The sixth installment of the Rocky series picks up the story of the Italian Stallion 16 years after the morose Rocky V. And sure, at his advanced age, Sylvester Stallone now looks like one of those sides of beef his character used to pound on. No matter. Somehow you buy the premise after all these years, even if it takes forever for Rocky Balboa to stop wallowing in self-pity (Adrian is dead, his old haunts are demolished) and get down to the business of drinking raw eggs and running up staircases. The business at hand is an unlikely exhibition fight with champion Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver), which the near-sexagenarian Mr. Balboa has no business accepting. Of course, just as sure as the horns of Bill Conti's theme music are even now trumpeting through your head, the ol' Rock might have a punch or two left in him. Stallone wrote and directed, and there isn't much to say except that the movie steps in its pre-determined paces with a canny sense of what has come before (it's practically an homage to all the previous Rocky pictures, complete with fleeting flashbacks). Burt Young is around again, and Geraldine Hughes makes an appealing, rather chaste female companion for Rocky. Stallone's Rocky has gotten suspiciously articulate over the years, but he still knows how to slouch. If Stallone never forgets that, he can probably keep the franchise rolling. --Robert Horton

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RRRRRRRRRocky BalbOOOOOOOOOAAAAAA

When this film was announced over a year ago, the chuckles and jokes(If I had a nickel for every friggin' time someone said "what, is he gonna fight in a wheelchair?", I'd buy a yacht) began. After all, the Rocky series was being poked fun at back at #4. Stallone was obviously well aware of how people would react to the concept of another Rocky film on the surface, and wrote his script accordingly. The people in the film feel the same way about Rocky as the folks in the real world who laughed the movie off. It is great screenwriting on Stallone's part and made people and critics think twice about the movie. This turned out to be a damn good movie, and most folks agree. The movie is done as if Parts 3, 4, and 5 didn't exist. You could almost look at it as the true Rocky 3. There are really no references to the other films, at least none that would make a difference. It seems as though Stallone wanted to really get back to the roots of the story and get back in touch with the character. Over the course of the sequels(parts 3 and 4 specifically), he seemed to have lost touch with the character a bit. As Rocky became more famous and wealthy, he also suddenly spoke more intelligently(he pretty much spoke the way Stallone did in all of his 80s action films), and became a bit more high brow. Rocky's always been a lovable, generous guy with a big heart, but a little punchy and loopy, and in this film Rocky seems to have his personality back. On the other hand, you can still assume the events of the sequels happened as well, coz there really is nothing to contradict that they happened. Here we see Rocky living alone, wandering the neighborhood, wondering what happened to everything he loved. His wife, Adrian has passed on and he simply can't get over it. His son sees him more as a bother than anything and only seems to talk to him out of necessity. Even the folks who all once glorified him as a hero just seem to regard him with little enthusiasm. He's just a relic in the sports world. It's all kinda depressing actually, especially a sequence where he drags his brother in-law, Paulie, along with him to revisit locations where he and Adrian used to frequent, while he reminisces about their times together. He also owns a restaurant and that seems to be the only joy he has. He does befriend a woman(the girl on the street corner he gives a pep talk to in the original Rocky film) and her son, and they become good friends. Not romantic, but the potential is there. When a computer generated fight putting Rocky(in the prime of his career) against the current world champion shows Rocky kicking the champ's butt, opportunity knocks. The champ(Antonio Tarver, who had to beef up to play a heavyweight fighter) doesn't like the embarrassment. He also has personal demons of his own. His managers and the boxing promoters see this as a goldmine opportunity and soon they're knocking on Rocky's door. Rocky's been bored for so long and has nothing to lose, so he decides to do it. What the hell, right? Plus, Rocky sees it as a way to feel like somebody again whether he wins or loses, as long as he goes the distance, does his best, and can prove to everybody that he's not some old fogey that is just gonna get knocked on his butt in the second round. In a way, it's alot like the first film in that regard, that he really has nothing to lose and is doing it more to prove something to himself rather than everyone else. The fight is visually probably the best and most realistic of the series with the first few minutes looking as though you're actually watching a Pay Per View bout. Pretty cool. How does it turn out? Watch it! Stallone definitely scored a knockout with this one. Very good.

Loved It

I knewI would like the last installment in the Rocky franchise, but Rocky Balboa was even better than expected. Loved it, loved it, loved it. Rocky Balboa is about sixty. He owns a popular Italian restaurant. Despite his Philly icon status, he lives a quiet, humble life, driving an old van and keeping a folding chair in a tree by Adrian's grave. Honoring Adrian, he has never married and has no girlfriend. Their son, in a corporate job, avoids his awkward attempts at fathering. To top it all off Rocky is facing his last fight, with a much younger opponent. Why is he doing it? "There's a beast in me," he sadly tells Paulie.

The movie has a great message, is tender, and you root for and relate to the Italian Stallion all the way. Highly recommended.

Fantastic way to end the Rocky series, it's everything ROCKY V wasn't.

When 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.