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“But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” ("Samplage (beta) It Ain't about How Hard You Hit"). Sylvester Stallone created one of the most memorable underdogs known to anyone who has been against the odds; the Italian Stallion himself, Rocky Balboa. Throughout his complex career, Sylvester Stallone has faced many hardships but has always seemed to find the “Rocky” within himself and win. He is a well-known writer, actor, and most importantly an inspiration. He continues to this day to create characters of unlikely heroes that inadvertently reflect him as a person and ignite motivation in us all.
The first prominent building block to Stallone’s career began with the simple but noble thought of “I want to be remembered as a man of raging optimism, who believes in the American dream" (Broeske 500-501). Stallone had little money to his name but managed to find his way to a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. The classic match of “Champ vs. Chump” inspired the creation of Rocky Balboa (Broeske 500-501). With the success of the morals and persistence of “Rocky”, the franchise soon became a household name, jump starting Stallone’s fame and future career.
Moreover, the newly found and abrupt achievements has been accompanied by great milestones. Stallone carried around newly found woes of his private celebrity life with the failure of his first two marriages resulting in much heartache, an unresponsive attempt of transitioning from action to comical roles, and the pressure of a fanbase waiting on a continuance “Rocky”. Within the next few
Lopez 2 years, the formation of “Sly’s” care...
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...e”). The family was broken apart once again when Sly’s oldest son suddenly passed away. The abrupt quietus leaves a lasting mystery in the family due to the probability of a drug overdose but Stallone refuses to accept the theory, insisting that his son is not capable of it.
In all, Sly has been through the ringer. His career has seen repeated hesitations and setbacks; his personal life also found tragedy and heartbreak but, Stallone could finally find solitude in his life as his family continued to prove as a small but powerful support system. Their fuel fed his fire to continue persevering and finding the “eye of the tiger.” Stallone inspires his fans by embracing his flaws and shining through the movies he has been involved in. The most rewarding honor will not be an Academy Award nor a Star on Hollywood Boulevard, but the loyalty and support of Stallone’s fans.
John Rambo and Jack Ryan are two amazing men. They are honest, trustworthy, heroic, never crack under pressure, and stand for truth, justice, and the American way. Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford do their best attempting to make the audience believe that men such as Rambo and Ryan actually exist. Try as they might, not even Stallone or Ford can convince me that men of this caliber actually live. Rambo is able to not only foil his corrupt, superior American officer trying to sabotage his mission, but eliminate an entire army of Vietnamese and Russian soldiers, and save a handful of POWs. Jack Ryan defies the entire government and the largest Colombian drug cartel because he stands for the “truth.” Sorry, but I am not buying it.
Apollo Creed destroyed his opponents in the ring. Being the son of such of a boxing legend, Adonis Johnson, has a lot to live up to. “Creed”, is a 2015 film directed by Ryan Coolger. Glory was what Adonis craved, so he chased it to the city of Philadelphia, the home of his father’s most infamous defeat. One of the many sequels to the, ‘Rocky’, films, ‘Creed’, champions the idea of how sport can develop an individual into a hero, someone to inspire the masses. This film portrays Adonis’s struggle to become as great as his father was. Alone, Adonis would not succeed, so he seeks the help of Rocky Balboa. A partnership develops between them; raw talent soons matures into a lean, fighting machine. When the world champion, ‘Pretty Ricky’ Conlan, challenges Creed because of his father’s extensive legacy, Adonis sets out to prove that he isn’t in his father’s shadow. Skill, strength and stamina are qualities he sets to prove he has, that he is more than another famous name.
“The most troublesome transformation comes near the end of this incoherent epic… A stalking panther turns miraculously into Michael Jackson as we’ve never seen him before… Michael grabs repea...
Cinematography is the element that I will be implementing in this essay. The story centers around Rocky Graziano and his transition from rags to riches. Rocky starts off as a criminal, being involved in a street gang and participating in criminal activities such as stealing material objects
Focus. Power. Confidence. These are the words people think of when they hear the phrase “eye of the tiger.” The majority of society knows this phrase intrinsically, even though its origin dates back over 30 years. My uncle is no exception, as he said that the song “Eye of the Tiger” by American rock band Survivor was a critical part of his youth. The “Eye of the Tiger” was released in 1982 and was also the theme song for the film Rocky III. The song was written by Survivor guitarist Frankie Sullivan and keyboardist Jim Peterik at the request of Sylvester Stallone himself. The scene Stallone requested the song for was originally supposed to go with the song “Another one Bites the Dust” by Queen, but there was an issue acquiring publishing rights.
The Fight Club, directed by David Fincher, constructs an underground world of men fighting with one another to find the meaning to their lives. Ed Norton and Brad Pitt are the main characters who start the fight club. They make a set of rules that everyone must follow. The fight club exists because individuals get weighted down by possessions, causing them to miss the deep meaning of life. Most of the people in the fight club hold service jobs or lower level management jobs that are meaningless.
From a young age, Steven Spielberg knew he wanted to be a director, but had no idea he would have so much influence in filmmaking. Even though he has only received two Academy Awards, he doesn’t need awards to show how successful he is with his films. Media today would not be the same without Spielberg’s influence because he has helped media develop into something extraordinary. With his contributions to the film industry, all of his dedication put into his films, and all of the glory he has received, shows why Steven Spielberg is one of the most influential Americans of all time.
