Comments Thread For: Boxing Without Boxing: Hands of Stone

[CubanGuyNYC]

It didn't work for me on any level. Bad acting, cheesy script, unlikeable protagonist (wanted Stallone to lose all his fights).
Worst of all, it's almost impossible to understand a single word he mumbles or slurs.

A lot of people would disagree. The Academy doesn’t always get it right, but any film that gets ten Oscar nominations definitely isn’t bad. Rocky won best picture, best director and best film editing. Stallone was nominated for best screenplay and best actor, while his co-stars also received nominations. How a movie impacts the viewer is a very personal thing — everyone is entitled to their own tastes — but there are objectively good and bad films. Rocky is a good movie.

[crold1]

A lot of people would disagree. The Academy doesn’t always get it right, but any film that gets ten Oscar nominations definitely isn’t bad. Rocky won best picture, best director and best film editing. Stallone was nominated for best screenplay and best actor, while his co-stars also received nominations. How a movie impacts the viewer is a very personal thing — everyone is entitled to their own tastes — but there are objectively good and bad films. Rocky is a good movie.

Agree. The critics bemoaned it winning over Network, All the President's Men, and Taxi Driver...but it's the one the most people have gone back to see the most number of times for a reason. It's timeless. One of the great American movies in a great year for them.

[boogbx]

I enjoyed hands of stone.

If you can get it with subtitles, or if you speak Spanish, Pambele a Colombian soap opera about Antonio Cervantes is excellent.

[CubanGuyNYC]

Agree. The critics bemoaned it winning over Network, All the President's Men, and Taxi Driver...but it's the one the most people have gone back to see the most number of times for a reason. It's timeless. One of the great American movies in a great year for them.

Just a great underdog story. All the sequels sometimes make people forget that the original Rocky was wonderful. I’d say Taxi Driver (a film I’ve also seen many times) was worthier of the 1977 Oscar, but Stallone’s breakout film is indeed timeless.

[Angeljuice]

A lot of people would disagree. The Academy doesn’t always get it right, but any film that gets ten Oscar nominations definitely isn’t bad. Rocky won best picture, best director and best film editing. Stallone was nominated for best screenplay and best actor, while his co-stars also received nominations. How a movie impacts the viewer is a very personal thing — everyone is entitled to their own tastes — but there are objectively good and bad films. Rocky is a good movie.

I'm aware of Rocky's success and critical reception. I have a degree in Film and Television production and work in the field as both a director and camera operator.

I don't like a lot of "classic" films and disagree completely about the academy awards. They are often wrong.
I find Rocky to be too formulaic with too much artificial "saccharin" emotional manipulation.
It would have been fine had they got a decent actor to play the main role. Rocky is a simple man but Stallone plays him so dumb that he would be in an institution in the real world, it loses all verisimilitude for me and kills the film.
I'm no longer following the story, just wondering if there are really people that dumb in real life. He speaks like he has serious mental health issues.

Then there's the 2D trainer, who pops in with cliché'd one liners for a bit of comic relief and the long suffering Adrienne who struggles to cope as his primary mental health carer without the required assistance from the authorities.
I have the same issues with anything
Pinoccheanu Reeves touches. I don't find him convincing as a human being, let alone any character he creates. His best performance was in that 50's sci-fi remake where he plays an alien adapting to human form. He's totally perfect for the role of somebody who is not quite human.

I know I'm in a minority on this but when the verisimilitude is lost, the film dies and can't be enjoyed.

[CubanGuyNYC]

I'm aware of Rocky's success and critical reception. I have a degree in Film and Television production and work in the field as both a director and camera operator.

I don't like a lot of "classic" films and disagree completely about the academy awards. They are often wrong.
I find Rocky to be too formulaic with too much artificial "saccharin" emotional manipulation.
It would have been fine had they got a decent actor to play the main role. Rocky is a simple man but Stallone plays him so dumb that he would be in an institution in the real world, it loses all verisimilitude for me and kills the film.
I'm no longer following the story, just wondering if there are really people that dumb in real life. He speaks like he has serious mental health issues.

Then there's the 2D trainer, who pops in with cliché'd one liners for a bit of comic relief and the long suffering Adrienne who struggles to cope as his primary mental health carer without the required assistance from the authorities.
I have the same issues with anything
Pinoccheanu Reeves touches. I don't find him convincing as a human being, let alone any character he creates. His best performance was in that 50's sci-fi remake where he plays an alien adapting to human form. He's totally perfect for the role of somebody who is not quite human.

I know I'm in a minority on this but when the verisimilitude is lost, the film dies and can't be enjoyed.

There are countless great and enjoyable films that aren’t especially realistic. Stallone’s character doesn’t seem terribly ****** to me. He’s uneducated and a bit slow, but is that really such a stretch for a fighter? Or anyone, for that matter?

Rocky was a lot less formulaic back in 1976. In fact, one can say that it created the formula for the underdog sports film. I always felt it was a beautiful touch to have the protagonist lose at the end. Winning the fight would’ve indeed been too unrealistic. But the film was never really about that. It was about giving your dreams everything you’ve got.

You can’t convince someone to like sushi if they don’t like fish; but it’s not correct to say that it’s terrible food, either. What boxing-related films do you like? What are some of your favorite movies in general?

[Jenny from JAX]

I would also love to see reviews of older pictures, like City for Conquest or Somebody Up There Likes Me. Lotta interesting old classics in the genre.

I'd add The Harder They Fall, as well. Maybe the original Body and Soul, too (just to shout out James Wong Howe's cinematography).

[Dasmius Shinobi]

Excelent Article by Cliff Rold. Respect

Good review of the movie, but I was expecting more than a review, nothing personal. You are still one of the best writer.