with a bodybuilder Franco Colombo, m hm, he's he's doing two twenty four reps. There's a the weight slips, Stallone tears his his right uh pectorals major and they do a quick surgery and he's he's back on set like that. You just don't do that, you know, And the idea, yeah, they had to, they had to reattach it. So while it's somewhat of ascess, he can't fight. He can't fight left handed. So they're like, okay, well

31:03 here's our idea. Well, you know you can you can throw your you can throw your your right hand, so let's do that and we'll we'll make it this whole strategy thing that Mickey gold Mills come up with. So I love that for the fight because the guy is still in the ring with a seasoned athlete and Carl Weathers who can who can throw his weight around? He can, he can, he can do some damage if he wants to, and and he does. And so when you see some of these these uh, these physical grimaces that that Rocky Babo is giving, it's because he's he's in serious pain. It's it's real pain that he's feeling. That's that just adds so much more depth to the film when you look at it that way and think about that, that's that's dedication, right, there's what that is mm hmm without question. And you know, in speaking of Sylvester Stallone.

31:52 He had to like fight tooth and nail to direct this, just like he did to star in the first Rocky. Is that right? Yeah, Dave, that's a right point to get into. Let's take a quick break and we'll talk about that in a few other moments. Through the Lens, all right, welcome back. Everybody's continue with through the Lens and I talk about Rocky too here. So yeah, you know, Sylvester Stallone basically had to fight tooth and nail to direct this film, kind of like he did his star in the first Rocky, you know, because I know the previous two films that he had done. You know, they were successful, but they didn't see them as huge success and they were kind of concerned of him, you know, not only starting in this but directing it, writing it as well, but they didn't think he could handle it. Boy were they ever wrong. John G. Albatson he declines this one right because he's he doing pre production on Saturday night fever. I correct, yep, Yeah, So I mean better to do this than right. It's gotta Stillon. He pours a lot more than you know, writer director Starr. Apparently he also did the novelization. Oh yeah for this right, yeah, which seems like it'd be interested in because it's all all of Rocky's parts are written from his perspective, in his voice, you get kind of a third person for everybody else, like Apollo and whatnot. But kind of interesting to think about that.

33:10 In addition to the fact that he's the fight choreographer. Yeah, he's basically in charge of plotting out how every punch would land. He and Carl Weathers are training and choreographing this fight for two and a half months, so that every single telegraphed move is it's second nature to him. And even then there's some mistakes, right, Dave, Yeah, isn't there an incident that happens in the boxing match where I guess they both land some punches against each other and they're actually shoving, pushing, haunting each other, which is in the film that's actually them mad at one another, because if they had actually landed some punches on each other, that shouldn't have happened. But they kept it in the film because it looks so good, so real, because it is right if you're watching for it. It's right around the end of round two, there's a bunch of shoving and taunting and things like that, and apparently stillone like the way it looked so much that he kept it in, which makes it all worth it, right, Yeah, but he's got to have a little bit of an extra edge on him because he's fighting injured, Jeff, Like you said, well, you know, get in, get in Sloane's headspace for a minute. He has spent two and a half months working this out right, so there shouldn't be any mistakes. On top of that, he is in some serious pain in the ring trying to trying to do this post surgery. As it happens, I guess Carl Weathers misses a few a few moments and actually lands one or two real punches. So stallone,

34:45 you know, he's anger getting the better of him, decides that he'll land a few of his own punches, and before you know it, like they're they're ready to swing for real. And that that moment is such a great moment in the fight because it just boils over, right, I mean, you know, it's like the stands clear, everyone's got to jump in and keep them separated. And you're like, oh, you're excited, you know, put you you can't wait for around three to start. I think, Yeah, it's the genuine intensity that you see in that scene, and it pays off so well. Yeah, I mean it kind of stuck that that happened between the two of them, but the fact that it shows so well on screen it was worth it in my opinion. Absolutely well. I mean, on top of the two months of planning the time that they had to film it, they took eight more months to edit just that final fight scene.

35:31 And as the choreographer, you got to kind of think, you know, as much as you're in charge of making sure that you know when people are going to punch, when people are going to take a hit a certain way, how they're going to react, you also have to know how to manage the safety of this situation and you have to know absolutely when to leave emotion out of it. And for Stallone, I imagine, you know, in the moment, it's the harder to control than others, but he's probably also invested in, you know, the moment, like, do I leverage this in such a way that I'm you know, making a better scene basically?

