Note: This column originally appeared in the Dec. 30, 2006 edition of the Topeka Capital-Journal. At the time, I worked on the Page 2 project for the Capital-Journal and had a regular sports column, which was recognized as one of the most popular in Topeka in the newspaper’s annual “Best of Topeka” special section.
It’s been 16 years since “Rocky V” almost destroyed the legacy of fictional Philadelphia prize fighter Rocky Balboa. That film was so bad that Sylvester Stallone practically had to beg the studio to make amends with yet another sequel.
“Well, it took me about five years of hearing how people were disappointed with Rocky V,” Stallone said of the long delay between movies in a recent interview with cyberboxingzone.com. “It depressed me that I let everyone down, Then, when I decided I wanted to remake it, I was 53, and the studio said, ‘Never going to happen, over our dead bodies.’
“I kept coming back. And they said, ‘We’re not interested.’ So, I turned 59, it was it. That was the final nail in the coffin. Then fate intervened, and MGM was sold. The old regime was out, new regime in, and they said, ‘You know, we’ll take a shot at this. We’ll take a gamble.’”
The new regime hit the jackpot. Through Friday, just nine days after its release, “Rocky Balboa” has grossed more than $30 million and ranked in the top three in each of the past two weeks at the box office, according to http://www.movieweb.com.
I’ve been looking forward to this movie since I saw a trailer online last summer. I figured it couldn’t possibly be as bad as “Rocky V,” which ended in the last place it should – outside the ring.
But I also was skeptical, as were plenty of critics. How in the heck do you sell a 60-year-old man trading punches with a villain-boxer – Mason “The Line” Dixon – portrayed by arguably the best real-life fighter in the world in Antonio Traver?
There’s also the absence of Talia Shire, who portrayed Balboa’s wife, Adrian, in the first five films. Stallone said he had Adrian in the original script but couldn’t make it work. The result? Adrian died in 2002, and Balboa struggles to move on.
It reads like a recipe for disaster – no Adrian, no Mr. T, no Mickey, no Ivan Drago, no Apollo, and a senior citizen going 10 rounds – but it wasn’t. “Rocky Balboa” is a damn good movie.
When he finally does come to terms with Adrian’s death, Balboa refused to accept his fate as a has-been restaurant owner in a run-down Philadelphia neighborhood. He enlists his slovenly brother-in-law, Paulie, standoffish son, Rocky Jr., and grizzled trainer, Duke, Creed’s former trainer, who engineered the unbelievable knockout of Drago in Rocky IV, to train for an “exhibition” against Dixon in Las Vegas.
Naturally, a new girl emerges in Rocky’s life. Marie, played by Geraldine Hughes, almost makes you forget about Adrian. And the fight scene at the end of the movie with Tarver may be the best of any of the “Rocky” movies.
If you’re looking for a comparison to the other five movies, “Rocky Balboa” certainly holds its own. It isn’t as good as the Oscar-winning original, but it doesn’t resemble the train wreck that was “Rocky V.” I’d rate it as the No. 3 out of six movies behind the first two.
I suspect a lot of folks are avoiding this movie because of the bad taste “Rocky V” left. It’s worth the time, and it definitely makes amends for the 1990 bomb.
Post script: Though “Rocky Balboa” was the final “Rocky” film, it did spin off three movies: “Creed,” “Creed II” and “Creed III,” and a fourth is in development. Stallone won a Golden Globe for his performance in Creed and probably should have won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. “Rocky Balboa” went on to make $156 million at the box office, against a budget of $24 million.
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