As most children of the 80's I grew up with Rocky movies. Corny as I would later come to consider them, they were fun and inspirational and carried a message of hope and perseverance that I believe resonated with most of America at the time. I'm speaking of course, of the first four Rocky movies. I did not see Rocky V until a year ago, and when I did finally watch it, I realized why. Rocky had been done to death, and V looked like just another chance to cash in on name recognition. Although I didn't see it when it came out, I do remember seeing interviews with Sylvester Stallone back in 1990, and even back then interviewers were posing the question "Isn't this going too far? Aren't you running Rocky's good name into the ground by churning out mindless sequels." I remember Stallone's answer at the time. He basically answered that the Rocky movies had been the story of a man's life and his dream and each represented a different stage of it. So, no, this wasn't going too far. That being said, Rocky V was an awful movie, so chock full of cliches that it stunk of "cash-in". After a swan song like that, I was surprised to realize just how intriguing the idea of another Rocky movie sounded to me.
My curiosity was undeniable - what could another Rocky movie possibly have to offer the world? The filmmakers either had something great going on to counteract the bad taste left in anyone's mouth by V, or they were banking on my curiosity and/or memory loss to trick me into going to see another bad movie. Fortunately for me, they had something great.
I've heard a couple of explanations for why this movie was not called Rocky VI, but it is my personal belief that this movie was intended as a replacement for Rocky V as the end of the man's story.
From the start, it paints a believable picture of a retired present-day Rocky Balboa. The story walks you through some of the twilight years of a man who speaks few words and doesn't speak them clearly, but still manages to dish out some unexpected and poignant wisdom on life and love and happiness. His body looks tired and worn down, but his spirit is willing.
A computer simulated fight between Rocky in his prime, and the reigning heavyweight champion, Mason "The Line" Dixon and that willing spirit eventually drives him back to the ring. The concept may seem overly ambitious at a glance, but the movie is very quick to point out parallels in real life that make it more believable. Evidently a statistical computation done in the 60's between Mohammed Ali and some boxer that was retired at the time (boxing fans, please don't hate me, I don't remember his name), showed that the older boxer would have won. And, of course, the Foreman vs. Holyfield fight where George Foreman came back to fight in his 50's nicely parallels Rocky's post prime aspirations.
Visually the film isn't anything special, but then it really doesn't need to be as it is the story that compels you to keep watching. The camera work is faithful to the older movies, with a few dramatic slow-motion and freeze-frame fade-outs. Rocky's signature theme song makes a couple of appearances, once as a remix and a final time as a beautiful rendition of the original. After all these years I can think of few scores with such widespread recognition that can inspire quite as well.
Throughout the film, Rocky experienced flashbacks, and although I can't say I'm an aficionado, it appeared that his flashbacks were limited to scenes from the first four movies, almost as though the filmmakers wanted to skip over that painful chapter or pretend it didn't happen. This is partly why I believe this film was intended as a replacement for V.
From Rocky's struggle with old age and ridicule to return to the ring to the climactic fight scene with Mason Dixon, the movie was engaging and even suspenseful at times. I actually found myself tensing up as Rocky would take a hard knock, nearly cheering with relief as he fought back.
The film somehow managed to maintain the charm of the prequels without falling into the trap of taking itself too seriously. A few well placed jabs at itself, and a comical cameo by Mike Tyson kept things fresh and believable.
The movie is very family friendly with a minimum of rough language and nothing sexually objectionable. I don't personally believe that there is anything wrong with violence - in fact I believe that prohibiting violence is a fundamental flaw in most societies that call themselves civilized - but that is another discussion. I mention it here to give fair warning that I may not be the best judge when it comes to violence. In my personal opinion, the movie could have done with more violence, but since it did have slightly more violence than a Care Bears movie, you might not want your fragile children watching it. Yes, that was intended as sarcasm.
All in all, no one could have hoped for a better conclusion to this story. Anyone who liked Rocky could not help but be pleased by this final chapter, and even some of those who despised the sequel-heavy story will be delighted by the freshness here.
