Rocky Balboa ...

Clubber's psyche took a bigger beating than his body did. Just like Tyson, he never would've recovered from such a shocking knockout. He might've gotten a rematch as a matter of course, but Rocky would've eaten him up.

I never got to play "Punch Out" at home but I fed thousands of dollars worth of quarters into the arcade version. I was manning the controls the first time any of my crowd ever saw Mr. Sandman give up the belt. I almost shit my pants twice that day -- once after finally beating the big lummox and again after realizing that a suddenly unbeatable Glass Joe was going to knock me out in my very first title defence. No one saw that coming.

 

Hehe...he did suddenly get a lot better, huh? I actually got by Glass Joe with the belt once. Then I got my ass handed to me by...was it Piston Hurricane? Hell, I forget.

 

Yep, Piston Hurricane. I never did get past him the second time around, although Glass Joe wound up regularly eating the canvas twice per 25 cents.

God, I miss those times.

 

Good point. Something else I didn't think about until later, was the timing. At the start of Rocky IV, we see Rocky coming home all beat up from his fight in the gym with Apollo. Not long after, Apollo decides to fight Drago, and then Rocky fights Drago. So it was probably less than a year between the Lang and Drago fights -- not nearly enough time for a rematch.

 

OK I can not wait to see this movie I am a huge fan of Rocky, I don't really know why but I can not stay away from those movies. sad I know but I love them all, and I think that this one may get a tear or two, if you have seen it please let me know if you shed one or not.

 

Just came back. The negative: The dialogue for everyone but Stallone and Pauly is horrific.

But, I found great comfort and emotion in the scenes with Stallone and Young....

And, I'm perhaps the most sentimental douchebag ever created.... I LOVED Rocky's "tour" in the van.

So, let's just say that my morning haircut combined with going to the movie this afternoon provided great impetus for my latest weight-loss plan. I dropped about 5 pounds of hair and water.

One lingering question I had, though: Did I miss it, or did the movie not visually reference Apollo even once?

 

Apollo appeared very quickly in one of the montages.

Yeah, I'll add that I really enjoyed the movie. I brought my 9-year-old son, and his 10-year-old and 8-year-old cousins, and they all liked it, too. I'll guess, though, that as one who was my son's age when I saw the first Rocky (on some newfangled thing called cable TV), I was far more wistful watching the movie. I would agree the Rocky-and-Paulie stuff was the best dialogue in the movie. Antonio Tarver acquitted himself quite well.

No doubt, though, like the first movie -- heck, like all of the Rockys -- the movie was about Stallone himself. It's just that in the first, he was a never-were, and in this one, he's a has-been, so it's far easier to root for him. The dialogue always mirrored what someone might say about Stallone making another "Rocky," like Max Kellerman during the fight going on about "I grew up with this guy!" Rocky's exit after the fight is as much about Stallone taking one last bow as it is Rocky.

Despite the eogtism, and the total cornballishness throughout, the movie works. And given how everything is framed, that old Rocky repeats a lot of the stuff old Rocky did is charming, not desperate.

 

Seeing it tonight. The first and third were great, and I'm looking forward to completing the circle. The Editudes are dealing with several coming-down-the-mountain issues, so this resonates.

 

Rocky III was memorable if only for the shirts the guys in Clubber Lang's corner were wearing _ cheap blue ones that said "Heavyweight Champ" on the back.

 

Love the scene, too, where a fired-up Rocky misses the spit bucket and spits all over Paulie's shirt.

 

There also was a nod to Apollo when Rocky was telling one of his stories to customers at his restaurant. Good to see they also worked Mickey into it, plus all of his other battles during the Dixon fight.

My thoughts on the movie? ... Absolutely loved it. That made up for Rocky V in my book. Did I go in thinking it would be Oscar-worthy? Of course not, but it was a great way to end the series and pleasantly exceeded my expectations.

Like others have mentioned, the dialogue between Rocky and Paulie was superb (got a little dusty in the theatre when Rocky was telling Paulie why he wanted to fight again). I even thought the exchange between Rocky and Robert (Rocky Jr.) had outside the restaurant was very good.

Also loved the way they tied Lil' Marie back in from the first movie.

Well worth the price of admission.

 

Saw it today as well - and I thought it was really well done. For some reason I can't remember Lil' Marie from the first movie (time for a rewatching I guess).

One thing that was interesting was when they referenced the Marciano-Ali computer fight in '68. I happen to be reading Dave Kindred's book on Ali and Cosell and he mentions that there were two versions of that fight: Marciano wins in the one shown in the U.S. and Ali the one shown in Europe.

Anyway, I recommend Rocky Balboa (although noting I can be a tad sentimental, this nevertheless was a nice homage). My wife, who is out of town with our kids with her family, laughed when I told her what I saw. Ah well, I liked it.