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RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

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RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

Old 06-16-17, 07:26 PM
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RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

John G. Avildsen, Oscar-Winning Director of 'Rocky,' Dies at 81
5:10 PM PDT 6/16/2017 by Mike Barnes

John G. Avildsen, who won an Academy Award for directing Rocky (1976) and helmed the first three original Karate Kid movies, has died. He was 81.

Avildsen died of pancreatic cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son, Anthony, told the Los Angeles Times.


Avildsen also directed Susan Sarandon and Peter Boyle in the ultimately violent drama Joe (1970); guided Jack Lemmon to the Academy Award for best actor in Save the Tiger (1973) in a story about a businessman having a mid-life crisis; and kept things together on the set of The Formula (1980), which starred the temperamental actors George C. Scott and Marlon Brando.

Rocky (1976), of course, starred Sylvester Stallone as a determined Philadelphia club fighter who goes on to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world.

"When this script [also written by Stallone] came to me from an old friend … I said I had no interest in boxing, I think boxing's sort of a dumb thing," he said in an interview with the Baltimore Sun last year. "He pleaded and pleaded, so I finally read the thing. And on the second or third page, he's talking to his turtles, Cuff and Link. I was charmed by it, and I thought it was an excellent character study and a beautiful love story. And I said yes."

He received another Oscar nom in 1983 for directing the documentary short Traveling Hopefully and returned to Stallone's boxing franchise with Rocky V (1990).

Avildsen also called the shots on The Karate Kid (1984), the inspirational film that starred Pat Morita as an Okinawan martial arts master who agrees to teach karate to a bullied teenager (Ralph Macchio), then stayed on for the sequels in 1986 and 1989.

"Mr. Miyagi was the ideal surrogate father that everybody wished they had," Avildsen said in the Sun piece. "He was wise, he was generous, he was funny. He was a fairy godmother. And Pat Morita brought him to life, he was ideal. Who could be better?"

The franchise brought in almost a quarter-billion dollars at the box office.

Avildsen's film résumé also included W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings (1975), starring Burt Reynolds; Neighbors (1981) with John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd; Lean on Me (1989), with Morgan Freeman playing a real-life high school principal in an inner city; and 8 Seconds (1994), starring Luke Perry.

A native of Oak Park, Ill., Avildsen started out as a cinematographer, and he shot his directorial debut, Turn on to Love (1969).

He was the subject of a documentary, John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs, that premiered this year at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Last edited by devilshalo; 06-16-17 at 07:36 PM.
Old 06-16-17, 07:29 PM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

He is off to the great training montage in the sky.
Old 06-16-17, 10:44 PM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

Originally Posted by stvn1974
He is off to the great training montage in the sky.
Old 06-16-17, 11:07 PM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

RIP, for the training montage I always loved this music.
Old 06-17-17, 01:58 AM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

Originally Posted by Bluelitespecial
RIP, for the training montage I always loved this music.
Yeah, that's one of my fav themes. Lol, I was going to suggest finding the recent Varese soundtrack releases...but the prices are insane.

Some great films...the man was dialed in on the inspirational sports themed films that's for sure. Crazy that he was 40 when directing Rocky.
Old 06-17-17, 05:57 AM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

Rocky, The Karate Kid & even Lean On Me are 3 movies I can watch over and over. RIP.
Old 06-17-17, 09:49 AM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

He was the best around, nothing was gonna bring him down
Old 06-17-17, 10:52 AM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

This is really cool, a Q&A panel for the Karate Kid for the 30th anniversary screening at the Japanese American National Museum from 2014. Its very much worth watching.

Old 06-17-17, 02:40 PM
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Re: RIP John G Avildsen 1935-2017

Sad news about film director John G. Avildsen. I've seen his excellent film "Joe" (1970) several times over the years - truly incredible & extremely underrated flick. Though this came out before my time, it's an interesting time capsule of the early '70's. I.e., it really illustrates the gap between the young "hippies" and the older, conservative middle-aged parents at the time. There was a real division between those two groups during that era.

I find "Joe" far superior to the much more mainstream Hollywood films "Rocky" and "Karate Kid".

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