Movies for Wrestlers Featuring the Blanton Picks: Bloodsport & Rocky IV

Movies for Wrestlers will include the favorite movies of our favorite ILLINI wrestlers. Today's spotlight is on three-time NCAA All-American, three-time IHSA state champion and new co-head coach of Marian Central Catholic, Jordan Blanton. His brother-in-law and fellow ILLINI alum Ryan Prater joins him in coaching the Hurricanes. 

In the interview below, Jordan describes his favorite movies, and like him, they're all action, baby!

BLOODSPORT

In a previous review, I noted that The Warriors was similar to a video game. Well, Bloodsport is the perfect video game movie. The plot of Bloodsport is basically the same as Street Fighter or Mike Tyson's Punch-Out. The former debuted in arcades in 1987, one year before the theatrical release of Jean-Claude Van Damme's best movie. 

There's a reason that those two video games and the movie became big sellers and touchstones for American culture: Elegant fighting violence! Of course, some didn't appreciate the violence. 

The Chicago Tribune's critic Dave Kehr had this to say about Bloodsport:

"The singularly uncharismatic Van Damme, whose most notable previous film role was as the rubber-suited alien in 'Predator,' duly smacks and clobbers his way to the top of the competition....

The fight scenes are staged cleanly enough by Newt Arnold, a veteran assistant director (to Sam Peckinpah, among others) making his debut at the helm. But the contest format is hopelessly repetitive and inert, the characters would seem underdeveloped in a comic book, and the restricted setting ensures that the action will never develop any real scale or velocity. The Chinese may take it on the chin in 'Bloodsport,' but their own movies are infinitely better."

He gave the movie one star. Boo!

[SPOILERS] The movie is supposed to be based upon a true story, but most people believe that many of the most important parts--including the loser dies tournament--were made up.

Frank Dux is an Army Captain who has been trained in Ninjitsu from an early age by the proverbial Sensei. When the Sensei's son dies, Dux takes his place to fight in an illegal no-holds-barred tournament, the Kumite, in Hong Kong. When his Army superiors refuse to let him fight, he goes AWOL. 

The Army sends two military investigators after him (one of them is Forest Whitaker). Dux meets a female journalist while in Hong Kong who is trying to write about the illegal matches. He hooks up with her. 

The tournament begins, and it soon becomes apparent why Bloodsport was successful and became a cult classic:

1.  The different styles of the fighters.

2.  An awesome villain in Chong Li.

3.  The ring or platform on which the fights took place was way cool. 

4.  Stylized fight choreography. 

Frank Dux becomes friends with another fighter from America (the large human who played Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds). The drama intensifies when the villain, Chong Li, seriously disables Dux's friend and does the "neck-cut" motion at Dux. 

That sets up the ultimate battle between Dux and the final boss, Chong Li. 

Five years after Bloodsport premiered, the UFC was born, and unlike the fight cards that the promotion currently has with title fights, main cards and undercards, it started out as a tournament.

Just like Bloodsport.

Additionally, the intriguing idea behind the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships was a quest to determine the most effective martial art. What better way to do that than to bring all the martial arts together into one tournament? Again, just like Bloodsport.

Four out of Four Stars. 

 

ROCKY IV

This was also selected by Jordan Blanton as one of his favorite combat movies. It has everything: Fighting, America versus the Soviet Union, Grit and determination versus technology, brunette versus blonde, Brigitte Nielson versus the hormones of young men, and a kicking soundtrack. Hell, yes, this was a great movie! America ******* Rocks!

Good call, Jordan! 

[SPOILERS] I don't even know why this is necessary except for future alien anthropologists writing their dissertations on the Rocky phenomenon. All humans have seen this movie. Anyway, welcome aliens! Here's the scoop on Rocky IV, which was the shiznit.

Ivan Drago is the new heavyweight challenger from the Soviet Union, and he is built up as some kind of machine-like being who has used the latest in technology to achieve ultimate performance. 

Apollo Creed is good friends with Rocky by now, and, against Rocky's advice, Creed decides to come out of retirement to fight an exhibition against Drago. Nothing could be wilder than the pre-fight walk out by Creed, which showcased James Brown and his #4 hit, Living in America, as well as Vegas showgirls and lots of lights and dancers and Creed dressed up as Uncle Sam.

Drago literally kills Creed in the ring. 

To avenge his friend's death, Rocky challenges Drago to a fight. Here we enter montageland, as Rocky trains for the fight in the wilderness, using old and battered farm equipment, while Drago has the best sports technology to prepare him for battle. The soundtrack helps out here with some rocking numbers. 

The final bout takes place in the Soviet Union with the Premier in attendance and a hostile-to-Rocky crowd. As in his other climactic fights, the title star must go beyond human endurance to beat this Soviet machine.  

Oh, and Paulie has a talking robot. 

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has only 37% favorable reviews from critics, while the audience score is kinder at 78%. 

PLOT TWIST: Gene Siskel loved Rocky IV, which shocked me. He cited as especially worthy the two extended fight scenes. Our other Chicago buddy had a different take.  

Ebert said, "This movie is the bottom of the barrel." He went on to claim that it "is absolutely formless, it is predictable, it is uninspired, and it is not exciting, and even the fight at the end--which usually works for me--didn't work this time."

The Rocky IV movie poster shown above was used in Italy. The movie poster we saw in America used the photo below. I found this interesting because of the emphasis in both photographs. The Italian version highlights the Italian-heritage movie hero Sylvester Stallone. 

In the American poster and the promotional photographs like the one below, the focus is on the American flag. Rocky was fighting the Cold War! I found this to be especially interesting because of my duty station at the time. 

I was stationed in Germany when this movie made it overseas. My superiors sent me on an early goodwill tour of East Germany. The day before the tour, we decided to catch Rocky IV in a West Berlin moviehaus. There was a lot of loud cheering that night, my friends! A few American soldiers and a bunch of West Berliners. 

Four out of Four Stars.  

CULTURAL IMPACT

I think both of these movies deserve a special section about how they have shaped American culture. Bloodsport and similarly-themed video games paved the way for the UFC. The folks with the money noticed that the movie made $50 million from a $2 million budget. 

Like watching a wasp battle a scorpion, the mongoose and the cobra, or robots with contrasting weapons, the idea of two different types of warriors getting after it is inherently interesting. 

The big money asked this question: Why not bring the big screen to life? Bloodsport made money. Street Fighter made money. That's exactly what the UFC, Pride and Bellator did. The movie also launched the Hollywood career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. 

Folks still debate the effect, if any, Rocky IV had on the Cold War. Every year, it seems, somebody brings up the topic, including this article in the Sunday Post from 2021.  Then, there's this Washington Post piece from earlier this year. 

In the movie, Rocky wins the fight and announces to the Soviet crowd, which now loves him, "If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change." Even the Gorbachev look-alike in the movie stands up to applaud the American hero. 

Four years later, the Berlin Wall came down. 

Finally, I can't help but notice that the Soviet sports machine depicted in the movie used technology to its fullest, including pharmaceutical technology. That presaged Russia's current issues with PEDs. 

You might recall that it was around this time that Soviet and East German athletes, especially swimmers and track stars, were surprisingly fast, and the women surprisingly hairy and deep-voiced. Was this social commentary from Stallone?

Congratulations to Jordan and Ryan! 

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Photo credits: FightingIllini.com, ultimateactionmovies.com, movieposters2.com, Original Film Art, imbd.com.