36:12 Yeah, So, Jeff, I think there's a real fighter in this movie, Is that right? Oh yeah, I didn't know if you guys had caught that. If you look at the guy that is a Rocky Babo's sparring partner back of gold Mills, that is none other than Roberto hands of Stone Doran. This guy former world champion in four different weight classes. If memory serves, I think he's only the second fighter to ever fight in in five separate decades. Guy's a legend, you know. And I want to say it's Miles teller What five ten years ago they did a Hands of Stone, they did a movie about him. I think Miles teller By played the role. But yeah, just it's it's fantastic when you see a legend, you know, in a film like this. It's before he's a legend, right, it's like, hey, who is you know? And if you're like I said, you know, I love boxing, I love M M A and all that stuff. And when you catch that, you know, you don't see that as a young kid, but then as you grow up and you're become a fan of some of these these amazing uh boxers over over time, he's like, whoa, it's Roberto Duran fight with Rocky. What's up? Let's go around one another thing that I caught that I found kind of which is it's just you know, a coincidence that was happened in it.

37:31 But right before the fight when one the announcer states that Apollo wants to draw first blood. Yes, interesting alone. There's even when he was training he had the red the red bandana on. Yes. I was like, oh my god, this is like Rainbow again. You know, I could talk all night about why I love Rocky too, and I feel it's probably the best of the sequels to Rocky. But you know, you are you're getting a little bit of the DNA, the John Rambo DNA in Rocky two because he's wearing the red hit headband you know, and this is more of the shaggy Rocky haircut that he's got. It's dude, A Ham's out there.

38:13 Yeah, Paula's gonna draw first blood. It's like, ye, he knew what he was writing, we know, as a reporter out in the audience with the pen and papers going on. But that's a gold mine. Yeah. I think it's also interesting. Like we talked Dave, I think we talked with Jaws two about how there weren't a lot of trilogies there weren't a lot of franchise movies out there, right, at least not the way that we've been used to, you know, growing up in the eighties. Of course everything had a part two, part three, whatever, and I think this is part of what added to that. I think it's interesting. You know, we know about Rocky now, so it's kind of hard to you know, take your sales out of that mind space. But thinking back to what could have been, it's entirely possible this movie doesn't do well and we end at Rocky two and that's it. I think it could have been a good enough ending. I can't imagine it not continuing after this, because I know that he had sides on really just making this a trilogy, right yep. He immediately started the script for Rocky three after Rocky two, and it's very interesting to see some you know, some threads kind of repeat there.

39:27 But there were no plans originally to make any fourth film, so it was it wasn't going to be the franchise that we have today, which is hard to imagine. Thank god we got part four. Well yeah, oh yeah, hold on, I got you know, Scott makes a great brings up something really cool here and again why this might be one of the better well, why it is the better sequel out of all of them. Stallone himself even said after Rocky two he had run out of ideas. I feel like this is the last film in the franchise to focus more on Rocky's life outside the ring, with the everyday obstacles of living, you know, finances, marriage, children, relationships. You don't really get that in Rocky three, Rocky four, because it's all about the training, you know, montage, it's all about the big fight sequence. And I'll go and say it.

40:16 You know, this is the last time we're gonna see Rocky. And what I'm what I'm gonna say is realistic shape. Okay, So if you look at him in Rocky he's about one hundred and seventy five pounds and great shape. I'm not about to you know, disparage his his his physical form. But as far as the Rocky Bible character goes, he's a little more doughy. Right in Rocky two he packs on under twenty five pounds. Now he's fighting at two hundred pounds, and he looks just phenomenal in my opinion, because it's you know, it's Rocky three where he's going to drop down to like one sixty five, he's maybe three percent body fat, and he he just looks unrealistic. He looks he literally looks like an action figure, you know, and it's just not realistic. You know, think, when's the last time you saw a pro fighter look like Rocky Balboa does in Rocky three or Rocky four. You don't. It just doesn't happen. No, this is yeah, you know that still Loan's vanity as he gets into those that time of his life when he's doing Rocky three and Rocky four. Yeah, well he was doing Rambo, he was doing Rambo two during those times, so he was in some kind of unusual shape to be in all of those films. Yeah, right, well, and very much being the action star. And I think without this movie, it doesn't, Like I said in the intro, boxing is about more than just what happens in the ring, right, It's their lives, how it's intertwined here. I don't think, you know, I thought that the following sequels, you know, Rocky three, Rocky four, fantastic. I think Rocky Balboa was a very good

