Rocky Balboa [Import]

Yes this is a review of the 6th and final installment in the Rocky saga. Rocky has been called the greatest underdog story of all time. It has been given two thumbs up by Elbert & Roeper; it has been given rave reviews and is currently 3rd in box office holiday season sales. With all of that, why would Imprint review this movie as well? The answer to that question is how the movie is relevant to students.

Rocky Balboa is called a truly inspirational story. It is the story of a man who has had it all, lost most of it and rebuilt what he could. The film was written, directed and starred in by Sylvester Stallone. But this story is older than even that. For Stallone wrote the first Rocky story and held on to it for years. He would not sell it because no one would let him star in it. With his perseverance and determination, he held onto the script until he could play the role of Rocky.

In this film, Rocky is again the underdog. He is 53, retired, and running a restaurant. He is also widowed, and looking for something more in life. He decides to try and fight again - he is thinking something local, for charity. And yet he is given a shot at the champ.

This is a story of overcoming - the story of living your hopes and dreams. It is about believing in yourself and following those dreams. Rocky states: "What is it you said to the kid? The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very rough, mean place... and no matter how tough you think you are, it'll always bring you to your knees and keep you there, permanently... if you let it. You or nobody ain't never gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit... it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit." And he lives that in this film.

Yet Rocky is not the only character to face this adversity in this film. Paulie, his brother-in-law, who only has his work and alcohol is laid off from his job. Rocky's son Robert has lost his way, and is trying to not live in his father's shadow. And each of these three men must deal with their grief at the loss of Adrian, who was wife, sister and mother to these three men.

Rocky must also face his aging body. In the beginning of the training sequences he realizes that this will not be the simple battle of determination to get the body in shape. It will be in part mind over matter as he must reconquer and retrain his body to be that of a fighter.

Rocky's opponent Mason "The Line" Dixon (played by actual former heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver) does not take the fight seriously, he has the youthful disregard and disrespect for age and experience that Rocky will bring to the ring in this battle of athletes from different eras.

Rocky Balboa will motivate us to face our own challenges with perseverance and a community for support, and with hope and by prayer. The story will promote discussions about where we find our courage, what we want from life and how we can overcome loss and yet stand strong and remain faithful. It will also help us to classify what we call a victory.

Rocky is not just another boxing movie, or even just a sport movie, and it is definitely not just a squeal. It is a movie that will help you find the courage to follow your dreams and encourage you to pursue hopes.

So when the world knocks you down, you can either lay there or get up. That is what Rocky Balboa teaches us.

(First Published in Imprint 2007-01-05 as 'Final Rocky flick hits home, the heart'.)

Le film Rockie Balboa est arrivé en bon état conforme à l’annonce faite par le vendeur. Il s’agit d’un bon film que je recommande à tous. Il s’agit d’une histoire qui vient compléter la suite des film Rockie

hen Stallone announced he would be making the sixth installment in the ROCKY series, a lot of people shook he head. After all, he was 60 years old at the time of filming, well past his prime. And, given how bad ROCKY V was, a lot of people, there was a good possibility this was going to be a pretty bad movie.

Well, like the new Indiana Jones film currently in production (KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, where the hell did Lucas and Speilburg get that title?), ROCKY BALBOA does not try to hide the main protagonists' age. Balboa is old, and he knows it.

Before we get into the film proper, there are several deleted scenes included on the DVD, as well as an alternate ending in which the outcome of the final fight with Mason Dixon is reversed.

Stallone, Burt Young (Paulie), and the guy who plays Duke are the only actors to be in all six films. Five different actors have portrayed Rocky's son, one for each movie except the firt.

The film opens to Rocky feeding some turtles, a reference to the first film. As the first hour or so unrolls, we find out that Adrian has died, Rocky has opened a restaurant in Philadelphia, Spider Rico from the first movie has become Christian, and Maria, also from the first movie, has struck up a friendship with Rocky. Other than the fight, these are the main storylines that Stallone focuses on for the majority of the film.

