I don't remember if I knew of Thunderlips before I knew of Hulk Hogan, I have a feeling it was the opposite for me as I think I remember being excited seeing Hogan in Rocky III. But I was only 4 when Rocky III came out, so it was probably more likely I didn't really recognize who Thunderlips was until I knew who Hulk Hogan was already. And what a time to be alive. Sometimes I wish I was just a few years older so I could remember the early 80s in wrestling, but my earliest memories like a lot of things (NFL, MLB) trend more towards '85-'86 and the lead up to WM II.
Rocky I and II are probably better movies overall, but III and IV are infinitely more rewatchable as entertainment. And, yes, the soundtracks are great. I still have the Rocky Original Soundtrack CD in my truck, and I pop it in from time to time. I didn't really know about Hogan leaving the WWF for a minute when Vince Sr. didn't want him doing Rocky III, until VMK bought the WWF and brought Hogan back as a face, and the rest, as they say, is history.
But yes, Rocky III is terrific for many reasons, Hulk and Mr. T being two of them. It's hard to imagine just how big both were in the 80s. Great write up on a great movie.
"Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy starting to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him. It's 2 AM."
How about that PB Oh yes, it was a great time to be around and I do feel the same where I could experience more. Oh yes, that is some history there with the McMahons & Hogan. Oh yeah, probably so and yes, the first 2 are great films. Cool you got the CD in your truck Yep, Hogan & Mr. T were huge back then, its a rare feat of a duo nowadays that can match them. Thanks for saying about My write up, sometimes I wonder.
OK, I have decided what is next which is kinda a big line up but it's gonna be great, until then
The Past isn't a Wilderness of Horrors - We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing - DTA - If it's been done in a movie, then most likely it's already been done in Real Life - ALWAYS Watch the Skies - Question Everything, FTW! = Me + Various <-->
Somewhere there's an alternate universe where Hogan stayed in the AWA and Greg Gagne is running the largest wrestling company in the world, lol. Probably not. None of the old territory guys had the same vision for the future like VKM, so who knows where we'd be. Maybe Sgt. Slaughter would've been a Real American. Or Rotundo. I don't know. I suppose wrestling would look entirely different if Hogan and Vince never got togather.
BTW, I saw commercial yesterday, the guys that made Darkside of the Ring have a new show debuting in October called Tales from the Territories. Looks good.
"Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy starting to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him. It's 2 AM."
Oh indeed, AWA was looking great. There was many times it looked better than the WWWF/WWF in the 70s & even to mid 80s and same goes for NWA/WCW. I miss the territory days. It wasn't about sports entertainment, it was about sports & family. It was about locally. Like I talked about in My Grandma MiMi's tribute, you could go to a wrestler, meet him and he'd interact with you. Now mostly you got guys just staying in character, not looking at the fans at all. I should give kudos to Lashley's new persona cause since he's a big babyface now, he really tags the people and stuff, there are others but just not as much as there was before.
Yeah, that show looks cool. Hopefully today's generation will see how wrestling used to be. It's really cool that Abdullah the Butcher is there, IMO he is the biggest hardcore legend of all, he has so much to tell and done so much. A very downside of this is that the Rock is is a part of this He's all h0lliweird and been that was since 2002 with the Scorpion King. I love his family but he turned his back on wrestling and really he didn't wrestle that long either, 96 in the USWA as Flex Cavana and of course Rocky Maivia in 96-97 in the WWF and then basically retired in 2003 with only a handful appearance and a few matches a long while after that, a part-timer to say the least. It's really not even a decade while you got "real" wrestlers that has been wrestling for decades and many of them get no proper credit where it's due unless by their fans that know their history. I think they should have chosen somebody else that matches what this subject is. Hopefully this show will be good and give justice to the old days when wrestling was wrestling, I think it's got major potential
The Past isn't a Wilderness of Horrors - We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing - DTA - If it's been done in a movie, then most likely it's already been done in Real Life - ALWAYS Watch the Skies - Question Everything, FTW! = Me + Various <-->
This is a newer film, but it feels appropriate for today. I didn't pay much attention to this when it was in the theatres, I thought it was just another crappy reboot of an old franchise. But it's not. Ed Helms actually plays a grown-up Rusty Griswold, so it's a continuation of the series. We were in a hotel room several years ago and couldn't find much to watch so we put this on and....it's surprisingly hilarious.
Anyway, we're off to Myrtle Beach so I may not be online as much the next couple weeks. Stay frosty, everyone!
"Somewhere in a lonely hotel room, there's a guy starting to realize that eternal fate has turned its back on him. It's 2 AM."
It has its moments. Truth is I'm not a big fan of today's comedy, some of it is really raunchy in moments you don't want it to be in and really in bad taste too but this is just Me. It really lacks the classic feel of the original films, it's bad enough in every movie today or least the past 20 years or so we "have to" have a comedy character in every film, in ever tv show. It's really a turnoff, if I want to see a comedy I'll see a comedy. Over the past decade I bet I've only half-liked 2 new comedies and that's it...pathetic IMO its quite hard to defeat Christmas Vacation in 1989!