On June 6, 1943, in Greenbow, Alabama, an unexpected hero was born with a crooked spine and strong legs. Forrest Gump is not an expected conventional hero, however his accolades and accomplishments suggest otherwise. A hero is someone who inspires and instills good morals upon others by their courageous and outstanding acts. Forrest demonstrates these characteristics multiple times during his heroic journey. Whether it be diplomatic pingpong, fighting in the Vietnam War, becoming a local football legend at the University of Alabama or donating money to a deceased friend’s family, Forrest influenced many people with his unselfish and charitable acts. Joseph Campbell’s monomyth consists of the following stages: taking place in an ordinary world, a call to adventure, refusal of said call, meeting with a mentor, crossing the threshold, trials and tribulations, an approach to the final challenge, an ordeal, a reward, the journey back, a purification or resurrection into the normal world and a return home with the capabilities to alter the world in which he lives. Many heroes follow this journey and Forrest Gump is no exception.
Boxing is not a sport full of unexpected turns and twists. Similarly to so many sports, it is about mastering the craft and repeating those techniques more efficiently than the competition. Thus, in Antoine Fuqua’s Southpaw, Fuqua sticks to the tried-and-tested traditional tale of a boxer who—felled by personal tragedy—rises again to save the one person in his life that matters to him. Although one can basically map out the entire journey from the preview, an edgy cast led by Jake Gyllenhaal keeps the audience on its toes and begging for more.
Rocky deliberately avoided the old time ways … he called it superstition.”(Silko, 51) By showing us how Rocky deliberately avoids the ways of his people, the traditions of his own family, Silko highlights the push for Native Americans to essentially become white. Rocky represents an entire generation that is being told that they need to completely renounce their way of life in order to be accepted by modern society. Part of this acceptance was also promised through participating in World War Two, as shown through the army recruiter “Anyone can fight for America… even you boys. In a time of need anyone can fight for her.”(Silko, 64) Silko uses the recruiter as a voice for opinions in the US, enticing its alienated cultures with a kind of equality. As the audience, we clearly know it is a temporary change, and Silko highlights this by mentioning “In a time of need”, but Rocky, a person already trying to embrace change, sees this as a chance to become equal to the whites. He as well as many others are fooled by the whites into thinking that positive change is happening, ironically, this promise of a better life leads to his fate. In a jungle nowhere near home, participating in a war, having nothing to do with his people, Rocky dies as a white man. By ending Rocky’s life in this way, Silko allows
1) It is no surprise, Raging Bull and Robert De Niro's performance is hailed as one of the greatest. Interestingly, I never saw this film in the 1980’s when it came out. Martin Scorsese, does an incredible job using cinematography techniques such as, slow motion,point of view shots and black and white high contrast lighting. He also infuses strange sounds during the fight scenes. I loved this movie! Robert Di Niro transforms himself into the character Jake La Motta, while we, the audience, delves into Jake the prize fighter's, psyche. We experience his emotions and life through Jake’s eyes. Di Niro captures the essence of Jake La Motta.The use of black and white cinematography made it appear to period authentic. There was no color TV in the day and many of us remember watching prize fights in black and white. Scorsese's use of slow motion shots, help to convey the emotionality of the scene. This was most notably apparent in the fight scenes and the scenes that portray his jealousy towards Vicki. This use of slow motion helps capture the emotion felt by the
Barker, Jennifer. "'A hero will rise': the myth of the fascist man in fight club and Gladiator." Literature-Film Quarterly 36.3 (2008): 171+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Francis Ford Coppola has amassed a reputation nearly as large as his film repertoire. He has worked as a director, producer, movie studio entrepreneur, and as a film writer. In each role he maintained a balance of working inside the studio system, while consciously maintaining a wary distant from it (Hill and Philips 167). The sweeping range of critical commentary on his films, paired with popular and profitable films, followed by complete flops led him to declare in 1987, “I’m embarrassed by my duality of failure and success.” (Bergan 7) Even two of his most successful and critically acclaimed films, The Godfather and The Godfather II did not completely fulfill him. He found that while doors opened within the industry, he was pulled from his
Rocky is an amateur boxer who lives in the tough streets of Philadelphia. Living his normal life, he gets chosen to fight the world heavyweight champion out of every single boxer in the world. He takes on a tough regimen of training to prepare himself for the fight. The movie shows him putting in a lot of effort into his training and also it shows how he got his girlfriend, Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire). Also his friend and his girlfriend's brother, Paulie Pennino helps him out by giving him a place to train even though throughout the movie he seems like he is a drunk and selfish. Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) wants to becomes Rocky's trainer after an unfortunate plan of events take place at his gym.
Fight Club “Its only after we’ve lost everything are we free to do anything”, Tyler Durden as (Brad Pitt) states, among many other lines of contemplation. In Fight Club, a nameless narrator, a typical “everyman,” played as (Edward Norton) is trapped in the world of large corporations, condominium living, and all the money he needs to spend on all the useless stuff he doesn’t need. As Tyler Durden says “The things you own end up owning you.” Fight Club is an edgy film that takes on such topics as consumerism, the feminization of society, manipulation, cultism, Marxist ideology, social norms, dominant culture, and the psychiatric approach of the human id, ego, and super ego. “It is a film that surrealistically describes the status of the American