Rocky Balboa recap (SPOILERS) - Page 4

UngersPride · 03-31-2007, 11:40 AM

This was a movie I was really looking forward to seeing.

I like Stallone and I liked the other Rocky films I through IV. I especially loved Rocky One, and find it highly watchable.

When I see a movie, and to enjoy it, the film-maker needs to establish the film on a believable premise, or at least to establish why things are the way they are in his film's universe.

I find that Stallone failed to establish several basic premises in his movie. Without these premises, everything else in the movie does not ring true.

What are the failed premises?

These:

1) Over the course of all the Rocky films, we see growth in the Rocky character. He becomes leaner, smarter, richer, sports a tan, and lives in a BIG mansion. In short, he becomes more sophisticated. Yet, in Balboa we see the Rocky character revert to being what he was 30 years ago! Why? Why does Rocky revert to wearing almost the same type of clothes he wore in 1976? Has he fallen on hard times? The movie doesn't tell us. This bugged me throughout the film.

2) Paulie also reverted back to what he was in 1976 (from the first Rocky film). Why? The film provides NO answers.

3) A good part of the movie has Rocky visiting old locations, seeing previously known people, and giving us Rocky-philosophy. At one point Paulie yells at Rocky, "Enough!" I felt the same way.... It became old... real fast....

4) Even Rocky's decision to step back into the ring didn't ring true. There was no fire or commitment in his decision to do it.

5) It felt like Stallone was sleep walking his way through this movie. It seemed like this movie was a tired retread of the superior first movie. Even some of the dialogue was lifted straight from the first film! I was getting bored, and his cracker-jack philosophy was tiring. I even tried to watch the deleted scenes, but stopped halfway through them. It was all just more Rocky-philosophy.

6) Note: the deleted scenes did show that Rocky was living with Paulie! This was creepy. Why? Why were they living in a rundown apartment? Especially since Rocky's restaurant always seemed to be full of people, and therefore, it should have been making him some decent money.

7) I should note however, that the scene between Rocky and his son was the highlight of the movie.

Overall, I was disappointed with the film. I was expecting so much more. This is another film I would not want to watch again.

I would recommend people rent/buy Rocky One instead. It is a superior film, and it won an Acadamy Award for best picture in 1976. One of the bonus features has Stallone telling us why he wrote Rocky, and it is thoroughly enjoyable.

6.5/10

DavidPla · 03-31-2007, 03:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

1) Over the course of all the Rocky films, we see growth in the Rocky character. He becomes leaner, smarter, richer, sports a tan, and lives in a BIG mansion. In short, he becomes more sophisticated. Yet, in Balboa we see the Rocky character revert to being what he was 30 years ago! Why? Why does Rocky revert to wearing almost the same type of clothes he wore in 1976? Has he fallen on hard times? The movie doesn't tell us. This bugged me throughout the film.

Missed "Rocky V"?

Rocky has always been who he is. He got a bigger house and more money but he was always the underdog from Philly. That was the point of his whole success. It never changed him deep down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

2) Paulie also reverted back to what he was in 1976 (from the first Rocky film). Why? The film provides NO answers.

I completely disagree with this. Paulie has always been the same from all the Rocky's. When you say that he's reverted back to himself in the first Rocky... how has that changed from what he was in Rocky IV? He has actually even grown somewhat in this film from the previous films. Admitting his faults and his problems from his past and finding something stable for once in his life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

3) A good part of the movie has Rocky visiting old locations, seeing previously known people, and giving us Rocky-philosophy. At one point Paulie yells at Rocky, "Enough!" I felt the same way.... It became old... real fast.....

I thought it was very nostalgic and touching. Besides, it was only in the first 15 minutes of the film. To each his own.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

4) Even Rocky's decision to step back into the ring didn't ring true. There was no fire or commitment in his decision to do it.

5) It felt like Stallone was sleep walking his way through this movie. It seemed like this movie was a tired retread of the superior first movie. Even some of the dialogue was lifted straight from the first film! I was getting bored, and his cracker-jack philosophy was tiring. I even tried to watch the deleted scenes, but stopped halfway through them. It was all just more Rocky-philosophy.