41:54 movie, an interesting movie, and obviously I've said my love for the Creed films. I don't think you get any of those without this setting the tone for that. You don't to be able to talk about, you know, Rocky behind the scenes, the dynamics of you know, what's happening outside of the ring. And I think that's very, very important, and it wouldn't be as inspirational an action sports movie without those threads. If it was all action and missing all those things, it doesn't quite have the same meaning to people. I don't think, well, I mean, let's let's go ahead and skip over to the impact then, because I mean, you've hit it right there. What this film was able to do just set up so much for the future, not only for this franchise, but for what Sylvester Stallone's going to give us, you know, in his career. But you talk about your love of Creed Scott, those movies are incredible and we would not have those if it wasn't for the success of the Rocky franchise and what Sylvester Stallone did with these. And I'm sure Jeff would agree with that. Dave, I absolutely would agree with that. You know, when you think about the the the impact, the pop culture impact that this film has. Rocky bout Boa is one of the all time most memorable characters in the history of cinema. He personifies inspiration and overcoming adversity. He's He's the ultimate underdog as far as I'm concerned. And without without a movie like Rocky two to pave the way for for the you know, Rocky three, Rocky four, Rocky

43:24 bout Boa, the Creed franchise. You know, we don't get the video games, the toys. Uh. You know, nobody visits Philly without running the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Arts, right, how could you so? You couldn't. There's so much. It is such an impact from this film, you know, And that's why we do this series, because we want to show what these kind of films did at the end of the seventies, what it did for cinema. And you know, this is one of those films that has done so much for us. You just don't realize it until you start talking about it and you start breaking it down. Well, let's even talk about Carl Weathers for crying out loud. Look what it did for him. It blew him up. I mean, come on, he's been in so many films for us and his character. You know, his son is the one who takes up uh you know, the boxing for what his dad did, you know? And Creed but you know we all love Carl Weathers and Predator for crying out loud. Come on, you have to you have to Dylan your son of a bit. Yeah, you have to.

44:24 Man, Hey, I'm a bit. I'm a big Weather's fan regardless, you know, whether it doesn't have to just be Apollo, Creed or or Dylan in the Predator film and you know Action Jackson. Come on, oh absolutely, last year on a film at forty five, you guys covered another Carl Weather's film. We had the we had the opportunity to meet him and talk and talk with him. Yeah, at that time before his passing. So yeah, yeah, I'm glad you got a chance to talk to him. Jeff, I think that name too. I mean, losing him recently, it's man, that was tough interacting with him on that day. And Scott, you should have seen. I mean, I'm telling you he was in phenomenal shape. I promise you he could have been in a Rocky film. He could have been he could have been a Rocky film. That weekend you know in prep for one, he the band was in just incredible shape, look fantastic. Well, I'm glad you had that experience, Jeff, I really am, absolutely thank you. Yeah, all right, well let's let's score this film because we've got to talk about music by Bill Conti, because the Rocky films are good films, but they're nothing without the music this man brings, right, Yeah, I mean it's it's iconic as the John Williams Superman march. Oh. Absolutely right. And anytime somebody is working out, if they've got this in their head, I don't care who you are, you're hearing at least a few beats at Bill knty. Come.

