The Puncher

Rocky Balboa, the favorite boxing underdog, then champion, then underdog again, of the '80s is back, whether you think it's a good idea or not.

Writer/director/producer/actor and all-around Rocky mastermind Sylvester Stallone has not lost faith in this epic story. The gist of The Puncher is simple: Rocky comes out of retirement at age 50-60 (the official age has not been released) and gets into the ring with Mason "The Line" Dixon, played by current light heavyweight champion of the world, Antonio "Magic Man" Tarvis.

Sound a little far-fetched? It certainly looked a little odd to me, on the set to be an extra for the filming here in Vegas last week.

I mean, come on now, Tarvis is a strapping young lad with beefy pecks and powerful thighs. Then there's Stallone. Geesh. He does look great for his age and it was obvious that he got in shape for the role, as much as a 60-year-old can get in, but there's little anyone can do about old-man flab—those gnarly wrinkles around the ribs were in plain sight for the world to see. And, not that I was staring or anything, but my eyes did wander south to where one expects to see some kind of man candy. Alas, there was little to see. Hmmm, were Sly's tighty-whities too tight? Did he just get out of a cold shower? I'm sure I will never know, but I feel it's a legitimate question with journalistic integrity.

Upon glancing at the sign-in sheet, it appeared as though many out-of-towners either made a special trip into Vegas or were really bored and needed something to do while they were here, as most phone numbers were out-of-state. The question then arose: What types of people does a Rocky filming attract? There were your standard members of SAG (Screen Actors Guild) who were paid, dressed to the nines and seated directly ringside. There were also extras from the Wild Streak Talent agency who kept to themselves and followed directions carefully. Otherwise, the remaining extras were an odd variety of people: die-hard Rocky fans such as professional boxer Nicko Kangelaris, a.k.a. El Greco; Mandalay Bay hotel guests who split after catching a glimpse of the Italian Stallion; those who came back for more filming after sitting through it the day before; those who couldn't get out of there fast enough; and even a few who were so bored they fell asleep in their seats and drooled all over themselves.

This was my first time doing the extra thing, and I believe it will be my last. Extras could sign up beforehand at
www.beinamovie.com, which I did. All we were told in advance was that we would be ringside for the movie's final boxing scene. While I can't say anything about the film's content, which I know very little about even after eight hours of being on set, I can talk about the creepiness and boringness of the day. First, there were only about 250 extras. There are at least 1,000 seats or more at the Events Center. That leaves a lot of empty places, which were filled with faceless blow-up dolls, torsos only, with face masks and real articles of clothing. Talk about disturbing. Half the time I turned to speak to someone it turned out to be a blow-up half-person.

Secondly, for every 10 seconds of shooting there are 30 minutes of sitting around starting at the ceiling. "Sit down, stand up, there are speaking parts in this scene, so just pantomime your cheering—OK, sit down again."

Sadly, the most exciting part of the day was lunch break, sigh. There's nothing that curbs one's appetite better than a bag lunch with a soggy chicken Caesar sandwich and a fruit-punch Capri Sun. Comedian Dante led our little group in singing and impersonation contests, both of which made me wonder if there was more talent in the ring or around it.

The weird part about this whole thing is that I have never even seen a Rocky flick. Sure, I've seen a few minutes of Rocky here and there, and I know who Adrian is, but that's the extent of my Balboa knowledge. Almost every guy I talk to about the Rocky series tells me I'm not missing much, then proceeds to tell me the story lines for every Rocky movie ever made. Were these movies some kind of boys' rite of passage or something? As for myself, I admit that in one week I've learned more than I ever wanted to about Rocky, Paulie, Apollo Creed and the rest of the gang.