r/rockybalboa

Damn damn damn! If only they fought in the ring! Like when Rocky said let’s fight, I was really, really hoping they’d fight in the ring cuz we haven’t seen rocky at alll in the ring in this movie! who else was wishing that but the inevitable street figjt happens I was PRAYING TO GOD they’d fight ina. Ring! But nope i always wished otherwise no cap! Cuz I wanted to see one last Training Montage, but Rocky’s career was already over after Rocky IV.

How would that go down and who would win

I rewatched all the Rocky movies recenlty so here is a tierlist of all fighters.I'm gonna make with the fighters from Creed movies too.

S TIER -- Thunderlips,Rocky Balboa,Ivan Drago -- Ik Thunderlips is a wrestler but his size brings him here.If a guy who's 2.01m tall and weights 177kg really wants fight you then you are absolutely cooked.His fight against Rocky was for fun so i can't take it seriously.

Rocky Balboa (prime Rocky from Rocky 4) -- He is the perfect fighter.A brawler who can hit well with both of his hands,has crazy endurance,heart and physically at his peak.Rocky from the other movies wouldn't beat Drago.

Ivan Drago -- the final boss of the Rocky franchise.His strength and his endurance are in a crazy level.A fight between him and Clubber i think it would be like this https://youtu.be/8AfGCRT1JdU?si=Ul-2lwlpn9fClX2m

A TIER -- Apollo Creed -- His fighting style is the most difficult to cope and to achieve it you have to be athletic af.The only bad thing about him is his pride(too confident where he shouldn't be) and his lack of strength.He can beat Clubber ( the reason is here: https://youtu.be/ZDQjqM8ktH8?si=soI3Kj5V4JOEBsbD) but not the fighters above him because of his disadvantages(Not even in his prime).

B TIER -- Clubber Lang -- Ngl my fav character in the whole franchise.He is strong as hell and his character made him even more dangerous opponent.His lack of strategy and endurance is the reason why i he can't beat Apollo or Drago and prime Rocky.He wins easily though everyone below him

C TIER -- Mason Dixon -- The most difficult fighter to rank.In terms of skills he's quite balanced,he isn't too strong or fast but totally he is on a decent level.I ranked him above Tommy because he did much better in his career

D TIER -- Tommy Gunn,Union Cane -- Tommy is quite strong,he learned some skills from Rocky but he was mentally weak and his opponents weren't something special.He lost in a street fight from an untrained Rocky who had a brain injury.He won against Cane but i think that fight was rigged.Cane didn't even try to do something.

Cane was the champ for some years but he was a paper champ.Not something serious

E TIER -- Spider Rico -- Nothing to say here he was the worst fighter in the whole franchise

The only part of Rocky that Burgess Meredith filmed in Philadelphia was Rocky hurrying after him down Tusculum St and shaking hands under thr street light as the El train passes by overhead.

Everything else -- gym interior, Rocky's apartment interior, the Apollo fight-- was filmed in LA.

All Carl Weathers scenes were filmed in LA, so he wasn't in Philly at all.

Rocky asking Apollo a question in the hospital

Sly once wrote of the real life Burt, "Burt Young is a puzzle of a human being; a walking dichotomy. He's a brute of a man, capable of inflicting incredible punishment because of his natural strength and skill as a professional fighter who remained undefeated. Yet the flip side of Burt Young is that he possesses a sensitivity and gentleness that stagger me whenever I meet him. He has a humbleness, a quiet side and great intelligence, for he also has a writer's mind."

Paulie has never really seen his easy-going old buddy Rocky get mad before until he asks him a very inappropriate question about his relationship with his sister.

Rocky takes it out on the hanging slab of beef, thus starting his new training technique.

But you can see a realization come over Paulie that he pushed it too far. He also realizes that Rocky is not someone you want to make angry. ​

Instead of apologizing -- because that's just not what Paulie does -- he weakly tells a joke.

Rocky is still not in the mood to speak to Paulie that day but waves a goodbye to "I'll see you tomorrow, OK?"

Burt Young makes this whole scene what it is. This is one of two moments where you see how volatile -- but also vulnerable-- Paulie is without him ever being one to say he's sorry.

One of the nice small touches to Rocky is the use of old photos to add backstory to its characters.

This is no dialog about Paulie formerly being in the US Navy. There is just a photo in the house, hinting at a different life once upon a time.

The actual photo is of Burt Young in the movie Cinderella Liberty, in which he played the role of a Navy officer. (In real life, Burt served a few years with the US Marines).

So much about the backdrop of Rocky is about unfulfilled lives that once had potential. Before life beat him down and he became a bitter, cynical and deeply unhappy person who is stuck in a dead end job at a meat packing plant -- hoping to become a loan shark collector instead-- we subtly see that Paulie once had potential for a successful military career.

He never mentions it. He's never asked about it. But it's there.