OT-My review of Rocky Balboa

[Keith Wassung]

My family and I watched Rocky Balboa over the holidays and thought I would post a few comments.


Overall a very good movie, I am surprised it did not do better at the box office

The angle with his son was good, but it fell short--I would have tweaked that part just ever slightly

Rocky's son in Rocky V was highly annoying "Kick his ass Dad, he took my bed"

Rocky's actual character name in Rocky 1 was "Robert" hence his son being named Robert

I liked the flashbacks, but could not figure out why they did not reference Apollo Creed dying in the ring during a comeback as Rocky was considering a comeback

They needed Mr. T in this movie--somewhere--maybe as the head of security at the building where Robert junior worked

The restaurant angle was great--Pro boxers in the distant past used to earn money by working as the "host" of nice restaurants ( often mafia connected) where they would greet guests and tell fight stories as a way of drawing business

In Rocky 3, the mangers think Rocky is not strong enough to fight Clubber Lang toe to toe, so they devise a plan where he becomes ultra fast..In Rocky Balboa, they figure he is too slow to compete with Mason, so they devise a plan to make him ultra strong.

The lifting stuff was cool--for the most part

Paulie's role was not well done--he should have been funnier

The angle with the girl at the bar was very nice--I want to figure out if the actress is the same girl from the first movie--I would think it is not the same person

The angle with Spider Rico was cool

I was so sad to hear about the death of a central character that was greatly admired and loved by all--how did Butkus the dog die?

Overall a good movie


Keith

 

[IrishAssassin]

i liked the movie alot myselfhttp://imdb.com/name/nm0400625/---that's who plays marie - not in the first movie

 

[the_w1se]

nice, hmm what did happen to butkis.. and restaurant... damnit now im hungry

 

[Klotz]

I haven't seen the movie, but doesn't take take place like 30 years after he gets Butkus?

 

[TKMaxx715]

it was much much better then expected

 

[StevenCrowder]

-1 for saying they should bring back ANY elements from Rocky 3 or 4.

Haha sorry I love those movies too, but let's be honest, they were bad.... Really bad.


I liked Rocky Balboa though. It was kind of a good way to redeem the franchise.

 

[Keith Wassung]

Signs that Rocky is getting to old to fight

-Loses a game of slap jack to Steven Hawking

-Insists on eating all of his training meals at Shoneys salad bar

-Between rounds asks his cornermen for a sponge bath

-makes his way to the ring on a mobility scooter

-Gets his pre-fight physical from a medicare doctor

-refers to his opponent as a palooka

 

[Darph]

^ Uses Lactaid and Prune Juice as supplements instead of Creatine and Musclemilk

 

[Dirty Holt]

i thought it was a good ending. it played more of a motivational role to your daily life, where as the previous ones played to motivate your inner drive and desire

 

[the_w1se]

Signs that Rocky is getting to old to fight

-Loses a game of slap jack to Steven Hawking

-Insists on eating all of his training meals at Shoneys salad bar

-Between rounds asks his cornermen for a sponge bath

-makes his way to the ring on a mobility scooter

-Gets his pre-fight physical from a medicare doctor

-refers to his opponent as a palooka

my god i laughed out loud

 

[Bizarro]

I liked the movie also. I was also wondering if the Marie was the same girl but on the commentaries Stallone mentions how he went through the process of picking an actress that he felt could play the role.

The lifting montage was very cool, in the commentaries he mentioned how they were searching for a grungy powerlifting gym where they could shoot this in.

I thought that they could have worked on Rocky's opponent more. He did not seem as memorable/charismatic, w/e enough as his past opponents.

 

[J Storm**]

i thought it was a good way to complete the series esp with Rocky losing to a split decision just like he did to Creed in the first one, coming round full circle sorta thing.

 

[ThinkGreen]

It was good I thought. The fight at the end kind of sucked though.

 

[bacon]

Rocky Balboa was entertaining, yet predictable, but I guess there aren't a lot of ways to end it. I always thought it was cool that Stallone wrote these films...at least the first one, I'm not entirely sure about the rest.

 

[Jake Martin]

M

I liked the flashbacks, but could not figure out why they did not reference Apollo Creed dying in the ring during a comeback as Rocky was considering a comeback

The rumor is that Carl Weathers wanted too much money to appear in Rocky Balboa (highlight reel footage, as Apollo would be a bit out of place showing up anywhere else).

They also toyed with the idea of getting Mr. T to show up as Clubber as a celebrity commentator or an interview, but nixed the idea in the end.

 

[Steak**]

The movie was good, but the workout scene should of been longer.

 

[deadpool]

Rocky Balboa was entertaining, yet predictable, but I guess there aren't a lot of ways to end it. I always thought it was cool that Stallone wrote these films...at least the first one, I'm not entirely sure about the rest.

I think he wrote the last one as well! He's not all good looks you know!:icon_chee

 

[Lusst]

*challenges Stephen Hawking*

Oh shit...

 

[the_w1se]

i think stallone actually turned 61 today

 

[Madmick]

i thought it was a good ending. it played more of a motivational role to your daily life, where as the previous ones played to motivate your inner drive and desire

I liked the ending because I think it sent a strong message to the sport of boxing: end the corruption- it's killing the sport and your champions.

Initially, the promoters love the fight because they wrongly think they know that Rocky will be no threat to Mason. Easy spectacle, easy payday, nothing gained for the sport...they don't care. In the end, Rocky becomes Mason's greatest opponent, and the defining fight of his career. Rocky's a winner because he proves everyone wrong- he proves them wrong with the heart of a champion- and Mason wins because Rocky allows him to show everyone that he has that heart, too.

Don't get me wrong, I think the paydays most of the UFC fighters are seeing right now are too low ($3,000? Gimme a break, it should be 5 digits and above for every one in the show). But boxing needs to heed Rocky Balboa's warning; if you lose sight of what people really want to see- what they want to see even more than the brutal knockouts and dazzling records: what won the love of fans and once made the sport a glorious affair- a champion's heart- then the money, along with the protected posers wearing the belts, will fade into obscurity.

But I don't think Don King cares.