Rocky Balboa ...

Glass Joe probably won on a disqualification.

... or maybe he beat me when I played the game.

 

Ali-Wepner coming on ESPN Classic right now. I'm sure all of you know the connection to this thread.

 

Ringside analysis by Redd Foxx and James Brown, I might add.

 

Round 8 about to begin. Wepner suffered a cut above the eye in Round 7.

Round 9 is when Wepner puts Ali on his ass.

 

The Bayonne Bleeder's finest moment. It's a shame he doesn't remember any of it.

 

There were several things I liked about Rocky Balboa.

The back-to-the-basics strategy worked wonders. The old characters (Spider Rico and Marie ... great stuff) with the old neighborhood brought back some of the original Rocky flavor. Marie's son and Rocky's son were great, Rocky's son especially. His love-my-dad-hate-my-name-because-of-my-dad deal was played perfectly. They had a chemistry that wasn't there in Rocky V, when Rocky's son was Stallone's son.

the thing that gave me chills the most was the training scene. To see that old man do what he was doing ... I was ready to go the gym (I didn't of course). The soundtrack was awesome, and the final fight was great.

"You're crazy, old man."

"You will be one day too."

 

I'm glad you said this, because I was starting to think I was a moron for actually liking Rocky II. Well, maybe I still am, but oh well. I think the appeal of the Rocky franchise is the simplicity of the character and the movies. Rocky I was a lot slower than the rest because it had a lot of character developement to go through. It is by far the best of the series, but two wasn't all that bad. I still contend that it was the second best in the series, and three is the worst, or at least tied with 5. I liked the premise of four, but it got very hokie at the end with the speech and by that point, the innocence of a very rich and sweater-wearing Rocky was long-gone. That innocence made the movies. They tried to regain that with five, which had a good premise, but just wasn't pulled off very well. It was more of a rich guy slumming it than a guy returning to his roots. Either way

Rocky I -- without question the best of the bunch.
Rocky II -- A lot better than people give it credit for. Second best in the series
Rocky III -- Very, very bad with way too much going on. Clubber Lang, Thunderlips (Hulk Hogan) and Mickey's death. Tied for worst
Rocky IV -- Nice storyline, but got away from what Makes Rocky movies great. Plus too much politics. third best, only because 3 and 5 sucked
Rocky V -- Nice idea, but just never really got off the ground. Neck and neck with 3 for the worst of the bunch.
Rocky VI -- will see it.

 

Saw this for the first time tonight on FX. I'm ashamed I didn't see it sooner.

Hell of a movie.

 

I saw this Christmas Day the year it came out with my brother only because there weren't any other options I actually wanted to spend money on.

Crowded theater, apparently full of Rocky fans because people were chanting and cheering during the fight. It was awesome.

Damn good movie. Damn good wrap on the series.

Does it make up for the shit that was Rocky V? Well, that I don't know.

 

Saw Balboa two years ago and throughly enjoyed it. Didn't expect a lot, and was pleasantly surprised. A nice trip back through memory lane.

My take on the Rockys

Rocky I: One of the best movies ever

Rocky II: Cheesy for the most part, although I love the opening scene when Apollo tries to get at Rocky in the hospital. Weathers was terrific in this movie

Rocky III: It had its bad parts (the Rocky/Apollo hugging scene on the beach), but also had very good parts (the scene where Mickey is trying to tell Rocky he wants to retire).

Rocky IV: Ridiculously cheesy, especially today. But a great soundtrack. It's one of those guilty-pleasure movies

Rocky V: Ugh. From his kid getting a huge role, to Tommy Morrison, this is the worst of the lot. Why the hell was Paulie giving some lawyer power of attorney for the two months or so that they were in Russia? Only redeeming qualities is that Paulie is funny as hell, the actor who played George Washington Duke did a helluva job and I like the scene where, as the subway rumbles overhead, Rocky asks Adrian, "Did we ever leave this place?"

 

I watched bits and pieces of this the other night, but there was a game on that I was more interested in. From what I did watch, it seemed like a damn good movie. I'll have to rent it so I don't have to deal with the commercials.