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United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Film auteur Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and stars in this re-working of Rocky to fit an old-fashioned Hollywood formula, depicting three brothers from New York's Hell's Kitchen of the 1940s who want to claw their way out of poverty. Lee Canalito is the muscle-brained iceman Victor, and Armand Assante is the embittered, crippled war veteran Lenny. But the smooth-talking con man brother Cosmo (Sylvester Stallone), sees beef-cake Victor's fists as their ticket out of the slums. Cosmo, ever the manipulator, convinces the dull-witted Victor to participate in a series of bone-crunching wrestling matches as Kid Salami. Cosmo and Lenny exploit Victor's brute strength to grab the fast money on the wrestling circuit. But their climb to success is halted when the local gangster Stitch (Kevin Conway) puts up his malicious and dangerous wrestler Frankie the Thumper (Terry Funk) to fight against Kid Salami in a 22-round meat-pounder. ...Paradise Alley
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In the days following Rocky, Stallone seemed torn between being a serious actor and making movies where he throws people around. With Paradise Alley he came up with what seemed like the perfect compromise - playing the fast-talking promoter-cum-trainer of someone who throws people around in this tale of three brothers trying to get out of Hell's Kitchen in the '40s when one of them shows a talent for wrestling. With Armand Assante and Lee Canalito rounding out the trio, it clearly sees itself as a throwback to the tenement dramas of the 40s where the likes of Cagney or Raft would fast talk their way up the ladder, but for all the money that's evidently been spent (much of it badly) it has none of their pace or strength. It also has at least three things going spectacularly against it: Stallone's atrocious screenplay, his abysmal directing and his witless and hugely unlikeable performance as the aforementioned motormouth, who is at times even more obnoxious than the script intends, making the film harder to take when he's hogging the screen. It would help if he gave himself some good dialogue, but this is the kind of film where no-one gets good dialogue or good scenes for the first hour and no-one's had the guts to tell the star/writer/director that this really needs a rethink.
You can see where it could have worked on paper, but for his first effort behind the camera Stallone couldn't even get the setpiece scenes right. What could have been an exciting rooftop race becomes a dreary slow-motion and freezeframe title sequence devoid of speed, danger or even the feeling that these guys are even on a roof while an arm-wrestling scene emphasises how long the whole thing drags on over physical strength or suspense. Things do finally start to pick up around the hour mark when the brothers start to get torn apart as Canalito's wrestling career takes off, Assante's crippled war veteran starts exploiting him for every buck and Stallone finally develops a conscience, but it still only works in fits and starts. There are a couple of decent scenes along the way, particularly with Frank McRae's broken down wrestler who wants to die when he's happy for once, and there's some flair to the final wrestling bout in a rain-drenched ring during a thunderstorm, but it's hard to resist the temptation to have bailed out long before then. It's the kind of film you'd like to like more, but boy, does Stallone make it hard to do that.... Still, you'll never forget his rendition of the title song: "Too close tuh paradise/An' too clooohhsssee tuh Hellllllll/And sumtimes thah diffarence/Is tuh hahhd tuh tell..."
No extras on the UK DVD, which only offers a widescreen transfer that doesn't do Laszlo Kovacs' already surprisingly poor cinematography any favors and is cut by 42 seconds to remove animal cruelty (a scene of a bound and gagged dancing monkey locked in a cupboard).
You can see where it could have worked on paper, but for his first effort behind the camera Stallone couldn't even get the setpiece scenes right. What could have been an exciting rooftop race becomes a dreary slow-motion and freezeframe title sequence devoid of speed, danger or even the feeling that these guys are even on a roof while an arm-wrestling scene emphasises how long the whole thing drags on over physical strength or suspense. Things do finally start to pick up around the hour mark when the brothers start to get torn apart as Canalito's wrestling career takes off, Assante's crippled war veteran starts exploiting him for every buck and Stallone finally develops a conscience, but it still only works in fits and starts. There are a couple of decent scenes along the way, particularly with Frank McRae's broken down wrestler who wants to die when he's happy for once, and there's some flair to the final wrestling bout in a rain-drenched ring during a thunderstorm, but it's hard to resist the temptation to have bailed out long before then. It's the kind of film you'd like to like more, but boy, does Stallone make it hard to do that.... Still, you'll never forget his rendition of the title song: "Too close tuh paradise/An' too clooohhsssee tuh Hellllllll/And sumtimes thah diffarence/Is tuh hahhd tuh tell..."
No extras on the UK DVD, which only offers a widescreen transfer that doesn't do Laszlo Kovacs' already surprisingly poor cinematography any favors and is cut by 42 seconds to remove animal cruelty (a scene of a bound and gagged dancing monkey locked in a cupboard).
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This an early Stallone movie more of a drama than action film. He plays a more streetwise character than a tough guy. Its okay for what it is but don't buy this if your expecting Rocky or Rambo style action. You may also need to use the subtitles for Stallone's dialouge. Watch out for Terry Funk and other faces wrestling fans!
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I once had this film taped from the TV. It had different music and sceenes in some places than is in the re-released versions of today. The original version must have been the un-cut version (just wish I still had it). It has just come out on DVD on region 1 (USA) and hope (pray) it comes out on region 2. This is one of the best films I have ever seen. All the leading actors/actresses play their roles perfectly. The witty punchlines/quotes are memorable. If anyone has a copy of the original they don't want, I would be more than greatful.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
good film
this dvd is well worth a look it is the story of three brothers who are trying to get into the world of wrestling to get out of their hum drum lives. Read more
Published 12 months ago by scorpio
Difficult to give one at this stage
So Sylvester is a slightly less tougher Rocky Balboa, in a way that he's applied the same kind of character for a different story, I think that's what people are trying to get at,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mr. A. C. Cummins
Paradise Alley
I had seen this film several years ago and wanted to see it again. The cast are superb and even the theme song is great. Well worth buying to see it again!
Published on 4 Dec 2009 by P. White
Cool - but only if you're already a big fan
Stallone made this around the time of Rocky II and to be fair it has some pretty big flaws. Its not a great film and I think Sly was overcompensating for Rocky's personality with... Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2008 by UKstd1
How much reality can be squeezed into a film?
OK OK I know this is Stallone we are talking about, but this tale has heart and guts. Stallone is Stallone and he is ideal for this role - his typical role of one man against the... Read more
Published on 12 Jan 2002 by Gordon
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