I feel this is probably the best acting that Stallone has ever done since the original Rocky. And this is a case where you could see in his eyes the same fire that he had in the first film. To prove himself. I thought everything that came out of his mouth rang true to life and especially true to Stallone in his own life. I think he's mentioned before that every Rocky movie is a statement on where he is in his own life... and this film and his performance reflected all of that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

6) Note: the deleted scenes did show that Rocky was living with Paulie! This was creepy. Why? Why were they living in a rundown apartment? Especially since Rocky's restaurant always seemed to be full of people, and therefore, it should have been making him some decent money.

His wife had died. His son wasn't talking to him. Paulie was the only true friend he had in the world. I don't think there's anything "creepy" about that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

Overall, I was disappointed with the film. I was expecting so much more. This is another film I would not want to watch again.

I would recommend people rent/buy Rocky One instead. It is a superior film, and it won an Acadamy Award for best picture in 1976. One of the bonus features has Stallone telling us why he wrote Rocky, and it is thoroughly enjoyable..

Sorry you didn't enjoy the film, especially since you enjoyed the other four. For me, it was the perfect end to a great series.

Pete-D · 03-31-2007, 05:03 PM

I would agree the skating rink scene could have been cut (since they already visited the old house), but otherwise I thought the film was very well done.

I know some people were dissapointed that it wasn't more an action spectacle ala Rocky III/IV, but this one was a very good bookend to Rocky I. You're never going to duplicate the exact impact or freshness of the original, but this one with the angle of growing older and still having something to say, was well done.

UngersPride · 03-31-2007, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidPla

Missed "Rocky V"?
Rocky has always been who he is. He got a bigger house and more money but he was always the underdog from Philly. That was the point of his whole success. It never changed him deep down.

The problem is why did Rocky revert back to living in a run down apartment and why was he living with Paulie? Why was he wearing old clothes?

These are never addressed in the film. And to me, it is a major flaw. I can buy everything that happens in the film, provided there is an explanation that provides the background for it.

You and I can make up all types of stories as why Rocky reverted back. But that is not our job to invent reasons; it's the director's job to set the stage so that we can accept it.

Had Stallone taken just five minutes at the beginning of the movie to provide a sort of montage using newspaper headlines, film footage, etc, he could have shown to us why Rocky fell so far back. We could have had the following:

Rocky's manager cheats him or invests his money poorly and he goes bankrupt, loses his home, Adrian dies, Paulie loses his girlfriends (because they are with him because of Rocky), people consider Rocky to be a wash-out, he is forced to live in more humble surroundings, he takes pity on Paulie (he's an alcoholic and can't take care of himself) and has him move in with him, Rocky sells all his valuables and gets enough money to open a small restaraunt.

The above would have set the stage for eveything else that followed in the film. I could then have accepted everything else that Rocky did and my score would have been higher.

Quote:

I completely disagree with this. Paulie has always been the same from all the Rocky's. When you say that he's reverted back to himself in the first Rocky... how has that changed from what he was in Rocky IV? He has actually even grown somewhat in this film from the previous films. Admitting his faults and his problems from his past and finding something stable for once in his life.

Paulie looked and sounded like an exact carbon copy of when he was in Rocky One. He even says the exact same lines from Rocky One.

Quote:

I feel this is probably the best acting that Stallone has ever done since the original Rocky. And this is a case where you could see in his eyes the same fire that he had in the first film. To prove himself. I thought everything that came out of his mouth rang true to life and especially true to Stallone in his own life. I think he's mentioned before that every Rocky movie is a statement on where he is in his own life... and this film and his performance reflected all of that.

I could have bought this more if the situation had been introduced better.

Quote:

His wife had died. His son wasn't talking to him. Paulie was the only true friend he had in the world. I don't think there's anything "creepy" about that.

Paulie's living with Rocky had been cut from the film. I was pretty surprised to see it. It came out of the blue.... and yup.... it was creepy....

