Today's Movie: Driven

2001's Driven is a weird movie. 

It stars two actors that I've always liked and even wrote about in my "10 Movies Everyone Should See" series, Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds. It's also a sports movie (sure it's Formula 1 racing, but it counts). So I like the film for those two aspects but, overall it is a bad movie. Directed by career-hack Renny Harlin, the movie feels chaotic and unfocused for large stretches which probably contributed to it being a critical and commercial flop.

The story is about a young driver named Jimmy Bly (played by Kip Purdue) who, while in the midst of an impressive rookie season, is having trouble dealing with all the pressure of being a rising star in the sport. This leads the team owner Carl Henry (played by Burt Reynolds) to bring in an experienced, former pro to act as a mentor to Jimmy. That former pro is Joe Tanto (played by Sylvester Stallone) who feels like he should be the hero of this story but isn't because it's about Jimmy. There is also an odd amount of poorly scripted love triangle drama in this movie. Jimmy briefly dates his rival's ex-girlfriend but, she leaves him for the the other guy. Also, Joe Tanto's ex-wife is married to his friend, and Joe starts dating a reporter that the ex-wife seems to dislike for no reason. It's a mess.

Overall, I don't recommend this movie. The acting isn't great, and the script bad. However, by far the worst thing in my opinion is how the film is shot and edited. A single scene in this movie will feature close-up, cut, cut, close-up, cut, whip-pan, cut, close-up of a car, cut, another whip-pan, cut... it never stops. I get that they were going for intense and high-energy but, it just came off a distracting.

I give this one a 1.5 out of 5.

70's Month - Day:10 Rocky II

Rocky II, as the name would suggest, is the follow up to 1976's Rocky. Released in 1979 Rocky II features a rematch between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed. Apollo is upset that people are claiming he's a false champion because some think Rocky should have won the first fight. While I do like Rocky II, this setup never really worked for me. In the first film Rocky was a guy who had no business fighting for the Heavyweight title which is why it's such a great underdog story. However, having Apollo just deadset on beating Rocky in more convincing fashion doesn't resonate as much... and spoiler alert: Rocky wins this time.

All of the same characters are back for this one; Adrian, Mick, Paulie, etc. and I like these characters so I give the film a bit of a bonus for that, and the score is solid.

Overall, while not as good as the original, I think Rocky II is entertaining and a decent follow-up to the original.

3.5 out of 5

70's Month - Day:3 Rocky

"70's Month" rolls on and today's movie is 1976's Rocky.

A Best Picture winner, #57 of the American Film Institute's top 100, and the highest grossing film of 1976, Rocky is simply one of those all-time great films. For anyone who doesn't know the plot of this iconic film, it's the story of Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone), a down-on-his-luck boxer from Philadelphia who gets the chance of a lifetime to fight the Heavyweight Champion of the World, Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers). Even though Rocky narrowly loses the big fight at the end, he proved to himself that he "could go the distance".

I almost didn't want to write anything up about this film because anything I could say most people already know; It's a great underdog story, with memorable characters, it has an amazing musical score, and the training montage that ends with Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art is one of the most famous scenes in cinema history. 

Rocky would end up spawning a whole series of movies of varying quality (I did a ranking of all the Rocky films a while back that you can check out buy clicking HERE) and they're not all 'must-see' films, but the first one is still great. 

5 out of 5

Escape Plan

Despite my love of all things 80's-action, never got around to this 2013 film starring two of the 1980's biggest action icons Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Escape Plan has a fairly basic premise; Ray Breslin (played by Sylvester Stallone) works as a specialist with a security firm, testing the reliability of maximum security prisons. It's established early on that there is no prison he cannot escape from. That is until he excepts a job trying to escape from a new type of prison designed specifically to be Breslin-proof. Once in the new prison, codenamed 'The Tomb', Breslin quickly realizes that he's been played and this time he doesn't his team as safety net to extract him from the location. The movie takes a couple of twists and turns, people aren't who they say they are, etc. so I won't spoil the plot for anyone who hasn't seen it and wants to.

Even though the film is far from perfect, I do think it's worth checking out. The cast is pretty good for the most part; alongside Stallone and Schwarzenegger, the film also stars the likes of Vincent D'Onofrio, Jim Caviezel, and Sam Neill (a big plus because Sam Neill isn't in enough movies). The actual 'escape plan' is, of course, pretty convoluted and relies as much on luck as anything else. 

