Ricky 1

Just like Foodfight, I watched a bit of it on YouTube and I have the exact same feeling as Foodfight. Thankfully I'm not going to watch all of it because it would be a waste of my time.

Seriously, who thought of a spoof of Rocky? It's like spoofing the Bourne series and calling it The Bourne Retardation. Like the Rocky films, it revolves around a regular schmoe who receives an opportunity to fight it out with the champion of the world. When people wonder why it went right to video and never entered theatres, it's because the film was so bad. no one would want to waste 90 minutes of their valuable time watching some bad acting rolled into a bad film. Wouldn't someone prefer to dance on that giant piano from Big with Robert Loggia? Wouldn't someone prefer to drink a lot of Red Bull and watch the news? I know i would if it prevented me from watching this film again And to think, they thought they could say it was better than the Airplane! movies. So if you're curiously wandering around a video store and stumble across this film, yell WITCH!, run in a circle three times, then grab it and light it on fire. Ricky 1 1/10

My review was written in November 1988 after watching the movie on Tapeworm video cassette.

"Ricky 1" is a cute spoof of the "Rocky" films, made five years ago and debuting on video cassette after failing to achieve theatrical distribution.

Helmer Bill Naud adopts the visual punning approach of the "Airplane" buys in limning the episodic tale of Ricky Wanero (played effectively by Michael Michaud, who doesn't resemble Sly Stallone but captures the aspiring fighter's mannerisms and vocal patter).

A perennial loser, he agrees to give up the fight game to please girlfriend Angela (Maggie Hughes), who works at a crisis center. Ricky gets a job working in a fish market, supplementing his income by working as a gigolo.

Pic builds to the big championship fight with the Silver Shadow, used as an excuse for goofy sight gags.

Enthusiastic cast, many of whom essay multiple roles, enlivens an okay low-budgeter.

I personally never heard of this movie until AVGN reviewed it back in 2008. It's essentially a god-awful Naked Gun-esque comedy with a no-name cast. The so-called sight gags are just unfunny and painful, including a scene that parodies The Godfather with the Corelone look-alike just mumbling and groaning for the filmmakers to fool the audience into thinking he's just that hard to understand. Half of the film actually has nothing to do with the story. I can obviously tell why this was released straight to video, probably to avoid a lawsuit from ol' Sly himself.

It's a decent parody with some hilarious gags, amazing performances, great sound effects and adorable characters.