Quote:

Sorry you didn't enjoy the film, especially since you enjoyed the other four. For me, it was the perfect end to a great series.

So am I. Stallone has garnered a lot of good will with me over the years. I have been a big fan of the Rocky/Rambo films. I couldn't believe how disappointed I was.

However, if Stallone ever releases a director's cut, I hope he adds that five minute montage at the beginning of the film to tell us why Rocky reverts back to his humble surroundings....

DavidPla · 03-31-2007, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

Had Stallone taken just five minutes at the beginning of the movie to provide a sort of montage using newspaper headlines, film footage, etc, he could have shown to us why Rocky fell so far back. We could have had the following:

Rocky's manager cheats him or invests his money poorly and he goes bankrupt, loses his home, Adrian dies, Paulie loses his girlfriends (because they are with him because of Rocky), people consider Rocky to be a wash-out, he is forced to live in more humble surroundings, he takes pity on Paulie (he's an alcoholic and can't take care of himself) and has him move in with him, Rocky sells all his valuables and gets enough money to open a small restaraunt.

I hope he adds that five minute montage at the beginning of the film to tell us why Rocky reverts back to his humble surroundings....

But it was already explained... that was all in "Rocky V". He lost his money by a sleezy accountant. He had to move back into the slums of Philadelphia. Paulie moved in with him, Adrian and Robert.

UngersPride · 03-31-2007, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidPla

But it was already explained... that was all in "Rocky V". He lost his money by a sleezy accountant. He had to move back into the slums of Philadelphia. Paulie moved in with him, Adrian and Robert.

That's a good starting point. What you stated above plus the additional montage footage I mentioned above would have helped a great deal.

The funny thing is that Stallone usually does provide a montage from the previous film to kick-start the beginning of newest movie.

Even so, the only way I even knew Paulie was living with Rocky was by watching the deleted scenes on the dvd. People who saw this movie in the theatre would never know that

DavidPla · 03-31-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UngersPride

That's a good starting point. What you stated above plus the additional montage footage I mentioned above would have helped a great deal.

The funny thing is that Stallone usually does provide a montage from the previous film to kick-start the beginning of newest movie.

Even so, the only way I even knew Paulie was living with Rocky was by watching the deleted scenes on the dvd. People who saw this movie in the theatre would never know that

That's true. But it wasn't necessary to the plot. In fact it probably helped the film more that it was deleted. That way Rocky was truly alone until get meets Little Marie.

But I don't think the film needed a recap of "Rocky V" at the beginning. Fans had already seen the previous films and non-fans would probably only remember the first "Rocky" so anything else was extraneous. He's broke... if you haven't seen "Rocky V" then he lost it. No need to explain it anymore. The point of the film wasn't about that, the previous film dealt with all of that. That's what bogged down "Rocky V". The point of this film was rising up from the ashes.

But I don't seen why it bothered you about how he lost all his money if you have already seen "Rocky V"?

Carl Johnson · 03-31-2007, 07:59 PM

I'm as big a fan of Rocky that there is but I haven't seen V. When I saw where he was living in Rocky Balboa I didn't assume that it was because he was broke. For lack of a better term Rocky is and always has been street people. When he was living on a multi million dollar estate it was because Adrian picked the location. Once she died Rocky didn't have any reason to stay in a fancy neighborhood so he moved back to his old stomping grounds.

Tim Glover · 03-31-2007, 08:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidPla

Sorry you didn't enjoy the film, especially since you enjoyed the other four. For me, it was the perfect end to a great series.

Totally agree. I also missed Rocky V....and LOVED Rocky Balboa.

I know there are few, if any perfect films. But for the Rocky series, the respect for Stallone AND Rocky hitting kind of low prior to this release...Rocky Balboa was THE perfect way to end this series. I really can't think of anything I would change about it.

Greg_S_H · 03-31-2007, 08:49 PM

People hated Rocky V, but it has now served its purpose. It got Rocky ready for Rocky Balboa. The movie wouldn't have been the same had it had to explain how Rocky got back to his roots. It had to have been pretty liberating for Stallone to have been able to start with that work already accomplished.