about the flashback scene...

Rating: Null/10 (18 April 2006)

Even though I shelled out big money for the first DVD box set that was released for Rocky years ago and I almost bought the second set for better transfers, I'm really excited about getting the latest set that will be coming out in a few months. Finally many deleted scenes will be included, and one in particular will show the great talent of Burgess Meredith. If you've seen part 5, you think that Stallone waited until 'the end' of the series to explain the significance of his cuff link necklace charm. As good as an idea that it was, (especially to see Rocky and Mickey together one last time) that scene was actually taken from a previous Rocky. The flashback footage from Rocky V was shot verbatim from a deleted scene of part 2. Stallone had intentions from the beginning of explaining how and why that charm was significant to his character. But what's the best part of this deleted scene being shown? Burgess Meredith is! Since they obviously didn't use the same footage and re-filmed the scene many years later, what strikes me is how perfect of an actor Burgess Meredith really was. He did not miss a beat at all. If you compare the two scenes you'll see that he did it almost perfectly even mispronouncing 'motivation' and doing that cough, smirk and smile just when he was talking. Its things like that, that show how some actors really become the characters that they portray.