45:45 I'm looking at Jeff right now. I know you work out, Jeff, and I know this is you listen to the playlist. I could tell you right now there are several tracks of Bill Kanti that are always on my playlist. You're any any playlist that you you see me, whether I'm running or I'm lifting, there's gonna be a significant amount of Rocky Balboa soundtrack songs. There has to be, you know, well, I mean think about it like this is it's all about that motivation factor. I don't care how I'm tired. You are if you're forty minutes into training and you're like, all right, I'm done, and then you know your shuffle puts puts the Rocky theme on, or going the distance, You're like, Okay, I've got three more minutes in me. You're not tired anymore. You're not tired anymore, You're you know. I mean, I do want to I do want to point something out though. I feel that this is one of the most recognizable pieces of music and pop culture. And I'm assuming you guys would agree, Oh yeah, yeah, So how is it not you know, doing a little digging, I'm just curious, how is this not even in the top fifty for the AFI's most Memorable Film scores? Jeff, who made that list? I don't know, because you know, I did a podcast with Docking Bait seventy seven with top seven scores. Yea, and Rocky was in my top seven because this movie, this score is so incredible and when you hear this, you immediately put yourself into what is going on in this movie,

47:15 and you you know what's happening. And I don't understand why it does not get the respect and the love that it deserves, because yeah, it's phenomenal music. Everyone. You can hum a couple of bars of this of this song, and everyone immediately recognizes it. I don't care who you are, how old you are, what country you're in, we all know it. And and Scott, how many how many film scores ever enter the Billboard two hundred or the Billboard one hundred? I can't think of it. Yeah, but yet this one, this one does it for five consecutive weeks. Yep. So it's just amazing. It is amazing music, lovely stuff, niceable in six notes. Right, you know exactly what somebody's looking for.

48:06 Right. It's absolutely iconic. And I think you see that again echoes through all the sequels, and this has a pretty long arm of a franchise in terms of movies that are, you know, succeeding these movies from seventy six, from the whole thing started. Those those beats continue through that and has I would say, more powerful moments. The more you see it evolve and come back as thematic elements for this, I can vividly remember after seeing I want to say it was Rocky four. I can vividly remember bouncing around in my backyard to this music and punching air and just going to town because of what how inspirational this music is. And it really breaks my heart, Jeff, that you said that that it's not in the top fifty. I don't understand how that is even possible. Blows my mind. Man. All right, well, let's move on to quote this anything interesting, Jeff. You know, I had a hunch that you guys were gonna focus on the bigger characters. So I watched the most fascinating interview with Burgess Meredith. I couldn't tell you what the show was. I saw this clip on YouTube, so it's from nineteen seventy nine. But he's doing press for Rocky two and the woman asks him if he eagerly accepted the role for the sequel. Burgess says

49:43 no, Well, you know, I did not want to do it, but I got a lot of things going on and thought the joke's over. But on the other hand, I'm a friend of Stallan's and once I began it, I became involved and I like it. But this picture, on the other hand, I'm involved with the one hundred percent and I never go out on these junkets because I feel uncomfortable praising our own work. I never in one hundred and twenty five pictures gone out, but this one I have an emotional investment in and have great hopes for. And I think it's some kind of masterpiece. Wow, that's cool. And that speaks the volume of what his performance was in this movie because it was yeah right, It blows how much of him goes into Mickey right, Yeah, yeah, absolutely think about that. I mean, man was born in nineteen oh seven, you know, we lost him in nineteen ninety seven, one hundred and twenty five pictures before Rocky Too, he never did press and this is the one he chooses to do press for. Yeah, I love it. What do you guys got for me? I know you guys always come up with these, you always dig out these these amazing quotes. What do you guys got, Scott? What do you got? Mine's a little bit of an interesting turn because it's not from anybody involved with the movie at all. Well, I guess maybe tangentially. So. Apparently there's an interesting article that came out where Roger Ebert had a chance to sit down with Muhammad Ali to watch Rocky two, and Ali said a few interesting things. He absolutely sees himself in Apollo

51:14 Creed. He says, Rocky Part two starring Apollo Creed is Muhammad Ali. Apollo sounds like me insulting the opponent in the press to get him psyched out. That's me exactly. There's another scene where he sees Rocky kind of falling down and kind of praying in the locker room before the fight. Apparently that had quite an impact on Muhammad Ali. He said, that's the most scary moment. The most scary moment in a fighter's life is right now, the moment before your fight, in your dressing room. All the training was behind you, all the advice in the world don't mean a thing. In a moment, you'll be in the ring, everyone's on the line, and you are scared. To hear that kind of admission from Muhammad Ali is something else.

