T Nation

Rocky Balboa - SPOILER ALERT

Off Topic
#1

An odd movie… I have to say I was disappointed. Granted, the guy’s 60, but I thought there would be more fighting and more training that a 3 minute montage – which happened to be the worst, most uninspired training sequence in any Rocky movie.

And what was with Mason Dixon? Just a flat out boring character, who doesn’t come anywhere near Creed, Lang or Drago…

And what’s with all the plot points that go no where? Like Steps or Spider or the fact that Dixon breaks his hand and then… no real mention of it. Or was that the only real way that Rocky could be competitive?

But that aside… the thing that bothered me the most was his exit from the ring at the end. I thought, okay, he’s made Dixon into a decent champ by bringing out the best in him. “You’re a great champ.” Right? And then he turns his back on him and walks out, leaving the fans to boo Dixon (the guy who gave Rocky his break). Then Rock soaks up the cheers at the exit.

Seemed like a completely classless move. Whereas if he’d just stayed in the ring and held Dixon’s hand high in victory, the crowd could have cheered for both of them and Rocky’s good will would have been passed to the champ. So, he would have basically brought back dignity to the ring.

Anyhoo… just curious how others reacted to this.

#2

An uninspiring 3 minute training sequence? Well that just saved me $7.

#3

At least tell me there’s cheesy '80s music…

#4

Could it be setting the stage for Rocky VII? Rocky can’t accept that he lost and goes back in the ring to win…then after the fight he dies in the locker room as Mickey did in Rocky III.

Then in Rocky VIII, Rocky is cloned…

[quote]futuredave wrote:

But that aside… the thing that bothered me the most was his exit from the ring at the end. I thought, okay, he’s made Dixon into a decent champ by bringing out the best in him. “You’re a great champ.” Right? And then he turns his back on him and walks out, leaving the fans to boo Dixon (the guy who gave Rocky his break). Then Rock soaks up the cheers at the exit.

#5

I think the idea behind Steps and Spider was to show how big a heart Rocky has and how much he enjoys helping people. It’s part of his character.

As far as Mason breaking his hand, yeah, I think that’s the only way they could show Rocky being competitive. There had to be something to give Rocky that little bit of edge. There was no real need to continue to mention it. They said the next 2 or 3 rounds would belong to Rocky until the hand numbed up and Mason could hit again.

My only disappointment is the training montage. I wish it would have been more. Also, I think the fight got a little too “cinematic” after the third round. But the fight ended well. Rocky didn’t care about winning the fight, he just didn’t want to lose. He proved what he could still do and that was enough for him.

(As a side note, I honestly thought, when the Rocky was leaving ringside and the judges’ decisions were being announced, that the movie would end before the third judge’s decision was announced and the audience would be left to wonder who actually won.)

Overall, I really enjoyed the movie and liked the feel of it. I think the beginning got a little slow-paced, but it needed that pace to set up why this well-past-his-prime boxer would want to fight again.

And for the record, the never say that he is over 60 in the movie. The only mention of his age is in comparison to other boxers “over 50.”

#6

I thought it was done very well.

The first twenty minutes are excellent, and you really get the feeling that this is a guy who’d be OK with dying.

The character development on the part of Rocky himself was done the best since the first Rocky, and the fact that Dixon broke his hand in the fight did give Rocky an edge (psychologically, also).

Malone is right- all the mention of all the people from the past was to show how the guy never gives up on anybody and has a huge heart.

And if you went to see a two minute training sequence put to some crappy 80s music, then you shouldn’t have gone to see the fucking movie. Rocky is about a little more than that.

#7

[quote]malonetd wrote:
I think the idea behind Steps and Spider was to show how big a heart Rocky has and how much he enjoys helping people. It’s part of his character.
[/quote]

You’re right. The movie had great character development and is a testament to what a classic, empathetic character Rocky is.

Just bothered me that the only way he could be competitive was because the other guy broke his hand on Rocky’s hip. It was almost like a guy getting thumbed in the eye and the other guy taking advantage of it. And walking out at the end just struck me as bizarre. But if it doesn’t strike others that way, then maybe it’s just me.