Two of the best scenes, not only in this movie but in the series in general, is when Rocky goes before the Boxing Committee to get licensed. The state committee refuses to give Rocky a license, and Rocky launches into a speech about his freedom and the Bill of Rights and how he needs to do what he needs to do. The other has to do with his son, as his son feels like he is living in the shadow of his father. Rocky quickly sets his son straight. Great monologues. And it's great to see Maria from the first film back again. She had a scene in ROCKY V (Rocky's warning that she'd be a whore if she kept up her lifestyle turns out to be true prophecy) but it was cut, leaving Rocky to bring her back for BALBOA.

The film is openly nostalgic, with Rocky revisiting his old haunts, though the old places have changed, and a lot of times for the worst. Unlike ROCKY V, however, this nostalgia is tempered with Rocky's heart, his optimism, and his winning attitude. He's also having some relational issues with his son, but ultimately these are resolved by the end of the film.

BALBOA references all five previous films (though appropriately enough there's only one throw away reference to ROCKY V). There's footage of his fights, and the film heavily references the first ROCKY. Even Burgess Merideth, who died in 1997 and played Mickey, gets a line in one of the retrospective sequences.

Unfortunately, Carl Weathers does not appear in archive footage, as he wanted to be actually written into the movie (probably a dream sequence, something along those lines), and since Stallone wouldn't do that Weathers wouldn't let him use any footage with Apollo Creed, which is sad, given how important a character Apollo is to the Rocky movies.

Though long retired, a computer simulated fight between the current heavyweight Mason "The Line" Dixon sparks interested in the aging Balboa when the computer marks Balboa as the winner. Mason Dixon's promoters is looking for some new blood, because Dixon has been fighting chumps and has lost audience favor to the point where all of his proposed pay-per-view matches are being declined. Dixon's promoters are looking at this as a way to remake Dixon's image, and see this match as a perfect way to do so.

Still, Balboa is a lot older now, so when Duke (yes, that Duke, the Duke in all five previous films) starts training him, a lot of the techniques are out do to his advanced age. As Duke says, "Let's build some hurtin' bombs," and these bombs they certainly build. Despite the age, Balboa trains hard. Stallone even incorporates a revision to the famous scene of him running up and down the Art Museum steps. In the original film Rocky was to run the steps holding a dog, but this did not prove feasible as Stallone found the dog they had too hard to manage. This time around they got the scene to work as originally envisioned. Of course, we have the famous Rocky theme playing in the background as he trains.

Then Rocky and Mason Dixon fight. This fight without a doubt is the best choreographed and filmed of all the Rocky fights. It's also the most realistic. For being 60 years old, Stallone is in remarkable condition. Guess steroids will do that too you.

Mike Tyson also makes a cameo during the fight. Strangely enough, like Reeses Pieces in ET, there's a few shots of product placement during the fight for GoldenPalace.com.

SPOILTER: The fight ends just like the first ROCKY, a split decision with the win going to Mason Dixon. Even though Rocky loses, he doesn't because he manages to go all ten rounds, and gives Dixon a run for his money.

Stallone stuck with the ending in the film to pay homage to the first film, as well as making a point that Rocky still walks away victorious, even if he doesn't "win" parsay. In fact, Rocky's out the door while the announcement is being announced, cause it doesn't matter whether he wins or loses, because he's already won something much bigger.

Another important theme is that Mason Dixon is looking for a real fight, and Mason Dixon wants to respect himself, and so they both come out winners. END SPOLIER.

ROCKY BALBOA is a great way for Stallone to end the series, and probably is the second best film in the entire franchise, behind the original. We get to see Rocky the way we've always wanted too - a winner, a picture of the American Dream fully realised. Sure, he's had some hard knocks, he lost Adrian, but he's still a fighter. Still has that indomitable spirit about him.

The film ends with Rocky placing a flower on Adrian's grave, and with his signature line still fresh after all these years, Stallone says "Yo Adrian, we did it," and then walks away with the film going out of focus.

Then the credits roll. Even the credits give you that warm fuzzy feeling, for it has footage of different, ordinary people all running up the steps of the art museum. Makes you just smile watching it.

And all I can say to that is bravo. Stallone, out of all odds, managed not only to write a good end to the Rocky franchise, but wrote the best film since the original. Given how bad ROCKY V is, this fact's even more miraculous.

Yeah Rocky, you really did do it. Though we won't get to see you again, this is truly a great closure to remember you by. You really are an American Icon.