Rocky Balboa

When I first moved to Las Vegas in 1986, I lucked out and got a two-week job as an extra in the Sylvester Stallone movie, Over the Top. The filming took place at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and dealt with the arm wrestling contest that Stallone's character enters so that he can win enough money to take care of his son. I was a member of the audience in the arena. Before Stallone would come onto the set to film a particular scene, the Assistant Director would rev the audience up by playing the theme to Rocky, "Gonna Fly Now." Of course, the audience didn't really need to be revved up for Stallone. I, and the hundreds of other people sitting in the stands, saw Stallone as his fictional character, and we would stand up and loudly cheek out of pure admiration. To us, Stallone was Rocky. Things haven't really changed much since that moment in time over twenty years ago. For me, Stallone is Rocky and will always be so. I still get a big, goofy grin on my face whenever I hear the theme to Rocky. So for me, Rocky Balboa was a dream come true. It was a chance to relieve the original "Rocky" movie and to reach a better understanding of the last thirty years of my life. More than that, however, it gave me hope for the future. Rocky Balboa is a true spark of life for all of us in my age bracket who are having trouble moving ahead. This is a movie about not giving up and being able to take the hits that come your way. It's certainly true for the character of Rocky as well as its creator, Sylvester Stallone and what he had to go through to get Rocky Balboa made. Let me just say this. The budget for Rocky Balboa was around twenty-four million dollars, which is extremely low for a movie in today's time. For a film to break even, it has to make at least three times what it cost, which also covers distribution and the percentage that the theaters get from the sell of each ticket. To date, the worldwide gross is right at $148,000,000.00. Stallone did what was originally thought to be impossible by many others--he gave new life to Rocky and made another hit movie!In Rocky Balboa, our lead character is now living in South Philadelphia and is struggling to recover from the lost of his wife, Adrian, who died of cancer. His only friend appears to be Paulie (played by Burt Young), who's still working at the meatpacking plant. Rocky and his son, Robert (played by Milo Ventimiglia), have grown apart and see very little of each other. Though Rocky owns and operates a small Italian restaurant called Adrian's, his heart isn't into it. He has little to look forward to and sees his life as nearly over. The only pleasure he gets is from visiting Adrian's grave. Everything begins to slowly change for Rocky when two important events take place. The first is when Rocky runs into Marie (played by Geraldine Hughes), a person from his past who gives him a reason to keep going forward with his life. The second thing that happens is when a sport's show does a virtual reality computer fight between him and the new world champion, Mason Dixon (played by Antonio Tarver), displaying that Rocky, though older, would win the bout without any problem. This creates in Rocky the desire to want to fight again, but only on a local level. Dixon's people view the computer fight and immediately see a way to make a great deal of money. After Rocky renews his fighting license, he's asked to do a celebrity fight against Mason Dixon in Las Vegas with part of the proceeds going to charity. Though hesitant at first to get back into the ring with a heavyweight champion, Rocky finally agrees to do so with Marie's encouragement. Robert, however, is totally against his father fighting again. He's lived in his father's shadow for years and this will only make matters worse. Rocky explains to his son that this is something he has to do in order to feel alive again. He also tells Robert that he has to stop blaming others for his problems and to learn to deal with life by not giving up when things gets tough. Of course, all of this leads to the preparation for the big fight and then to the fight itself. I still get goose bumps when Rocky runs up the steps to the Philadelphia Art Museum with "Gonna Fly Now" playing in the background.What Sylvester Stallone was able to do with Rocky Balboa is to return to the roots of the original movie in the series and tap into its heart and soul. You see it in the streets of Philadelphia, the poignant music of Bill Conti, Rocky's old home and Mickey's gym from the first movie, the shadows and dark overtones of the film, the return of Burt Young as Paulie and Tony Burton as Duke, and the haunting presence of Adrian (played by the lovely Talia Shire) throughout the film. Stallone put his own heart and soul into the making of this movie, fighting an up-hill battle against the studios who thought his career was over and never giving up, knowing that this film was a reflection of his own life and struggles. Rocky Balboa is definitely the way the series needs to be ended. It's a direct mirror of what can be good in a person's life if he's willing to put forth the effort. I don't know about other people, but when I saw this movie in the theater last December and then again of DVD last night, it brought tears to my eyes, but in a good way. This is the last Rocky movie. Stallone knew that he was finally saying goodbye to his most famous character and to an intricate part of his own life. As the final credits roll in the movie, dozens of everyday people are shown running up the famous steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Each year thousands of people run up these steps and throw their arms victoriously up into the air just like Rocky. That's how powerful the impact of this series has been on the mass public. I used to live outside of Philadelphia during my early teens. If I still lived there, you'd see me running up the steps, too. Well, maybe halfway up the steps. I'm not in as good of shape as I used to be. But, all is not lost for us "Rocky" fans. There will be a Director's Cut coming out before the end of the year. My guess is that it will be a Two Disc Special Director's Cut Edition, which will include the twenty minutes of deleted scenes that were originally cut from the film. That's something to look forward to. With regards to the DVD extras on Rocky Balboa, there's a fifteen-minute featurette on the making of the movie, another fifteen-minute featurette on doing the big fight scene at the finale, twenty minutes of deleted scenes with an alternate ending, bloopers, and a great film commentary by Stallone. This is definitely a movie that the fans of the "Rocky" series will love, and as the last words in the film say, "Yo, Adrian, we did it!"

