Rocky Balboa

 

 

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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'.)

this is a great way to end the "Rocky" franchise,considering how weak
number 5 was.there is some real depth to this entry,and Stallone put in
a very heartfelt performance.he can really act,given the right
material.Stallone wrote the script,and it is a good script.the movie is
much more realistic than i thought it would be.given the premise(an
aging ex champ in his 50's fighting the current champ,a man 30 years
his junior)the movie would seem absurd,yet it Isn't.you'd have to watch
it to understand.when first hearing they were making another
installment,i scoffed,thinking it would be ridiculous and stupid.for
some reason,though,i decided to watch it,and i am glad i did.this is
easily the best installment since number 2,which i believe was the best
up to this point.I think "Rocky Balboa" is probably as good as 2,and it
really recaptures the magic of the earlier entries.this movie is very
sentimental,in a good way.Stallone makes it inspiring without being
preachy.my vote for "Rocky Balboa" is 5/5

It is easy enough to say that "Rocky Balboa" is a much better ending to the cinematic saga of Sylvester Stallone's most famous creation than "Rocky V," because that 1990 was clearly the bottom of the barrel for the franchise. But "Rocky Balboa," the new "last" Rocky movie is not only a lot better than the last "last" Rocky movie, it does a good job of bringing things full circle and reminding us of why the original 1976 film scored a big upset by winning the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Adrian has died and Rocky's son (Milo Ventimiglia) is tired of living in his the shadow of his famous father, who spends his days at his wife's grave and his nights at his bar. With his old friend Paulie (Burt Young) in tow, Rocky visits all of his haunts from the old days (that is to say, from the first film), and pretty much everything is in ruins. The exception is "Little" Marie (Geraldine Hughes), the kids who rejected his advice in the original film with the comeback "Screw you, creepo." She is grown up now and a single mom, and when she denies she ever said anything that rude he assures her that she did, adding a comment about the longevity of great insults. Rocky takes an interest in Marie and her son, Steps (James Francis Kelly III), hoping to fill the voids in his life but never thinking that they are replacing his wife and son. Then the Fates once again intervene in his life and give Rocky an unlikely match against the unpopular current heavyweight champ, Mason "The Line" Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which means it will be time to cue Bill Conti's famous music, go through another training montage, and have Rocky climb the steps at the Philadelphia Art Museum.

However, all of that happens relatively late in the film. Of course, Stallone wrote and directed the grand finale, and having thought long and hard about his character that is primarily what this film is about. The fight is a necessary part of the Rocky formula and therefore of this story, but most of the memorable scenes and lines from this film come before Rocky ever steps into the ring. One of the casualties of the Rocky franchise was the fantastic lesson of the original film that you can be a winner without winning. That is the sort of thing that Yogi Berra might say (or that Joe Garagiola might say that Yogi said), which is quite apt since Berra's "It ain't over 'till it's over" is the film's tagline. But such ideas are at the heart of the Rocky mythos and Stallone has not simply returned to them, but found a way to rearticulate them in terms of the life of his character at this age and at the center of his shrinking circle of family and friends. One of his best moves is that the big fight is meaningful for his opponent as well.

Stallone is not only working off of the Rocky mythos but also drawing inspiration from the real world of boxing, explicitly updating the original computer match that had Rocky Marciano beating Muhammad Ali. There is also the idea of the ex-champ's restaurant, which harkens back at least to Jack Dempsey's place, where he tells stories and poses for photos (Ali makes people pose for shots where you put your fist against his chin like you are landing a hard one on him). Stallone knows that even those who do not own a George Foreman grill probably know that he was the oldest man to win the heavyweight crown even if they do not remember how old (Foreman was 45 when he won the title, 20 years after losing it to Ali, and would hold it another three years). So in Stallone's screenplay Mason "The Line" Dixon gets the chance to prove the computer wrong and as soon as that robe comes off in the right before the fight it is clear that even at "50," Rocky is totally chiseled and in a lot better shape than Foreman. We are also reminded that Stallone knows he is doing when he choreographs a fight. Included in the deleted scenes is an alternative ending that only reinforces what we already knew: namely that what you see in this movie is the way the saga of Rocky should end (Stallone's commentary track is well worth listening to as he juggles his varying perspectives as writer, director and actor).

For me things get a bit too artsy in the fight, where suddenly shots are looking like a cross between "Raging Bull" and "Pulp Fiction," and every since that slow-motion fall and rise ending to "Rocky II" I start to worry when Stallone starts getting too cute. But whereas previous bouts have been about Rocky finally landing the big blow, this one is definitely all about Rocky being hit. In case anybody does get the point, the key line in the film echoes in Rocky's mind at the pivotal moment: "But it ain't about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward." We have had ample reason to be cynical and Stallone and his creation for a couple of decades now, but both the creator and his creation evince a lot of the heart that made us care about them in the first place.

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1.0 out of 5 stars Truly Disappointed
It was my fault for not being more observant but I feel duped into ordering what I thought was the original "Rocky" movie only to receive one of the lowest rated movies I have... Read more

Published 9 months ago by Tomcat

5.0 out of 5 stars Hope and Inspirational
Thank you Mr.Stallone for writing, directing and acting in this beautiful movie. This movie gives me an inspiration and encouragement and an understanding about my own life. Read more

Published on Dec 3 2009 by D. Kays

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the a great ending for a great character.
I loved Rocky growing up, I watched the 3rd and 4th installments until my parents could kill me as a child. Read more

Published on July 10 2007 by Moe Sasseville

4.0 out of 5 stars Rocky Balboa really does Delivers!
When I first heard about a new Rocky movie, like everyone else, I thought it was a bad idea. Make that a terrible idea. Forget his age, didn't anyone remember "Rocky V"? Read more

Published on Jun 23 2007 by Jenny J.J.I.

5.0 out of 5 stars The TRUE last Rocky movie
As a fan of the Rocky serie for quite some years now,i had been hoping a final Rocky movie that would end this serie much better than Rocky V did. Read more

Published on Mar 27 2007 by Tommy Morais

5.0 out of 5 stars Rocky rocks!
This is a movie i was waiting to see since I heard it was being made! It did not disappoint me. But I highly recomend that you see all five of the other Rocky movies before... Read more

Published on Feb 7 2007 by H. Wallace

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy Addition to Sports Movie Pantheon
"Rocky Balboa" AKA, "Rocky VI" will not be the greatest inspirational sports movie you see. Its grandfather, the original "Rocky" could argue for that spot. Read more

Published on Jan 31 2007 by A.Trendl HungarianBookstore.com

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