‘Grudge Match’ Trailer Pits Aged Jake La Motta Against Weathered Rocky Balboa

What if Jake La Motta and Rocky Balboa faced off against each other in the ring … more than 30 years after each fighter was in his prime?

We're going to see it for ourselves as Robert DeNiro (who won an Oscar for his turn as La Motta in 1980's "Raging Bull") and Sylvester Stallone (who also won an Oscar for his leading role in 1976's "Rocky") are facing off in "Grudge Match."

Fight film buffs can get a first look at this ultimate faceoff in the first trailer for the action-packed dramatic comedy — with what looks to be an emphasis on the comedy.

De Niro and Stallone are a pair of boxers with some scores to settle a few decades after their retirement. No, they aren't reprising their aforementioned Oscar-winning roles in any literal way. But judging from the footage, the movie offers up more than a few knowing references to their iconic fight films.

The trailer begins by setting up the backstory: Billy "The Kid" McDonnen (De Niro) and Henry "Razor" Sharpe (Stallone) were heavyweight contenders from Pittsburgh who rose to fame in the late 1970s. McDonnen and Sharpe were fierce rivals, but they only fought twice, with each boxer claiming a single victory. In 1983, before another match could determine the best two out of three, Sharpe announced his retirement, and fans (as well as the two fighters) would argue for years about who was the better man.

Fast forward to 2013: Boxing promoter Dante Slate Jr. (Kevin Hart) persuades McDonnen and Sharpe to lend their voices to a video game that allows players to stage a virtual boxing match between the two legends. However, both aged men cross paths for the first time in years, are hilariously dressed in green motion-capture suits to create the game. The result: McDonnen and Sharpe engage in trash talks that escalate into an angry brawl. Video of the melee hits the Internet and becomes a viral sensation. Sensing a possible payday, Slate persuades McDonnen and Sharpe to finally stage the grudge match fans have waited three decades to see.

Of course, with both fighters (and the actors who play them) well into their sixties, the "Grudge Match" trailer plays on the difficulties two AARP-eligible boxers have as they prepare to reenter the ring. Stallone tosses in several nods to the "Rocky" movies, as his trainer (Alan Arkin) stops him from punching a side of beef. His character Sharpe also tests his strength by pulling an old truck, much like he did in "Rocky III." And though Sharpe doesn't quite have Rocky Balboa's thick Philly accent, he's clearly a guy who has known both hard times and success — familiar territory for Sly.

The trailer plays for both laughs and drama. When McDonnen starts ranking out on Sharpe (and that happens a lot), he makes it obvious that he can dish out all the venom the role demands. Stallone may look more like he could fight an actual boxing match – McDonnen's weight is the punch line to more than one joke – but De Niro is the character who seems the most psychologically ready to kick some butt.

Just as the two leads have scores to settle in the ring, they're also struggling with baggage from their past, as McDonnen tries to mend fences with his estranged son and Sharpe reconnects with the love of his life, played by Kim Basinger. While De Niro and Stallone move back and forth between comedy and introspection in this trailer, Alan Arkin and Kevin Hart are purely playing for laughs, and they both hit the target in the trailer, even tossing insults at one another in one bit.

Judging from the tone of the trailer, director Peter Segal ("Get Smart" and "The Longest Yard"), and screenwriters Tim Kelleher and Rodney Rothman, have aimed to honor the traditions of classic fight movies while having fun with them at the same time.

While Stallone isn't necessarily considered in the same acting league as De Niro's, he holds his own as a guy with something to prove, and he certainly comes off better than the last time he co-starred with De Niro in 1997's "Cop Land."

"Grudge Match" is slated to open in theaters on Christmas Day.