Stallone KOs Chael Sonnen? An acting performance that turned heads

Arthur Ramos Schaefer: “I need to watch this movie! AHAHHAHA Stallone gained a few more points with me!” 

Ivan Albuquerque Ferro: “Seeing Sonnen get knocked out is priceless!”

Brad Shargani: “You think a man who steps into a cage with the intent to fight another man in a simulated death match with barely any rules, and whose last four fights were with former or current world champions, (two of whom are considered by many to be the greatest of all time) is a coward? I guarantee you that you would not call him a coward to his face. So, who’s the real coward? That’s what cowards like you do. You project your insecurities on other people. You have to tear somebody else down to make yourself feel better. Maybe if you spent more time doing something positive with your own life, as opposed to putting out all of this negative energy, you’d be successful and confident enough in your own life to not have to insult people who are actually successful, and doing what you only wish you could do.” 

Giuseppe Urso: “Now I have to watch this shitty movie… Damn!”

Once again, the creative people of Hollywood came through with another endearing movie that will have movie goers talking, laughing and for the less knowledgeable sports fan – even debating. It’s likely this one screenwriter or maybe two screenwriters were out partying somewhere in Beverly Hills, high as a kite on something, and suddenly started laughing out loud about this “what if” scenario which they eventually sold to some producer who said, “Hilarious, let’s do it! We’ll have the 70 year-old “Raging Bull” pick a fight with the 67 year-old Rocky Balboa to decide which of them is the strongest boxer of the big screen.”

I can already see the headlines: “The Dream Matchup”, “Stallone climbs back into the ring yet again! Rocky Balboa to face Jake La Motta”, “Stallone faces De Niro”, “Geriatric rivals come out of retirement to go toe-to-toe”.

When approached they’re saying the veteran actor Robert De Niro relished the chance to play a boxer again following his Oscar-winning turn as Jake La Motta in 1980’s Raging Bull. But Mr. Stallone was reluctant to join him as he suspected the movie would spoof his breakthrough film, Rocky.

Stallone: “I was worried because it might have come out as unintentional comedy but the way they worked it and with the other cast it started to get good so I stopped being foolish and protective of Rocky and let it go.”

De Niro: “When I heard about it, I always knew it had to be Sylvester to do it. I had to talk him into it – he had reservations, he was worried about it being a comedy but I said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll do it together and it will be okay.'”

A colleague of mine with Examiner.com, the Manhattan Events Examiner, had the privilege of interviewing the two, iconic Hollywood actors in New York and here is an excerpt from her interview:

Examiner: I’d like for you two to put on your critics’ hats and Mr. Stallone, what did you think of “Raging Bull,” and Mr. De Niro, what did you think of “Rocky”?

Sylvester Stallone: “I never saw his movie.”

Robert De Niro: “It’s alright, I’ve never saw his either.”

Sylvester Stallone: “Was it any good? At first, I thought “Raging Bull” was about home staying. No, no. It’s one of the most brilliant biographies of all times, just incredible. And it’s timeless, just a perfect, perfect performance. Now I know he’s not going to say that about me so just move on.”

Robert De Niro: “They’re two different styles of film. They were very well done and I was impressed with the ones that I saw and with what Sylvester had done with them as a craftsman in all seriousness. And I thought that scene, and it was one of the Rocky’s with James Brown, that was great.”

Sylvester Stallone: “Oh yeah.”

Robert De Niro: “Yeah, I told you about that scene.”

With a “punchline” delivery like that, is it no wonder that these two gents keep making one great film after another?

Raging Bull official trailer #1 - Robert De Niro (1980)