Oh, I hope you have a good time on you vacation PB with your family, stay safe
The Past isn't a Wilderness of Horrors - We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing - DTA - If it's been done in a movie, then most likely it's already been done in Real Life - ALWAYS Watch the Skies - Question Everything, FTW! = Me + Various <-->
So I have decided to quickly go by Rocky 4 & 5 because to Me they are the most crucial entries in the series just not for the franchise's sake but for Me as well. So here we go
So it was a bit later after this film came out in 1985 I was catching up to the Rocky films. I say 1986 or so I had established it. Like any kid I really didn't want to know the story, I just wanted to see the fighters and actions scenes, I didn't get into the story until I was more mature till around the time Rocky V came out in 1990, this is the time when I was kinda being awoken. So during this time in movies I was seeing all of this Russian & Cold War stuff including Rocky V, Godzilla 1985 among others. Seeing G.I. Joe, the moral scenes in He-Man and stuff like that gave Me a good idea about war but I really wouldn't truly know till later on, I'm hey, I'm a youngster. My Grandpa PoPo was a drill Sargent in the army in his early days. Later on he worked at Scott Field/Scott Air Force Army Base which is in St. Clair County, Illinois, it's near Belleville and O'Fallon, it's just miles away from downtown St. Louis. He was a top guy there, he "built" army helicopters such as the Apache & fighter jets such as F-15s. He was an expert at this as he could tell you every make & model and point out what they were in the sky and/or in movies & TV. He would tell Me about War and everything and all these stories he knew and had experienced but I really didn't pay attention and I regret that He just wasn't the greatest man I knew, he was the smartest too I really didn't know till in 1990 when Sgt. Slaughter returned to the WWF in 1990, turned heel and they did all of this Desert Storm stuff even thru 91. Then it "clicked" with Me of what is really going on in the world and I soon knew "war". So I was already aware of Stallone and his Rocky character and what he was all about.The new opponent/villain was called Ivan Vasilyevich Drago played by newcomer Dolph Lundgren who played a Russian (Lundgren is actually Swedish) and I was impressed of how huge he was. He wasn't a Thunderlips but he was still great and I would always have My eye on him from then on and even till this moment. I was astounded he would play He-Man in the live action Masters of the Universe movie come 1987 which is 35 years ago this year His character was an Olympic gold medalist and had an unbelievable amateur record of 100-0-0-100 He was truly something out a video game like Punch-Out!! He was indeed a monster In fact, not many people know about this, when they were originally making the concept of him and even a for a time in the film, Drago was going to be a cyborg similar like The Terminator a year prior in 1984 but they scrapped it and replaced the unstoppable scenario with the steroids scheme, however, there is remnants within the film that you can tell he moves & acts robotic as they couldn't remove it from the film in time. His play wife Ludmilla Vobet was also an Olympic athlete (great consistent story telling there) whom was [/b]Brigitte Nielsen[/b]. She was great and this was the first film I saw her in but I really didn't pay attention to her till I saw her in Red Sonja which came out the same year in 1985 a while later. She was really great. Her role here was as important as Drago's if not more. Like all the Rocky films, they are quite depressing, if Burgess Meredith's Mighty Mick didn't get ya in the previous installment than the demise of Carl Weather's Apollo Creed will by the hands of "The Siberian Express", "The Siberian Bull", "Death from Above" known as Drago. This story was so huge with Drago & Ludmilla, Balboa & Creed they made a sequel/spinoff movie series that introduces Creed's son and by time we get to the second one it's on with the Drago storyline and like their predecessors it's as epic and depressing as they are. In the end of Rocky 4 when it's all said and done it was a great film. The match with Rocky & Drago is superb and one of the greatest fights ever seen on film. While Rocky III was the funnest, I believe Rocky IV to be the most powerful entry of the franchise.
NOTE: Stallone would marry Nielsen and be together once again in 1986's Cobra which look for a write up about that great underrated film from Me soon!
Here is the Rocky IV TEASER!
Here is the Rocky IV Trailer!
Rocky goes Sci-Fi! With the big robot craze in the 80s they had to fit something in here. Since they scrapped the aforementioned Drago actually being a cyborg, Paulie got a gift which was a gender switching Robot named SICO
The Score by Vince DiCola was very good. Famed Rocky composer Bill Conti couldn't make it due to duties so they hurried up and got Transformers the Animated Movie composer DiCola to do the music. He did the job well. It sounds so mid to later 80s which matched the film very well and he places Conti's themes in all the right places!
So here we are in 1990, a big & important year for many reasons. It was particularity a huge movie year with the entries such as Predator 2, Total Recall, Kindergarten Cop, the huge T2 Trailer reveal, Dick Tracy, TMNT, Darkman, Nightbreed, Lionheart, BTTF:3, RoboCop 2, Pacific Heights, Child's Play 2, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, Tremors, Arachnophobia and so many others. This movie year has always been one of My favorites of ever, all-time! Things was changing and becoming bigger in the WWF & WCW too. So with all of this excitement what more could you ask for How about Rocky V Yep, another sequel. This one would be quite different compared to the rest. So long synopsis short, Rocky has barley survived the clutches of Drago being brain damaged and forced to retire. New up and comer Tommy Gunn played by real life boxing phenom Tommy "The Duke" Morrison (more on him in his own section) is beating everybody left & right but feels he's isn't getting the respect he deserves from Rocky himself so he get's himself a crooked manager thus making him a major heel. He forces Balboa to fight him in a street fight which would trend a lot in most of everything in the 90s especially wrestling. It was quite an epic & dramatic fight as good as any and really should have ended the franchise there IMO but nope, Rocky would still go on for more installments in the 2000s and 2010s
Here is the Rocky V Trailer!
