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Movie Review - Rocky Balboa (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Sylvester Stallone |
| Starring: |
Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Antonio Tarver, Geraldine Hughes, and Milo Ventimiglia |
| Rated: |
PG (for boxing violence and some language) |
| Length: |
102 minutes |
| Genre: |
Sports Drama |
| Tagline: |
It ain't over 'til it's over. |
| Studio: |
MGM |
| Website: |
Rocky Balboa |
| Release: |
December 20, 2006 |
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PLOT
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After a "Then Vs. Now" virtual boxing match declares Rocky Balboa (Stallone, duh) the victor over current
champion Mason "The Line" Dixon (Tarver), the legendary fighter's passion and spirit are reignited. But when his
desire to fight in small, regional competitions is trumped by promoters calling for a rematch of the
cyber-fight, Balboa must weigh the mental and physical risks of a high profile exhibition match against his need
to be in the ring. Rocky's swan song ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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Admit it - you scoffed. You heard that Stallone was making "Rocky 6" and you threw your head back and laughed
with mockery. Or cried, depending on your emotional investment in the series. Approximately 0 people outside of
the Stallone family thought this had any chance of being decent, and rumor has it that the Stallones couldn't
even come to a consensus.
But you know what? I have to give ol' Sly credit for coming through and exceeding expectations. Granted, I
wasn't expecting much, but this is a pretty entertaining film that at least makes the effort to capture the
essence of what made Rocky so memorable. Does it stack up against the original? No, but who on earth
was hoping for that? All I wanted was to walk away with a sense of satisfaction, feeling that Stallone gave
Rocky fans some legitimate closure, and that is achieved.
The film's broad appeal could be slightly hurt because unlike recent entries in the "boxing" genre, such
as Million Dollar Baby and Cinderella
Man, Rocky Balboa isn't able to transcend its source material and create an identity outside
of its previously existing universe, but that doesn't mean it completely fails to transcend its genre.
You don't have to be a boxing fan or Rocky die-hard to understand that life isn't about how hard you
hit; it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. You don't have to be a Johnny Betts to
understand the meaning behind, "The last thing to age on somebody is their heart." There are lessons here
that most of us can relate to.
Sure, I had my complaints - the training seemed a little rushed, the ending felt a little abrupt and
anti-climactic - but for the most part I was roped in. You can call Stallone a bad actor all you want, and
no, he won't be asked to do any one-man renditions of A Midsummer Night's Dream anytime soon, but the
guy knows how to inhabit certain characters, and he really captures the likable, underdog spirit of Rocky
here.
I bought into his internal struggle, his desire to calm the beast inside him. Stallone's characterization
struck an emotional chord with me, and I wanted to stand up and cheer when he laid the verbal smackdown on
his son for whining about how he (Rocky) cast too big of a shadow and shouldn't go through with the
fight.
Plus, if there's anybody out there who isn't just a little affected as soon as you hear the Rocky theme song
(Gonna Fly Now which should've won the Best Original Song Oscar in 1976) then you have callouses on your
soul. The entire audience cheered, and I'll admit it - I got goosebumps. That doesn't happen very often at
the movie theater, and it likely won't happen again soon.
I know several fans of the series have complained ever since the announcement that this film would be made.
Some have gone so far as to say that, based on principle alone, this could be the greatest movie in the world
and they still wouldn't see it.
Well, it's certainly not the best movie in the world - probably not even one of the 10 best of 2006, but it's
better than any of us expected it to be, and it's a fitting end to what has been a mostly (yeah, I'm excluding
you - Rocky 5!) entertaining series.
Go for the nostalgia or go for the healing. They're both there.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- A word of warning to all you Rocky newcomers - you might want to go see this with someone who's a fan of the
series. There are several references that can't be fully appreciated unless you already have some familiarity with
the material. Just ask somebody to explain Spider Rico, the ice rink, Paulie, etc. to you. It's the inclusion
of elements like a grown-up "little Marie" and the reminiscence of "Screw you, creepo," that really gives
Rocky Balboa a great touch.
