A few days ago, we went to see Rocky Balboa, the sixth in the Sylvester Stallone series. We didn't expect much, but P.C. and I both love the series (well, most of it), so we wanted to see the next (last?) one. Rocky V, its predecessor, might be one of the worst movies ever made, and I was hoping that Rocky Balboa wouldn't be on the same level. Well, it was better than Rocky V.
Writer/director Stallone gave himself a couple of really bad speeches, the story relied too much on flashbacks from previous movies, and (BIG SPOILER HERE), Adrian is dead. The love story between Adrian and Rocky, portrayed so beautifully in the original Rocky, has become a bunch of flashbacks and Rocky walking around depressed until he can "fight his demons." Killing off Adrian was a big mistake.
Okay, enough complaining. There were three moments in this film (and in all of these movies, actually), that made the audience cheer:
1. When the title of the movie scrolled across the screen in the beginning, accompanied by trumpet fanfare.
2. When Rocky decided to fight his opponent and began his training (with "Gonna Fly Now" playing).
3. The fight scenes. I'm not a boxing fan, but watching underdog Rocky fight always fires me up.
For the record, here's how I rank the Rocky movies:
1. Rocky. The original. 1976 Oscar winner for Best Picture. An exciting underdog story combined with a beautiful love story.
2. Rocky III. Probably because I saw it many, many times more than the others. Also, Mr. T. as Clubber Lang. ("My prediction? Pain.") Also, I love the friendship between Rocky and Apollo Creed (the last five minutes are especially great).
3. Rocky II. A great movie with a lot of humor, too. Most closely resembles the original.
4. Rocky IV. Rocky fights super-Soviet boxer Ivan "I will break you" Drago. The humor between Apollo and Rocky continues again, although (SPOILER ALERT) it is short-lived when Drago kills Apollo in the ring.
5. Rocky Balboa.
6. Rocky V. Rocky in a street fight against youngster Tommy Gunn? Ugh.
If you've never seen the original Rocky, it is definitely worth seeing, whether you are a fan of boxing or not. Let me know what you think!
Okay, enough complaining. There were three moments in this film (and in all of these movies, actually), that made the audience cheer:
1. When the title of the movie scrolled across the screen in the beginning, accompanied by trumpet fanfare.
2. When Rocky decided to fight his opponent and began his training (with "Gonna Fly Now" playing).
3. The fight scenes. I'm not a boxing fan, but watching underdog Rocky fight always fires me up.
For the record, here's how I rank the Rocky movies:
1. Rocky. The original. 1976 Oscar winner for Best Picture. An exciting underdog story combined with a beautiful love story.
2. Rocky III. Probably because I saw it many, many times more than the others. Also, Mr. T. as Clubber Lang. ("My prediction? Pain.") Also, I love the friendship between Rocky and Apollo Creed (the last five minutes are especially great).
3. Rocky II. A great movie with a lot of humor, too. Most closely resembles the original.
4. Rocky IV. Rocky fights super-Soviet boxer Ivan "I will break you" Drago. The humor between Apollo and Rocky continues again, although (SPOILER ALERT) it is short-lived when Drago kills Apollo in the ring.
5. Rocky Balboa.
6. Rocky V. Rocky in a street fight against youngster Tommy Gunn? Ugh.
If you've never seen the original Rocky, it is definitely worth seeing, whether you are a fan of boxing or not. Let me know what you think!
No comments:
Post a Comment