Now this time the Score was by Rocky veteran Bill Conti and he was back with a vengeance and this cue here is arguably My favorite of the whole franchise, You can clearly hear it's 1990 and what the new decade hoped to bring
Tommy "The Duke" Morrison: Oh now here he is, My Grandpa PoPo was so enthused and surprised he was in the movie. He kept on telling Me how great he was and boy did I did find out what such a phenomenal boxer Tommy was. He was really built unlike many Caucasian boxers during this era. He was the great nephew of John Wayne and he had his courage. He had such power and had a similar run like "Iron" Mike Tyson until he was stopped by "The Rhino" Ray Mercer in 91. Then he got back on track and going for "Big" George Foreman and defeated in a decision in one of the greatest boxing bouts ever seen in 93. Morrison would lose to Lenox Lewis in 95 in a very sad match. His record was 48-3-0-42. He had one of the best records in boxing history. Sadly after this he got bad sick with HIV from playing around with women. He was actually married two women at the same the time and became a father at only 19. I saw the interview exposing this in 98. He was barley recognizable of who he was as time would go by. In 2007 he made a comeback and won and in his last match ever was in 2008 and he won. In 2013 he passed away However, his wife Trisha never once thought that he had full blown AIDS. Turns out he passed away from a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. If you never saw a Tommy Morrison bout then boy did you miss a tremendous fighter, it was awesome following his career and during these grand days of Boxing in the late 80s thru the late 90s and even to the early 2000s!
NOTE: It actually took Me a bit to get into Boxing. My Grandpa PoPo wanted Me to a lot. My Grandma MiMi loved boxing too but she loved Foreman and was so thrilled about his comeback. I slowly got into it. I loved the Buster Douglas stuff in the WWF in 90 and his game for the Sega Genesis and Evander Holyfield's game for it as well. I also loved Big George hence My George Foreman's KO Boxing in My great Game Boy showcase. I became a big boxing fan, loved it as much as wrestling, We never missed USA's Tuesday Night Fights, ESPN Boxing and of course HBO World Championship Boxing & Boxing After Dark...it was such great fun days
So that is it for now, next will be another Stallone classic and it will be First Blood, until then
The Past isn't a Wilderness of Horrors - We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing - DTA - If it's been done in a movie, then most likely it's already been done in Real Life - ALWAYS Watch the Skies - Question Everything, FTW! = Me + Various <-->
Well that's fine PB. First Blood is coming and I will just tag along here and talk about what you post and contribute if I deem it necessary
Oh before I get to you posts and speaking of comedy, their coming out with She-Hulk, its actually going to be a sit-com I loved She-Hulk but never ever wanted her to be funny or anything, I wanted her hot, serious, emotional and destructive. Why do they think everything is gotta be funny now
Those Summer comedies were pretty cool. IMO so much better than the the stuff they call comedy today or in recent years. See if any is as good or obnoxious as Bobcat was. Oh I actually had a crush on Kirstie Alley around this time and for a while. I always thought she as so pretty & neat looking. Cool about the Godzilla part.
Cool entries PB
The Past isn't a Wilderness of Horrors - We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing - DTA - If it's been done in a movie, then most likely it's already been done in Real Life - ALWAYS Watch the Skies - Question Everything, FTW! = Me + Various <-->
Oh yes, it was a great time to be around and I do feel the same where I could experience more. Oh yes, that is some history there with the McMahons & Hogan. Oh yeah, probably so and yes, the first 2 are great films. Cool you got the CD in your truck 
Yep, Hogan & Mr. T were huge back then, its a rare feat of a duo nowadays that can match them. Thanks for saying about My write up, sometimes I wonder.
He's all h0lliweird and been that was since 2002 with the Scorpion King. I love his family but he turned his back on wrestling and really he didn't wrestle that long either, 96 in the USWA as Flex Cavana and of course Rocky Maivia in 96-97 in the WWF and then basically retired in 2003 with only a handful appearance and a few matches a long while after that, a part-timer to say the least. It's really not even a decade while you got "real" wrestlers that has been wrestling for decades and many of them get no proper credit where it's due unless by their fans that know their history. I think they should have chosen somebody else that matches what this subject is. Hopefully this show will be good and give justice to the old days when wrestling was wrestling, I think it's got major potential 
I really didn't know till in 1990 when 
His character was an Olympic gold medalist and had an unbelievable amateur record of 100-0-0-100 
He was truly something out a video game like 
In fact, not many people know about this, when they were originally making the concept of him and even a for a time in the film, 
However, his wife Trisha never once thought that he had full blown AIDS. Turns out he passed away from a Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. If you never saw a 