52:00 But ultimately his review of his review of the movie gave it a thumbs up. He said, it's a great movie, a big hit. Has all the ingredients love, violence, and emotion. The excitement never doult nice. So you've got endorsement from Muhammad Aldi. Yeah. Well, and Ebert didn't Scott Scott didn't. Ebert give it like three and a half out of four or was it three out of four? I know he was a big fan of it. Yeah, so I went with the obvious Sylvester Stallone. So this was around the thirtieth anniversary of Rocky. He says, people accept Rocky Balboa as authentic. I can't tell you how many people have come up to me and asked how my boxing career. It's like they really want to believe that Rocky exists. You know, I'm amazed by all of this.

52:43 At one time, I thought people would get over the fascination with the character and move on. Didn't happen. After thirty years, Rocky has taken hold to a degree I never could have imagined. And here we are forty five years and it continues to have the success. All right, let's talk about what guys. I didn't find too much, But Jeff, I think there's some different There were some titles for this film that they didn't go with. Is that correct? Before we just got the simple title of Rocky two, we tried out Rocky two Redemption and you know, as you guys know, Redemptions. It's one of the tracks from Bill Conti's a It's a big theme in the Rocky franchise that was eighty six and they went with Rocky Returns, which, no, thank you. We've seen that in so many superhero films.

53:31 I'm glad they didn't. Sometimes sometimes just a simple Roman numeral is the way to go, and I feel like Rocky one of the better examples of that. Absolutely, But I got too I got too interesting. What ifs for you guys. We talked a little bit about Roberto Duran as his sparring partner. There was another real life boxer who was in the running for that role. Stone specifically wanted this guy, and he had a abysmal reading with with with stallone. His audition went about as badly as he could go, talking about a guy named Chuck Webner. Really, yeah, Scott, Okay, so Scott, uh, you know, Dave, you jumped on that name real quick. Yeah, I'm assuming you guys know who Chuck Webner is.

54:15 Yeah, well, tell us a little bit about him. He is the real life inspiration behind the Rocky Babo character. He is the the unknown you know, late in life unknown that that went up against Ali and went the distance. You know, we we have we have the Rocky character because of Chuck Webner and Stallone as a as a thank you, as a payback he wanted he wanted him in the film, but Chuck could just not. He can land a punch, but he could not land, could not land the role apparently. Uh so, so his audition went as good as Rockies did doing commercials. I'm guessing so beast after shave take twenty, there's somebody in the wings who was like, wait, we can use this in the script. Hold on, hold on, probably probably, I'll tell you who wasn't making decisions like that. We talked about John g Albertson declining to come back because he was busy with Saturday Night Fever. So he also didn't agree with the story specifics and was disappointed that we weren't going to get the original concept that Stallone had come up with for Rocky two and three. Are you guys aware of this? No, I have this. Does it have anything to do with somebody being the mayor? Oh my god. Yeah. So the original concept, and the one that John g Allinson was a fan of, was that Rocky would go on to become elected mayor of Philadelphia on the on the Reform, on the Reform ticket, only to be kicked out of

55:46 office after a scandal involving Polly stealing funds from the treasury, breaks to the press, and then Rocky loses everything and he ends up broke. And if you're if you're, if you're sitting, are signing a sigh of relief knowing that this is not what we had to deal with. I want you to think about the worst film in the Rocky franchise, which I think we can all agree, is Rocky five. Yep. The concept was recycled for Rocky five, where Rocky goes broke, loses everything, and ends up back on skid row. And John Gavelson was the director of Rocky five. Eleven years later, he comes back to do Rocky five and says, no, what what what? What were we going to do? Yeah, okay, well he can't be the mayor now, but let's at least take all his money away, no thing, and give him brain damage. And considering the scene in this movie where Rocky has no chill whatsoever when he's negotiating the price of the house, of the apartment or whatever they buy. Yeah, Mayor about investing condominiums, it's safe economy. I never use them. You never use them. That house buying moment, Scott, you know, good moment for Adrian, which she's like, you know, you're making this guy's job really easy. Yeah, you know who cares? You know, we'd like the house. I will take it. There is what if that I would love to see. I would love to see the alternate universe where we get a better poster for the theatrical rediase of this just no offense to the well,

57:23 yeah, everybody has a moment, but no offense to the designer that created it. But it's just the rocky to at the top and then just a giant black field with yellow letters that just as the story continues in the middle, like I don't know that's Jazz and anybody yet It's like this would have been a great Browsters and moment to say, like, I mean, maybe paint is a picture that looks like it's going to get people excited about round two, right, like, oh okay, so here's where I'm at with it. Sometimes a little goes a long way. Think about when we saw a poster for a Jurassic park and it was just like the logo and it just said next summer and you were excited, right, We didn't need Drew strewsand To to give us an amazing piece of artwork. We were just we're excited this one. It is, I mean, just an all black poster with a yellow frame with just the story continues, and there's there's and I hear what you're saying, but there's like a there's this minimalist kind of approach that eventually took on with these kind of things and through it can hook somebody.