"It ain't over `til it's over," the tagline for ROCKY BALBOA proudly proclaims. The truth of the matter is, as moviegoers realize and even Sylvester Stallone himself freely acknowledges, that it was over four films ago. Why is it, then, that ROCKY BALBOA packs the most fierce and delightful punch since the original masterpiece? Why is it that thirty years and five sequels later, we still leap up in our seats, toss our popcorn aside, and cheer for Rocky Balboa? The answer is one word: heart. The film has heart, and it has it because ROCKY BALBOA stays true to the heart of the original film, long before the increasingly silly sequels began flying like Balboa's much-acclaimed punches.In ROCKY BALBOA, the titular hero has given up his boxing career (which he actually did at the start of ROCKY V - remember ROCKY V?) and now runs a successful restaurant in the slums of Philadelphia. His beloved wife Adrian has passed on, and his son has grown up to be an office worker haunted by his father's huge shadow. His best friend Paulie (the wonderful Burt Young) continues to work in the meat shop. Meanwhile, back in the ring, ferocious young fighter Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver) has taken over as the Heavyweight Champion of the World, and has absolutely no competition, having never been defeated in his career. When a controversial "fight simulation" between Dixon and Rocky Balboa airs on ESPN, Dixon's publicity-starved managers attempt to set up an exhibition between the current and former Heavyweight Champions of the World. To the dismay of most of Rocky's friends, he decides to fight Dixon, realizing that it may be the ultimate way to finally accept Adrian's passing.Although this film began building up immense hype immediately after it became known that it was being made, I was positive it would be the weakest of the series after viewing its outrageous trailer. I don't think I was alone in that prediction, and I'm sure that there are still many people who avoided seeing this film because, well, five ROCKYs was enough. However, I found that ROCKY BALBOA was my second cinematic surprise in a row (the first being CASINO ROYALE). The surprise: ROCKY BALBOA is not the simply best ROCKY sequel - it's an excellent film as well.There's a number of reasons for that. The biggest, as I said before, is heart. The film's got heart, and the man responsible for it all is Sylvester Stallone. Stallone is truly a wonder. At sixty years old, he's in the best shape of his life (the guy is huge), he just cranked out an excellent ROCKY sequel (THE excellent ROCKY sequel), and he's about ready to begin production on the fourth RAMBO movie (a movie I'm highly anticipating). Stallone's script for the movie is heartfelt and true to the spirit of the original film, and at times it's even quite clever; the ending is beautiful. Stallone's directing is surprisingly classy, as is the gritty photography. Longtime ROCKY fans may be pleased to learn that composer Bill Conti returns to the series for the first time since ROCKY III, and though most of the music is reused music from the original film, that's really all this movie needs. One song in particular stands out.That song is, of course, "Gonna Fly Now", the soaring anthem that has been the ultimate workout tune for thirty years. It's used in the inevitable "training montage", a sequence that the series has never had a problem with making interesting and enjoyable. This montage is especially inspirational: we haven't seen one of cinema's most beloved heroes in sixteen years, and suddenly he bursts on to the scene and benches about three-hundred pounds more than I'll ever be able to. I really felt like I was gonna fly now during that scene, and I know I'm not alone.Does ROCKY BALBOA have its flaws? Sure. It has the occasional laughable moment (particularly when Stallone mumbles something about dancing with bears), but for the most part Stallone knows when the film could wind up being hokey or silly or cliched and he avoids that. The film is actually very funny intentionally, be it from Rocky's constant greeting of "Yo, how you doin'?" or a well-timed parody of the series' earlier entries.In the final round, and this is undoubtedly the final round, ROCKY BALBOA is the sweetest kind of surprise. It's like seeing an old friend for the first time in years and seeing that he not only is still alive and kicking - or, in this case, punching - but also that he's doing better than ever. The directing, the acting, the screenwriting, it's all top-notch, and that's all because of heart. Heart goes a long way, and thanks to the heart of Sylvester Stallone, as well as his woefully-neglected mind, ROCKY BALBOA is a knockout.

Great movie. Arrived on time and in great condition.

Its about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.Excellent movie.

Rocky Rocky Rocky

Well done movie. Sly did a great job writing, directing and starring in this worthy segment of the Rocky franchise

Was one of the great movies!!!

Best Rocky In My Opinion. Many Extras. Great Director's commentary. I gave it one star less because of the news Stallone helped raise money for the IDF at a Los Angeles gala fundraiser which is absolutely shocking

Brilliant film, rocky at it's best. Sylvester stallone's acting gets better and better

takes a long time to receive from uk to the usa.I does play on us region 1 psp's. so it is probably region free code.so yes! I would recommend this movie to everybody

Great movie

Great film