Rocky Balboa

bloemmarc · Apr 4, 2007

Ok, I was a huge fan of the older rocky movies, but I got to say this last one really sucked. I saw it on DVD.

I remember in the older movies, the guys Rocky faught were hardened chisled bad asses.
Mason Dixon on this movie resembled neither.
Infact I thought he looked like he should be dancing back up in a video with Britney Spears.
Plus, the punnches that they were throwing, incredibly weak, not like the all out thunderous angs of the earlier movies.
Plus, nobody got knocked out. Usually somebody always gets knocked out in a Rocky movie.
This movie sucked.

It had way to much of a feel good attitude to it, and that doesn't become a Rocky movie.

pconsidine · Apr 4, 2007

Funny thing about that is that the guy who played Mason Dixon is actually a professional boxer.

Huh.

bloemmarc · Apr 4, 2007

Dang.

I would have thought basketball or something. He just doesn't look like he has that hard edge to him, not like Mr T(Clubber Lang)did or that guy from Russia he fought.
he's got to much of a boyish look about him, like Dwayne Wade. Wade's a great basketball player, but he wouldn't striek fear in my heart in a fight.

pconsidine said:
Funny thing about that is that the guy who played Mason Dixon is actually a professional boxer.

Huh.

Jamesaritchie · Apr 4, 2007

Movie

I thought this was the best since number 1. And by a wide margin. And like the first movie, this is the only one that's been the least bit realistic.

My feeling is that the first one and the last one are for people who like good, character driven, literary movies, and the ones between are for those who like comic book type movies.

pconsidine · Apr 4, 2007

In all honesty, it looked mostly like a shot-for-shot remake of the first one. Given the near archetypal quality of the first one, I figure that has a lot to do with the quality of this one.

Of course, that's based on watching it without sound on a transcontinental flight to L.A., so that's probably not the most informed opinion.

dclary · Apr 4, 2007

bloemmarc said:
Dang.

I would have thought basketball or something. He just doesn't look like he has that hard edge to him, not like Mr T(Clubber Lang)did or that guy from Russia he fought.
he's got to much of a boyish look about him, like Dwayne Wade. Wade's a great basketball player, but he wouldn't striek fear in my heart in a fight.

This is not the fault of Rocky, so much as the sad state of American boxing in the heavyweight division. Big men that size and strength, who are smart, get into pro football these days.

kristie911 · Apr 4, 2007

I really enjoyed this one. And I'm a huge fan of the entire Rocky series. I thought they did it very well and didn't try to pretend he wasn't as old as he really is. If they had tried to play it like he was actually only in his early 40's or something, I would have been disappointed.

It's definitely one of my favorites of the 6 movies.

bloemmarc · Apr 4, 2007

well, i could understnd everyboyelse liking it. To me myself, it just seemed to lack the former magic.

Oh and Dclary, I didn't know there was still boxing in America.

billythrilly7th · Apr 4, 2007

Jamesaritchie said:
I thought this was the best since number 1. And by a wide margin. And like the first movie, this is the only one that's been the least bit realistic.

My feeling is that the first one and the last one are for people who like good, character driven, literary movies, and the ones between are for those who like comic book type movies.

Rocky Balboa was awesome.

And it did well financially and critically.

And I congrtulate Sylvester Stallone for going out on a high note with the Rocky franchise.

Yo, Sly, you did it.

Love,
Billy

Just Me · Apr 4, 2007

billythrilly7th said:
Rocky Balboa was awesome.

Co-signing. :tongue

I really enjoyed it (watched it on DVD a few days ago), and ol' Rocky said something in it that I really needed to hear: "It's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and still keep going." Probably not those exact words, but... that whole speech really made me think about how I've handled certain things in my life. And I loved the movie's ending.

~JM.

bloemmarc · Apr 4, 2007

got a question.

There was a pphrase in the movie bwteen Dixon's manager's in Rocky's diner about what would have happened if Dixon had met Rocky in his prime.

I didn't quite hear that.

Did they say Rocky would kill Dixon, or Dixon kill Rocky still?

bloemmarc · Apr 8, 2007

Anybody know?

kristie911 · Apr 9, 2007

bloemmarc said:
Anybody know?

Guess not.

Not a very helpful group, are we?

bloemmarc · Apr 9, 2007

HMMMMMMMMM :Shrug:

Just Me · Apr 9, 2007

bloemmarc said:
Did they say Rocky would kill Dixon, or Dixon kill Rocky still?

The conclusion was that Rocky would win.

Kiester · Apr 9, 2007

Well yes, obviously Rocky would win...

Dixon can't box to save his life, seriously! He just does Fluff-Punching!

bloemmarc · Apr 9, 2007

That's what I thought.

If Rocky was able to pretty much fight him to to toe, and deal out a lot of punishment in that fight, think of how much he would have killed dixon in his prime when he knocked out Clubber Lang or the Russian guy.

billythrilly7th · Apr 9, 2007

Yes.

Rocky would have destroyed Mason "The Line" Dixon when he was in his prime.