58:32 But this is bo that's in franchise world, right when everybody's like, ooh more, what else is going to come out of it? Right? And then this one it was just kind of like, you know, another Rocky movie, and it's kind of like it's already kind of an underdog. People didn't want to make it. People saw Fist, people saw Paradise Alley, and we're like, I don't know if I want to still a movie to just have that kind of land simple approach. I think I agree that they could do. Sometimes a little yeo is a long way. I think a little more could have gone a little bit further. In this case, Yes, it could have. You could have you could have given us, you know, his boxing gloves, hanging hanging up, or you could have like a silhouette of the ring, any anything other than a blacked out poster that just said the story continues, you know. I mean, you could have had a simple poster that just said get ready for Round two coming next summer, Sylvester Stallone, tell ya, Shire people would know what the hell it is. I'll tell you right now. This the franchise, well, at least the first two or three movies, the franchise does a great job of showing us legitimate like fight posters like super Fight one, super Fight two.

59:45 I think they missed the the marketing department really missed the mark when they could have just had the fight poster Super Fight two that you see hanging above the ring in the climactic moment. Yeah, put that out there. Make it make it feel like a real fight. Right. That failed miserably? Oh well, it is what I'll take it, ask us. I mean, I was only you know what, three years old of the time. Yeah, but well, what does it feil? Miserably is this film? Though it is the second highest grossing film of nineteen seventy nine, ironically behind another fight movie, which I have to believe you guys are going to cover obviously Kramer versus Kramer. Yeah, that is quite the fight. That is one fight movie. Yeah, you know that's when they meet that boxing poster.

1:00:35 Back to the drink. You know that that joke didn't land. You know, that's back to like a Rocky's cow joke, the Cowjoke Club, Jeff, the Kramer family is hurting. Yeah, all right, let's head on over to the rewind gentlemen, Likes dislikes, Jeff, any favorite scenes? What do you love about this besides all of it? I know, well, you know, I gotta I gotta tell you, I feel like my likes. I probably already addressed them, you know, I liked them, Like I said, Rocky Rocky Baba being in a realistic fighting shape, talked about some of the moments that some of my favorite scenes are are not in the ring. There the tender moments that he has with Mickey or with with Adrian. So yeah, as far as what does it work for me, honestly, I think the only thing I could I can come up with is, you know, the marketing, the poster that that Scott brought to our attention. I don't know. I love this film. Absolutely wouldn't change a thing, Scott, what about you? Aside from a lot of what we already mentioned, there's there's two things that stand out to me. They're likes, they're not dislikes. There's that moment where Rocky rolls up to Apollo's room in the hospital and just asked him that question, did you give me your best? Because they're both played with a lot of doubt. I thought that was a great moment. Yeah, it just says a lot about their characters right there, and it does a great job of setting up the not only the rest of this movie, but I feel like it has some beats of the Carrier through into Rocky three, where Rocky starts to get something of

1:02:06 his own doubts kind of peppered in by Clever lang Stan was just a funny moment when he's proposing in the park and he asks the Tiger if he's going to be there, mister Tiger, what do you think you're gonna show up? You want to you want to be a kiss? Scott? How how how adorable is it that he asked Adrian what she's doing for the next forty to fifty years. Yeah, Yeah, that's a good line. And then that's a I mean, when it comes down to movie proposals, this is one of my favorites. H yeah. Yeah. And the dead of winter in the zoo. Yeah yeah, when nobody's outside coming out snow it's snowing. It smells clean. I like the fact that he says it's snowing it it just smells clean. Yeah, you're in the zoo man with that tiger.