 Is it Stallone's best? No, but it's never boring and overall, I had fun with it.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Also, if you're a fan of Stallone and/or Schwarzenegger,

 then check out "10 Sylvester Stallone Movies Everyone Should See" and "10 Arnold Schwarzenegger Movies Everyone should See" on this site.

10 Sylvester Stallone Movies Everyone Should See

With another film featuring Sylvester Stallone (Creed II) due out later this fall, it seemed like a good time to add a new entry to my ongoing '10 Movies Everyone Should See' series. I have previously written similar posts about Tom Cruise, Sean Connery, Tom Hanks, Alfred Hitchcock, and others. If you're not familiar with how I make these lists, they aren't necessarily a 'Best Of' or 'Top 10', It's merely 10 films that I feel are a good representation of someone's overall career.

(and if you're interested in checking out the other entries in the series, you can by clicking HERE)
  

10. Tango & Cash (1989)

This isn't a great film. However, if you're in the mood for a buddy-cop style action flick and you like Stallone and Kurt Russell then it's worth a watch.

9. Cliffhanger (1993)

It's a pretty average action plot, except it's set in mountains which apparently was interesting enough for audiences as this one was a decent financial success for Stallone.

8. Antz (1998)

A bit of a change of pace for the action star, Stallone lent his voice to this computer-animated comedy, and I thought he did a pretty good job.

7. Creed (2015)

In the original Rocky film the late, great Burgess Meredith played Rocky's manager Mickey. In this film it's Stallone that's taking on the old, ex-boxer, mentor role to up-and-comer Adonis Creed (played by Michael B. Jordan). Honestly, it's one of Sly's best performances to date.

6. The Expendables (2010)

'The Expendables' movies are not good, but this is worth watching for the novelty of having so many past-their-prime action stars in one movie.

5. Lock Up (1989)

Stallone starred in two duds in '89, one was Tango & Cash and the other was Lock Up. Much like Tango & Cash, if you go into this one with lowered expectations then you might have fun with it.

4. Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

First Blood is a legitimately good film, but the sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II is what most people think of why you say "Rambo". This is a big, explosion-filled, bullet-riddled, high body count, action flick. It's pretty awesome.

3. Cop Land (1997)

Just look at the poster: Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel, Robert De Niro, and Ray Liotta... There was no way I could leave this one off the list.

2.Over the Top (1987)

There just aren't enough movies about a truck driver who is trying to reconnect with his son, while also traveling to Las Vegas to compete in an arm wrestling competition.

1. Rocky (1976)

It's the movie to which every underdog story will forever be compared to. Rocky isn't just a great sports film, but a great film in general and it even won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

80's Month Day 24: Rocky III

Obviously the third film in the 'Rocky' franchise, Rocky III was released in 1982. The film stars all of the keys actors from the first two films; Sylvester Stallone, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Carl Weathers, as well as introducing Mr. T as Clubber Lang (a character that only appears in this film).

The film picks up where the previous one left off, with Rocky being the Heavy-Weight Champion having recently beaten Apollo Creed in a rematch. However, this entry marks a bit of a turning point in the series for two main reasons; First off, Apollo Creed (played by Carl Weathers) isn't Rocky's opponent like he was in the previous two films, and second, Rocky's friend/manager/trainer Mickey Goldmill dies in the movie. Rocky early on loses a fight to a trash-talking challenger Clubber Lang, after being distracted by Mickey having a heart-attack. Afterwards, and for good reason, Rocky is pretty down, demoralized, and has lost the will to go into the ring and box without Mickey in his corner. However, his old rival Apollo tells him that the he can beat Clubber Lang if he gets back the "Eye of the Tiger" (a hunger and passion to win). So, Apollo trains Rocky, a friendship between the two starts to form, and pretty soon Rocky is ready for a rematch with Clubber. What follows is a middle of the road fight sequence with Rocky, of course, emerging victorious.

Overall, this one isn't my favorite 'Rocky' movie but I do enjoy it. Mickey's death is emotional, Mr. T is an entertaining foe, and the song "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor gets stuck in my head after each viewing.

I give this one a 4 out of 5.

...and if you want to read my ranking of all the 'Rocky' movies, you can by clicking here.

Have a suggestion for a review?

Leave it in the comments below.

80's Month Day 7: Over the Top

Man, I love sports movies. The one-on-one battles, the thrill of victory, the dramatic speeches, underdogs, and teams that somehow win the big game against all odds... and Sylvester Stallone has starred in a few of those great sports movies (in fact, you can check out my ranking of all the 'Rocky' movies by clicking here). Unfortunately, 1987's Over The Top is not one of those great sports films.