- Antonio Tarver was the light heavyweight champion at the time of his casting. He had to put on
20 pounds for the role. Apparently, it all went to his stomach.
- Let's be honest - Mason "the Line" Dixon is just a silly name. It's part of what convinced all of us that
this movie would be horrific. A while back, there was discussion on the
Movie Mark message board in which we offered
suggestions on ridiculous names for future Rocky opponents. They included: Tuff Mann, Beefy Aarms, Chuck
Waggonn, Charlie "Thoroughbred" Horse, Billy Klubb, Bob N. Weave, Stone "The Bricklayer" Mason, Adam "Spare"
Ribbs, and Frank "My Dear" Lee.
- Regarding the movie's climactic fight, Stallone says, "It's a 25-minute segment that lives or dies on its
own. We set up the cameras in four spots and we let it wing. And you were there. The hardest thing was getting
Antonio to connect and hit me because he felt bad. But it worked." He adds with a laugh, "He didn't try to
kill me. His punches hurt but they weren't heart-stopping."
- Footage for the fight was filmed at the Bernard Hopkins/Germaine Taylor fight in Las Vegas, taking
advantage of an arena full of 14,000 real boxing fans.
- On the day the production was to shoot the sequence in which Rocky runs up the steps of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art with his dog Punchy, the script called for snow, but none but a few random snowflakes were
forthcoming ... until the sky opened up. Production cranked into motion.
"So, I ran up the steps with Punchy, and when we finished it stopped," Stallone recalls. "The last run up the
steps was in this cloudburst of white, and we shot from the beginning to the end of this burst. It was a very
emotional time for me. I was thinking, 'When I'm done cutting it's over.' It's like a 30-year journey -
everything I've ever had in my life, everything that I'll accomplish that is really worthy, is done. And I'm
looking at the city; the sun is going down, and I think, 'At least you did it. You got here. You ended it, in
the snow, on the steps in Philadelphia. Perfect, thank you, Lord. And then it was over."
- Aww, it ain't over til it's over, Rock!
- Watch for a funny Mike Tyson cameo.
- Keep an eye out for Cuff and Link, the two turtles who were probably Rocky's best friends at the start of the
first picture.
- Geraldine Hughes looks like an older, less attractive Pam (AKA Jenna Fischer) from The Office.
- Sylvester Stallone's real son Sage Stallone turned down the role of Rocky's son - a character he played in
Rocky 5. Your own real-life son won't play your son in a movie? Ouch. Not good.
- Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young and Tony Burton are the only actors to star in all six
Rocky films. Although if you ask long-time Movie Mark Laslo Hollyfeld, he'll tell you there are only
five installments.
- Laslo has a great take on the movie. You can read it
right here on the Movie Mark message board. You might as well join the board and participate in the
discussion while you're there.
- Before I finally got a chance to watch the Rocky movies at a more comprehensible age, I used to
think Brigitte Nielsen portrayed Adrian. Oops.
- Sylvester Stallone is in some darn good shape - and he's 60 years old! He's probably in better shape than
95% of the people half his age. I was surprised to see that his biceps are almost as gigantic as
mine.
- Stallone identified so much with the script (of the original movie) that he refused to sell it unless he
would be cast in the title role. The studios wanted the big stars of the day - Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal,
James Caan - and could not imagine bankrolling an unknown actor with an unlikely name. Against all advice and
prevailing wisdom, Stallone stuck to his guns, and today it's virtually impossible to imagine anyone else in the
part.
- Burt Reynolds? Let's all take a moment to say a prayer of thanks that that disaster was avoided.
- Sylvester Stallone was in Get Carter (not to be confused with Get Shorty) with Rhona "Hotness"
Mitra who was in Hollow Man with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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This could be aired on primetime television right now without any editing. Profanity is mild and nothing you
don't hear on Network TV.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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No real surprises.
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THE GIST
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No one's going to claim Rocky Balboa outdoes the original, but you'll be hard-pressed to find anybody
who doesn't admit that it's better than expected. If you're a fan of the series then you should be no less
than mildly entertained.
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