1:02:49 I'm pretty sure he just went out. I had to drop on. But that's all right, Dave, what about you? So for me, you know, a lot of the Nickey scenes I talked about one earlier, his heart to hearten the chain, one of the lions, just it cracks me up. I don't want to get mad in a biblical place like this, but yet he still kind of blows up a little bit because he can't help it, because he cares. You know, Jeff hit earlier when he said, you know, Mickey's like a father to Rocky, and you know, you see that relationship between the two of them, and it comes out so much in the scenes between these two guys, and you can't help but just love the chemistry between these two that you see on screen, and anytime it happens, you're just glued to it. There's even the other scene where they're watching the footage of Creed in Rocky fighting. You guys remember that, and then Mickey stood up and like the film was on Mickey's face as he was talking to Rocky. I love that scene. You know, that's the cinematographer in me coming out with like man, that is such a cool scene, so much meaning right there. You know they're watching that footage and you know Rocky's doubting himself, and you know Mickey's up there trying to get him to believe in the footage is showing on Mickey. That is just so such a powerful scene. But yeah, all their things together I just absolutely love.

1:04:10 And I can watch over and over seeing the excitement on Mickey's face with the fight tape across it, and you know his whole he's almost got like a glee about him on how they're gonna they're gonna beat the champ with this right handed fighting style. That's a fantastic moment. Dave good good good call. Yeah, thanks all right, gentlemen. Where'd you guys watch this up? Well, the latest way that I watched it was on Max before it leapt off to another streaming service, which is just another example of why you got a you know, physical media has a pretty big case there, so you're not chasing streaming services. Jeff, what about you? Well, I'll tell you this is this is a franchise you know much Les Star Wars or The Evil Dead, where I have bought it multiple times. I thought I was done. Last year they the Rocky Knockout Collection in four K was released.

1:05:13 I couldn't buy this fast enough because it did only focus on the first four films. My only the only pain point for me was that Rocky Bo Bo wasn't in the in the collection, but you do. You did get the Rocky Versus Drago director's cut of Rocky four, So I was like, I'm done, I'm good, okay, nice, And that's the one I own, which I'll be donating to one of you, probably here soon, because on July sixteenth, the Ultimate Knockout Collection in four K will be released, and this time it's going to have all six films with director's cuts of not only Rocky four, the Rocky Versus Drago cut, but also a director's cut of Rocky ba baa, so you know, loaded with extras. I can't wait so you know, I'll put you two in the ring, and you know the winner can have the collection I got. Now it's on Scott, it's on Dave. Dave, where did you say this? One of first I want to tell Scott I will break you. Hey, I'm gonna buy the kids a snow cone machine? Could you say snowcones? Think?

1:06:17 No? You see this is a series I believe or not. I don't own on Blue Air DVD surprisingly and I should. I know I should own this in my Uh it's a physical copy of these because these are incredible films and they should be in everybody's library. I actually rented it on Amazon Prime is uh where I watched it? So but yeah, uh so Scott, be prepared to fight Scott. You had, You had a good opportunity there. He he jumped ahead a couple of films and he's he's quoting Draga. You should have came right back with him with a with a club or lane. It's been like just been like, no, I do not accept Dave's challenge because he is no challenge. I'd be happy to beat up on that fool one more time. Do you have a prediction about that paint about that fight pain. Oh boy, here we go at my age. That's likely.

1:07:03 Yeah, yes, here and one damn what were we thinking? See that's the difference. Man, Like, I know how old we all are, but I'll watch this film and I'll assume, like, yeah, you know what, I with the proper training, I could probably you know, every like Bicky says, every pug thinks he's got one last fun in him. True, they do. He's true. It's true. Yeah. Well, Jeff, thank you so much for joining us. Man. It's nice to have you hang out with us here in nineteen seventy nine and join a little bit with a film at forty five. We appreciate it. Guys. Going sixteen rounds with you in nineteen seventy nine has been has been a lot of fun. So thank you again for let me be a part of it.

1:07:44 Absolutely our pleasure. Well as always, I want to thank our listeners and hope you're excited as we continue our journey through nineteen seventy nine. You can always reach us at a film by podcast dot com, a film by podcast at gmail dot com, You can reach us at any other social media until our film. Are you going to start rolling again? Go out watch something new, watch something different, and who knows what you will discover next. Thanks everyone,