He would have been one of the bums that Mickey set him up to fight because he was protecting him.

"Nah, they wasn't fixes! They was bums! Has beens. I was protectin ya. That's my job."

"For a forty minute fight, you gotta train for forty towsand minutes. Forty towsand. ANd you ain't trained one!!"

bloemmarc · Apr 9, 2007

What I can't figure out is why Mickey thought that when he obviously beat Appalo Creed,a nd dam near beat him the first time around.

Creed was one chump either. Rocky didn't need protecting, he was just fine.

Creed believed in Rocky more than his own manager, but ya rocky would have destroyed Dixon.

billythrilly7th said:
Yes.

Rocky would have destroyed Mason "The Line" Dixon when he was in his prime.

He would have been one of the bums that Mickey set him up to fight because he was protecting him.

"Nah, they wasn't fixes! They was bums! Has beens. I was protectin ya. That's my job."

"For a forty minute fight, you gotta train for forty towsand minutes. Forty towsand. ANd you ain't trained one!!"

Jim Colyer · Apr 10, 2007

The last 4 Rocky movies destroyed the credibility of the first 2.

100 Classic Movies http://jimcolyer.com/papers/entry?id=28

billythrilly7th · Apr 10, 2007

bloemmarc said:
Rocky didn't need protecting, he was just fine.

I agree, but Mickey had a tough life and career and he was just protectin him.

I don't agree, but I understand.

Yo, bloe, we did it!

Lock thread.

TheGaffer · Apr 11, 2007

dclary said:
This is not the fault of Rocky, so much as the sad state of American boxing in the heavyweight division. Big men that size and strength, who are smart, get into pro football these days.

Interesting point. The fact is, if you've got that kind of athletic talent, your chances of not ending up brain-damaged and drooling in a wheelchair at age 44 are much better if you go for football, basketball, or any other sport besides boxing. No wonder it was a much bigger sport in the early part of the century, when it was pretty much this or baseball -- and MLB didn't allow blacks.

As for Rocky Balboa, I'm with Jamesa, and anyone else who says it was 2nd best after the original. The original still hits harder than anything else, and it made its points in a more subtle, gentle manner -- but this one harkens back to that in a number of ways, such as this:

--the antagonist. Apollo Creed, at least as portrayed in Rocky, wasn't a bad guy. A bit of a clownish, grandstanding showman of course, but not a bad person. Mason Dixon is an arrogant dude with a bit of an entitlement complex and an ego, but not a bad guy. When you make a movie with a cartoon villain, it limits your ability to explore characters. Clubber Lang is a lot of fun, but he's a cartoon, and unfortunately contains a bit of ugly racial stereotyping. Drago is even worse in that regard, although it's more just red-baiting.

--nods to the first movie. I can't tell you how thrilling it was to see Spider Rico again, but even more so that they made him a real person. A guy like him would probably still be hanging out around Rocky, being an ex-boxer, and that they made him a generous and religious man later in life strikes me as a true characterization as well. It wasn't just a jokey one-off "Hey look at that goofball!" kind of thing. The ending of course has a similar kind of feel as well.

--the acting. Damn it if Stallone gives a decent performance again after years of crapola (CopLand excepted). The rest of the cast s fine as well.

--killing off Adrian. This movie doesn't work with her in it. He doesn't get back in the ring with her still alive, and the movie wouldn't have the same poignancy. Rockys III and IV gave themselves over to cheap emotions too much (Mick dies, Apollo dies), whereas this, it doesn't, because you know how much he felt for Adrian, how she was his rock, really - not the other way around - and how he's been cast adrift in a lot of ways.

--Duke's speech. "So we're gonna have to rely on something else - blunt force trauma."

The computer fight is goofy, for sure, which is the thing that sets it all in motion. And there's an inconsistency or two in Paulie's behavior, coming into the restaurant drunk, and then a minute later saying Rocky's gonna be fine and it'll all be cool and such.

But this one comes closer to the first than any of the others.

T Knight · Apr 11, 2007

It was a slow ride, not hard hitting like the others, but if your a fan of the films then you will totally understand and know it is actually an excellent end to the Rocky story. Although I would say I would have liked to have seen a slightly beefier apponant, and maybe Rocky die in the ring or something like that?

Bravo · Apr 11, 2007

i was one of the biggest naysayers before this came out, but i ended up really enjoying it.

it taught me that you dont need to be articulate to win.

you just need lots of heart and some good music.

i hope to integrate those lessons into a successful writing career.

JoNightshade · Jan 25, 2008

I'm resurrecting this thread because I finally just watched Rocky Balboa. I didn't see it until now because I had never seen the originals, so I went back and watched them.

I gotta say, I was really impressed with this movie. Not only did the character of Rocky mature, I think Stallone really matured as an actor and a writer. It was interesting to watch the deleted scenes - it was like looking at the same process we go through in writing novels. "Does this scene work? Does it contribute to the plot? Will the narrative stand if I take it out?"

Anyway, awesome job, Sly.

Now I gotta go watch the Rambo movies so I can see the new one.

Rocky Balboa

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