Gazzo is Rocky's Boss and best friend, is he still active in the loan sharking business or maybe in prison after Rocky becomes champion?
Gazzo was a great character, I think he fired Paulie before Rocky 3 and ruined his life until Rocky forgave him.
I can’t get my head around this. I remember watching it in the cinema thinking it was twenty years since Rocky IV. Seems like yesterday really.
Don't even really need a pic for everyone to know what I am talking about: the moment in Round 14 when Apollo realizes he won't be able to knock out Rocky after landing his A+ knockout uppercut and Rocky gets up.
Elation (and no small amount of relief) has turned into athletic despair. Apollo is mentally defeated at this point, and Rocky dominates the rest of the fight.
It's one of the greatest bits of physical acting -- wordless, yet it says everything-- I have ever seen. Carl Weathers never got enough credit for his acting ability.
Yes, he was legitimately a great athlete. But the way he took Apollo and added so much to every aspect of the character made every scene he did -- from Rocky straight through Rocky 4 -- worth watching. Of all the memorable Apollo moments, this one in Round 14 of the first fight was the greatest (all without uttering a word; and Apollo was rarely speechless!)
Yes, Paulie is not the smartest and he is very flawed, but he is underrated by the modern fandom. He is not as bad as people claim.
I'll try to give you examples of good Paulie moments, for example when he is a good friend for Rocky.
- In Rocky III, Paulie talks about how, when they were younger, other kids/teens made fun of Rocky and Paulie always defended him.
- In Rocky, Paulie lifts the rope of the ring to grant Adrian access to the ring so she can reach Rocky, eventhough the security is already stopping him from entering with physical force.
- In Rocky, when they watch the first interview of Rocky with Apollo, Paulie is the one who speaks up that he feels they are making fun of Rocky.
- In Rocky, Paulie clumsily tries to get Rocky and Adrian to go on a date together, as he feels it would be positive for both. The way he does it is questionable, but his good intentions are proven right. Rocky and Adrian get married and have a son.
- In Rocky II, Paulie notices Adrians disapproval of Rockys rematch with Apollo is whats causing Rocky enormous amounts of distress so he tries to convince Adrian to approve of it. The way he tries to do it is questionable at best, but once again the intention is there.
- In Rocky IV, before the big fight with Drago, Paulie gives Rocky that big speech of how much he loves him like a brother.
- In Rocky III, Paulie attacks Thunderlips, the 2m wrestler played by Hulk Hogan, with a chair to defend Rocky and gets punched in the face for it.
- In Rocky V, Paulie shittalks Tommy Gunn for disrespecting Rocky and gets really angry at Tommys behavior and pushes him and threatens to beat him up, even though Tommy is the reigning Heavyweight Champ. He gets punched in the face for it.
- In Rocky V, Paulie trains Rockys son to defend himself from bullies.
- In Rocky Balboa, its revealed that Paulie has accompanied Rocky on his annual nostalgia tour on Adrians death anniversary for years eventhough he hates it.
- In Rocky Balboa, Paulie admits that he knows that he treated Adrian badly and that it hurts him to be reminded of it.
- In all movies, Paulie is by Rockys side. When he's on top, when he's at the bottom, when he lost everything, when he needs support with training, when he has a fight, Paulie is in his corner for most fights.
Paulie is not perfect, he is cranky, he is an alcoholic, he hates himself, but he always has Rockys back.
Frank Stallone Sr., oddly enough, was the only person the writer interviewed apart from Talia.
Paulie was tough and scrappy and too dumb to quit so he might make a good boxer with Mickey and Rocky training him, Paulie would be a great fighter with proper training and could become a permanent Gazzo collector,.it's implied he got laughed at and left early.
Just like neighborhood guys that knew each other their whole lives?
Outside of that never saw much in common with them
Sly and Carl Weathers had a real life relationship not all that different from their on-screen one.
They would get very competitive with each other and sometimes couldn't stand one another. But underlying it was a lot of hard-earned respect. They had their ups and downs as far as friendship -- they were too much alike in some ways -- but in time inevitably came back to a good place.
This is a cool photo from a Rocky 2 outtake. It started out heated but they ended laughing.
So I'm probably going to miss a few names here...
I'm only going to list professionals (sorry Burt Young/Uncle Paulie) and I'm going to pretty much skip most of the guys who fought in Rocky V. I'll throw in Henry Tillman because he was an Olympic gold medalist. And I'm going to throw in Chuck Wepner because he inspired the movie.
I'm also not doing the Creed movies. Someone else can do that.
This is a pound for pound ranking and is obviously my opinion. Most of these guys are heavyweights.
If you disagree, have the stones to make your own list.
And I'm not doing the "Prime Tyson beats everyone" crap.
The original Rocky is a perfect movie with a perfect ending. He went the distance, he got the girl. He proved he wasn't just some scrub from the neighborhood. Apollo said there wouldn't be a rematch and Rocky says "Don't want one." The end.
Did I enjoy some stuff from the subsequent films? Yes. Doesn't change my opinion.
I feel similarly about Halloween (1978) which is also one of my three favorite movies. Some of the sequels were good but the original was perfect and was good enough to stand alone.
I decided to start collecting the Jakks Pacific Rocky line, and I started with this figure depicting one of the most famous moments in film history. I only have 64 more figures to get to complete the line.
One of the funniest exchanges in Rocky.
Paulie: "How's the robe?"
Rocky: "It’s a little baggy."
Paulie: "Look at my date! Cost me $200."
Date (Kathleen Parker): "$250!"
(Unintentional flash forward to Rocky Balboa: If you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth.")