#8

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
At least tell me there’s cheesy '80s music…[/quote]

Yeah, I watched the one with Drago a few weeks ago. And I guess when I usually ‘watch’ old rocky flicks I focus when there is a training sequence and otherwise just do other things while it’s on in the background. Well I caught the scene in Rocky IV where he gets in the ferari or whatever that is and drives to ‘No Easy Way Out’
That was the chessiest cheese ever…

#9

I really enjoyed the movie, it had a dfferent feel from other Rocky movies. It was more about competing and fulfilling the inner “beast” and not winning (not unlike a lot of us T-Nation folk). One thing that I did notice is that during the training sequence any time it showed the completion of a lift it wouldn’t show his face. Not anything too exciting about watching a 60 year old doing a training montage.

#10

[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
I thought it was done very well.

The first twenty minutes are excellent, and you really get the feeling that this is a guy who’d be OK with dying.

The character development on the part of Rocky himself was done the best since the first Rocky, and the fact that Dixon broke his hand in the fight did give Rocky an edge (psychologically, also).

Malone is right- all the mention of all the people from the past was to show how the guy never gives up on anybody and has a huge heart.

And if you went to see a two minute training sequence put to some crappy 80s music, then you shouldn’t have gone to see the fucking movie. Rocky is about a little more than that.[/quote]

Irish, my thoughts exactly, if you want to watch a training montage put to bad music, just go to youtube, i thought the montage was pretty badass, with him using chains, kettleballs, and the olympic lifts. I also thought that it was nice to see the Rocky from the first 3, instead of the very dumbed down Rocky fromthe 4 and 5.

I for one, plan on seeing it in theaters again if i had a chance. There was a buzz in there that i hadnt felt in a theater before. When he walked out and started doing pullups at the beginning, when you saw spider, when you say little marie, when you saw the pet shop, when you saw the poster at Mick’s gym, it just resonated with people, and you could feel that all this stuff meant something to them.

And can we give Sly some credit for writing a damn good script ?

#11

I wasn’t amazed with the movie, but I probably shouldn’t have been expecting Oscar-worthy material anyways. I just thought about it now, but maybe they had Mason break his hand so that he would be forced to fight through the pain, and take a beating in the process, in order to develop himself further as a fighter.

#12

I disagree. Granted he is 60 and doesn’t look like he used to, it was great seeing Rocky ending this way instead of ending with Rocky V. Everyone in the movie theater went nuts. Classic!

#13

Oh, and i loved the fact that Mason broke his hand on Rocky’s hip, instead of it being the other way around.

–WS4

#14

I saw the movie today and id give it a B+, it was good movie.

My question, if anyone knows, is if Adrian’s in South Philly (upper Darby?) a real place or just some set up for the movie?

#15

Yes…every article I read about the movie before I saw it said…DO NOT EXPECT ROCKY 3 or 4…

they were right…it was exactly like ROCKY 1 and 2…

if you want to see R3 or R4 just look out for them on TV, they are on almost every week:-)

IM a fan and gave it an A-

my buddies who are not fans and expecting it to be a BIG JOKE-- both gave it a B+

I definitely wish their were more training scenes, but the one that was in their was AWESOME!

leaving the ring early ( i took it to mean) he did not care if he won or lost…he was happy he went the distance ala ROCKY 1…

everyone go see it! especially if you work out…it can only motivate you!

#16

[quote]BluePfaltz wrote:
I saw the movie today and id give it a B+, it was good movie.

My question, if anyone knows, is if Adrian’s in South Philly (upper Darby?) a real place or just some set up for the movie?

[/quote]

the real place is called “victor’s cafe”

#17

[quote]WS4adumbastard wrote:
FightinIrish26 wrote:

And can we give Sly some credit for writing a damn good script ?
[/quote]

thats what makes it even more special…

#18

Can I just say how big a pain in the ass it has been having to moderate this thread all day long? :wink:

But no worries. I’m still going to see it tomorrow and I’m sure it will still be an awesome experience.

Carry on.

:slight_smile:

#19

[quote]Mod Jump’n Jack wrote:
Can I just say how big a pain in the ass it has been having to moderate this thread all day long? :wink:

But no worries. I’m still going to see it tomorrow and I’m sure it will still be an awesome experience.

Carry on.

:)[/quote]

why? are you having to delete peoples posts? if so THANKS!

#20

Nope, nothing deleted as far as I know. But remember that we see every comment you guys are making. And sometimes mods wanna go to the movie theater too, ya know.

But like I said, it’s really no problem. So enough of my whining, back on topic. :slight_smile: