Re: HTF BLU-RAY REVIEW: ROCKY BALBOA - HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION!
Every review I read was negative, except on the Net in places like The Bits and this forum. So, no, I wasn't confusing it with Rocky V. And usually those reviews acknowledged the existing backlash against the film. The critics had a very cynical attitude toward this film, and I believe if they reviewed the original with the same approach it too would receive a negative rewiew.
That said, I saw the BD (after watching ALL the other films) and enjoyed it. I even watched all the extras (in glorious HD). I usually don't bother, but these were nice just-the-right-length docs. Overall, this is an excellent BD package.
I kind of missed the "shotgun blast" punches though, knowing they wanted it to be realistic this time round. But it kind of makes it less a Rocky film. With him training to punch harder than ever, it was a bit of a let-down to not have those 80s sound effects. So that made the fight a just a bit anticlimactic for me.
I knew this would basically be a mirror of the original film (or a bookend as the filmmakers say), so it was no surprise to end the way it did. I still wanted him to knock the other guy out though.
It's definitely the best overall film since the original. Though for pure entertainment and the best training montage ever (though it is awesome when he runs in the snow and up that mountain in IV), Rocky III is where it's at.
I mostly like that one because he was finally trained to really be a good fighter (by Apollo no less) and looked rather unbeatable in the ring with the blinding speed and good footwork he finally had.
So, it ended up working out well that old Rocky (bye, bye speed) ended up fighting a lot more like in the beginning of the story when he really wasn't that great a fighter, but had muscle and heart. I guess more muscle and heart than ever.
