Rocky Balboa (2006)
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
When he loses a highly publicized virtual boxing match to ex-champ Rocky Balboa, reigning heavyweight titleholder Mason Dixon retaliates by challenging the Italian Stallion to a 10-round exhibition bout. To the surprise of his son and friends, Rocky agrees to come out of retirement and face an opponent who's faster, stronger and thirty years his junior. Rocky takes on Dixon in what will become the greatest fight in boxing history!
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What critics compared Rocky Balboa to
Sylvester Stallone paid proper tribute and respect to his character Rocky Balboa with the final chapter in his saga “ Rocky Balboa .”
Meanwhile, likably game as Stallone was in going another few rounds for 2006’s “Rocky Balboa,” it’s nothing compared to how enjoyable he is — and affecting — in his new less-is-more supporting role.
From there, it became slightly gimmicky, bringing in a kid for Rocky V, then going for the standard return-to-roots comeback vibe with Rocky Balboa .
But, as a Rocky movie, it does manage two important things: It hits on the inspirational spirit the movies strive for and sometimes achieve ( Rocky, Rocky Balboa , sometimes Rocky II ), but often failed to ( Rocky III, IV , and V ), and it introduces a new character who stands on his own as someone worth paying attention to and investing in (unlike Tommy in V ).
There is something humanizing about a first name, especially for an action hero (think of how many of them are referred to primarily by their last names), and the direct break with the manner in which the films have been titled—it follows The Bourne Identity (2002), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), and The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), the titles of which derived from the Robert Ludlum novels on which they were more and more loosely based—signals a shift in narrative focus in the same manner that Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa (2006) sought to bring its Philly pugilist back to earth after five increasingly cartoonish Rocky films.
On the surface, it is a thoughtful and occasionally poignant mid-life crisis film, with an underdog sports hook that recalls Rocky III and especially Rocky Balboa.
Swap out the talking cars for boxers or baseball pitchers and the film would sit comfortably next to such films as Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa and Robert Lorenz’s Trouble with the Curve , twilit dramas about a fading athlete struggling with age-old conundrums: how to know when to retire and how to do it with dignity.
Rather than taking the road traveled by some of the early Rocky sequels (number 3, 4, and 5 in particular) and having the aging protagonist return one last time to compete against a bigger, better opponent, Cars 3 moves more in the Rocky Balboa direction.
CHICAGO – After such a long respite from the beloved film progression, I was initially just as skittish about seeing Harrison Ford back in the Indy saddle as I was watching Sylvester Stallone back in the ring in “Rocky Balboa” in his 2006 comeback and then again in 2008 in his “Rambo” return.
I rate it the best of the sequels kind of like “Rocky Balboa."
"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is no "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but if you look at the long, tired history other sequels made years after the initial magic had faded - "Rocky Balboa," "The Phantom Menace," "The Barkleys of Broadway" - this has to rank among the respectable entries.
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I found myself thinking of Rocky, Rocky Balboa, and Creed. They’re all excellent movies and all basically the same movie with a little extra spice here and there to personalise them…
This third installment in his trilogy of self-congratulations (Rambo and Rocky Balboa were the first two) pays homage to Stallone's stupider efforts.
As directed and co-written by Stallone and centered around an ex-U.S. military mercenary team that runs a motorcycle club out of former member Rourke's tattoo parlor, the film is supposed to be a back-to-basics actioner in the same sweaty vein as "Rocky Balboa" and the last "Rambo" film.
‘Rocky Balboa’’ in 2006, “Rambo’’ in 2008 — Sylvester Stallone has been trying to recapture his youth, or comment on his distance from it, for several years now.
It is not hard to see why Stallone would feel drawn to such stories, as his most recent films, Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008), resurrected long-dormant franchises with a surprisingly robust sensitivity and attention to issues of loss and aging.
His "Rocky Balboa" was a genuine surprise, the best sequel to the series and a far more fitting goodbye to the character than 'V."
Stallone proved he can still make himself larger than life with Rocky Balboa.
Spider-Verse’s success also comes from how well they understand the character: Spider-Man, in his own way, is not simply “Peter Parker”: He’s every one of us at our most courageous and brave, who can take a licking, be it physical or emotional, and still keep on ticking (insert that classic quote from Rocky Balboa here).
On one level, the movie is an art-house Rocky Balboa, in which Rourke, like Sylvester Stallone, stages a comeback parallel to his characters.
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Stallone's previous film, Rocky Balboa (2006), was a highly personal and surprisingly touching film.
The orgy of violence, as ghastly as in any video game, should go a long way toward erasing whatever goodwill Stallone earned with his sentimental Rocky Balboa.
Last year, he revisited "Rocky", the series that made him a star, giving his beloved pugilist a surprisingly fitting bookend with " Rocky Balboa ".
In Meet the Spartans, the mere act of referring to Transformers, Happy Feet, Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider, Rocky Balboa, Stomp the Yard, Shrek, Lindsay Lohan, Kevin Federline, or Deal or No Deal is presumed to be hilarious.