After watching their collaboration THE LAST FIGHT, I was looking forward to the "epic" (in length only) 2-parter THE BOXER, starring Rocco Siffredi in the title role of a largely English-language Joe D'Amato production. It's silly in the extreme.
I'm attempting to correct the IMDb credits for the film, currently listing two entries for Part 2 (one of which is a garbled & wrong AKA mistake for an Amber Lynn movie) and leaving Part 1 out entirely! It's rather confusing, but hopefully I will have it sorted out for posterity (I know you fans out there care).
Of course, Sylvester Stallone's ROCKY is the model for this -not only does "The Italian Stallion" bring back memories of the great one but Rocco as "Rocky" is a natural. Siffredi is proper casting, but D'Amato ruins the films with laughably amateurish boxing scenes, among the worst I've ever seen. Basically Rocco and his opponent, usually a bald Black fighter who does not partake in the XXX stagings, trade punches in an abstracted ring set, crudely intercut with crowd footage -miserable filmmaking.
Sean Michaels co-stars as a crooked manager, handling Rocco's Black opponent. He teams up with Vince Voyeur for some solid threesomes (d.p. action) that give superstud Rocco a breather in the XXX department.
First film starts off with an overlong sex sequence between Rocco and his girl friend Rosa Caracciolo. They worked frequently together, most notably in everybody's favorite D'Amato porn film TARZAN X aka JUNGLE HEAT. Here Rosa has lighter hair than her Jane role, but that fabulous body and sexual expertise carry the day.
SPOILER ALERT:
First film limns the usual ups & downs of boxing champ Rocco's career, leaving the storyline hanging. In Part 2, with some new cast members added including the delightful Missy (she of D'Amato CALAMITY JANE fame), the story is resolved in a preposterous finish, where Rosa brings her new-born baby (it's just her holding a folded over blanket) to ringside to inspire flailing Rocco to a new burst of energy and inspiration in the ring. If D'Amato were directing films circa 1919 instead of 75 years later, this lunacy still wouldn't have played.
For U.S. release, Rocco speaks both in English and Italian, and his intimate Italian conversations with Rosa are left untranslated.
I'm attempting to correct the IMDb credits for the film, currently listing two entries for Part 2 (one of which is a garbled & wrong AKA mistake for an Amber Lynn movie) and leaving Part 1 out entirely! It's rather confusing, but hopefully I will have it sorted out for posterity (I know you fans out there care).
Of course, Sylvester Stallone's ROCKY is the model for this -not only does "The Italian Stallion" bring back memories of the great one but Rocco as "Rocky" is a natural. Siffredi is proper casting, but D'Amato ruins the films with laughably amateurish boxing scenes, among the worst I've ever seen. Basically Rocco and his opponent, usually a bald Black fighter who does not partake in the XXX stagings, trade punches in an abstracted ring set, crudely intercut with crowd footage -miserable filmmaking.
Sean Michaels co-stars as a crooked manager, handling Rocco's Black opponent. He teams up with Vince Voyeur for some solid threesomes (d.p. action) that give superstud Rocco a breather in the XXX department.
First film starts off with an overlong sex sequence between Rocco and his girl friend Rosa Caracciolo. They worked frequently together, most notably in everybody's favorite D'Amato porn film TARZAN X aka JUNGLE HEAT. Here Rosa has lighter hair than her Jane role, but that fabulous body and sexual expertise carry the day.
SPOILER ALERT:
First film limns the usual ups & downs of boxing champ Rocco's career, leaving the storyline hanging. In Part 2, with some new cast members added including the delightful Missy (she of D'Amato CALAMITY JANE fame), the story is resolved in a preposterous finish, where Rosa brings her new-born baby (it's just her holding a folded over blanket) to ringside to inspire flailing Rocco to a new burst of energy and inspiration in the ring. If D'Amato were directing films circa 1919 instead of 75 years later, this lunacy still wouldn't have played.
For U.S. release, Rocco speaks both in English and Italian, and his intimate Italian conversations with Rosa are left untranslated.