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December 22, 2006
Montage homage
Anyone who grew up in the 80's knows there's nothing quite like a movie training montage, and the Rocky movies were the king of training montages. Finally, Rocky is getting some recognition for its contribution to movie history:
An hour or so into Sylvester Stallone's Rocky Balboa, the washed-up brawler decides it's his destiny to strap on the gloves one more time. Bill Conti's theme music kicks in, and Rocky hits the floor for a set of one-armed push-ups, then lifts some heavy-looking metal chains and beats the crap out of a side of beef. It's an inspirational, back-to-basics training montage—one of Stallone's finest in 30 years.
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Rocky, though, will forever be champion of the genre. Close readings of the series' montage sequences reveal countless details that are essential to understanding the silver screen's archetypal underdog hero. The Rocky montages also shine a light on the evolution of the series' aesthetics, the shifting sensibilities of American popular culture, and the geopolitical climate of the 1980s.
Hell, there's even a website dedicated to montages. Here's a clip from what I consider to be the greatest training montage ever, in Rocky IV:
In fact, I think Rocky IV is probably the best of the Rocky movies, other than the original. I doubt the new one will change that. There is just something inspirational about Rocky beating the Russian superman. Did Rocky IV predict the end of the Cold War? Maybe it did. After all, a few years after Rocky sent Ivan Drago packing, the USSR went the way of the dodo. Coincidence? You decide.
entry no. 696
Posted by oz115 at December 22, 2006 02:47 PM