71

In Rocky IV (1985), Balboa gifts Paulie a talking and moving robot which could do following things:

  • Talk and act like humans.

  • Patch up to phone lines in house.

  • Voice modulation according to needs. Paulie teaches it to talk in girl's voice.

  • Provide household service.

enter image description here

It's almost like an combination of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things in today's time.

But it did not have any significance to the plot. Why was it included ?

Johnny Bones
  • 59,837
  • 23
  • 176
  • 288
Rahul
  • 12,022
  • 8
  • 51
  • 76
  • 16
    I think the presence of the robot in the film is an additional indicator that Rocky's fortune is being systematically squandered. – PCARR Jan 08 '18 at 17:32
  • 1
    @PCARR: If you are referring to his loss of fortune then that's story of 5th part. Also the reasons are different. – Rahul Jan 08 '18 at 17:44
  • Doesn't it just represent how people spend on extravagant things when they think they have money just burning a hole in their pocket? –  Jan 08 '18 at 21:57
  • 2
    @PCARR Any reservations to fleshing that out into a proper answer? – Napoleon Wilson Jan 09 '18 at 14:07
  • 1
    @SiXandSeven8ths Any reservations to fleshing that out into a proper answer? – Napoleon Wilson Jan 09 '18 at 14:07
  • @NapoleonWilson I really don't have anything to back it up as an answer in this particular situation. I liken it to a rookie NFL player buying Ferraris and mansions when they should be investing and securing their future when they inevitably get hurt or retire. –  Jan 09 '18 at 15:23
  • 2
    @SiXandSeven8ths You seem to have a reasonable explanation to back it up. Backing things up isn't just about Wikipedia quotes. – Napoleon Wilson Jan 09 '18 at 15:28

1 Answers1

132

Some interesting info can be found here.

Basically, to summarize the article, Stallone discovered the company that produced the robot was using it as a tool to help autistic children. One of Stallone's children is autistic, so he became enamored with the robot and offered to write a part for it in the next Rocky movie. Apparently there was more scripted around building the relationship between Paulie and the robot, but it was scrapped.

BCdotWEB
  • 48,936
  • 6
  • 151
  • 195
Johnny Bones
  • 59,837
  • 23
  • 176
  • 288
  • 25
    This is an incredibly wholesome answer, especially when contrasted against the comments on the question. – Engineer Toast Jan 08 '18 at 21:10
  • 2
    Does that mean within the film they are comparing Paulie to an autistic child? – Skooba Jan 08 '18 at 21:30
  • 4
    No, because the autism angle isn't known within the Rockyverse. It's just a companion. Think of it as free ad placements. – Johnny Bones Jan 08 '18 at 23:19
  • @JohnnyBones Sounds like a pretty, shiny example of product placement. Interesting, whether company has actually paid for this ad or whether it was Stallone's decision: "Either this robot or I'm not playing in this damn movie!"? – trejder Jan 09 '18 at 13:35
  • 6
    @trejder - You can do that when a) you're the main actor, and b) you write the script. ;o) – Johnny Bones Jan 09 '18 at 17:12
  • @JohnnyBones: Well... you can always drop playing in the movie, where you're the main actor and the main script writer, if they are reluctant into placing a robot in that movie, right? :> – trejder Jan 10 '18 at 15:22
  • My guess is the studio would have passed on the script if they were, for some unknown reason, adamant about not having a robot in it. – Johnny Bones Jan 10 '18 at 15:35