So, is Stallone an underdog boxer like in the Rocky films? Nope.

 How about a football star, a baseball player, or even the coach of a ragtag team of little leaguers? No.

Stallone plays a semi-truck driver named Lincoln Hawk who is on his way to Las Vegas to compete in an arm-wrestling competition, with the hopes of winning the grand prize, $100,000 and a new semi-truck. Along for the ride is Lincoln's son young son Michael, whom he's never gotten to really know since he walked out on his estranged wife Christina when Michael was just baby. But, now Christina is deathly ill and she thinks it's best for father and son to get to know each other while traveling cross-country in Lincoln's truck. Yeah, as you'd expect they don't get along at first but then they start to form a solid bond, and Micheal's grandfather (played by Robert Loggia) hates Lincoln and offers to pay him 5x the contest's grand prize if he'll sign over custody to Micheal and get out of his life forever. Lincoln of course refuses and goes on to win the arm wrestling competition. There aren't any real surprises in this one.

Overall, the movie serves up a good helping cheesy, 80's entertainment but there isn't much else to like about it. Most of the acting is OK at best, it's not particularly well written or directed, and it's got a very dated 80's soundtrack featuring Eddie Money, Kenny Loggins, Asia, and Sammy Hagar. If you're curious as to what a movie about an arm-wrestling trucker is like, or you just really like Sylvester Stallone, then I say 'check it out'. Otherwise, you can probably skip this one.

I give it a 2 out of 5.

Have a suggestion for a review? 

Leave it in the comments below.

Ranking the “Rocky” Movies

Ranking the “Rocky” Movies

I put up a poll about a week ago asking which film franchise I should rank, and this is what won the poll overwhelmingly. So, here is my personal ranking of the 7 films thus far to feature Sylvester Stallone as the iconic character Rocky Balboa. Like my list ranking all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films (which you can check out here: http://onlyinthemoviesblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/the-marvel-cinematic-universe.html) this list is a worst-to-first ranking based on a variety of factors; story, initial viewing and rewatchability and, above all, how much I personally enjoyed one film over another.

#7 Rocky V -1990

There was no internal debate here for the #7 spot, it wasn't even close. This is the only one I have a hard time sitting through. The movie isn’t any fun, Rocky’s son Robert (played by Sylvester Stallone’s real-life son Sage Stallone) is awful, and the plot just doesn’t work for me.

#6 Rocky Balboa -2006

I get what they were going for with this one, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as it could’ve been. It shot passed being just a dramatic look at where the 'Italian Stallion' is at this point in his life and went straight to depressing. Unlike Rocky V, I don't hate this one, it's just not one of my favorites.

#5 Rocky III -1982

 I have mixed feelings about it this one. There are a few game-changer moments for the franchise in this film; most notably Mickey's death, and Rocky and Apollo Creed putting their rivalry aside because Rocky has to learn to fight with the "Eye of the Tiger" in order to beat Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T). It's not the strongest movie, but there's a lot to like about it.

#4 Rocky IV -1985

Interestingly enough, the #4 film in the franchise came in at #4 in my rankings. Is this the 4^th best written or acted film? Nope. But it is a ridiculous bag of fun. They went balls to the wall with this one: it’s got a great training montage, some cheesy lines, they apologetically play up the strained relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and it’s one of the most rewatchable films of the franchise.

#3 Rocky II -1979

The first sequel to the masterpiece that is 1976’s ‘Rocky’ is a satisfying continuation. A rematch between Rocky and Apollo would’ve been enough reason to watch the movie, but it's also a solid development of Rocky’s relationships with the other characters from the previous film which places this one pretty high on my list.

#2 Creed -2015

 

This film really surprised my when I saw it in the theater last year. Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa and Michael B. Jordan joins the franchise as Adonis Creed (son of Apollo Creed). Both of these actors knock it out of the park it in this film, and it hit all the beats I was hoping it would. It’s not only one of my favorite films in this series, but also one of my favorite films to come out in the last several years.

#1 Rocky -1976

It’s one of the most iconic films in the history of American cinema. The others in the franchise have their memorable moments, but I don't think any of the other films are quite as good as the original. It's a great sports movie, it's a great drama, it won 'Best Picture', it's become the definitive underdog story... It's going to take a damn good movie to eventually knock this one out of the #1 spot.

 

 Have a suggestion for a review, a ranking, or a '10 Movies Everyone Should See' list?

Leave it in the comments below.