Yesterday, we finally got a change to view the latest Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa. First, to set the stage for the kids, we also rented a copy of the original Rocky movie so they would have a frame of reference for the latest. The kids hadn’t really even heard of Rocky, let alone seen any of the movies. They were a bit leery of watching it, but have come to trust us on movies we think they will like.
I think Sean was hooked on the movie within the first 10 or 15 minutes. He easily picked up the story line and eagerly awaited the next scene. Of course, they were both waiting for Rocky to win the title at the end of the movie. Sean made one comment, that was something like “Wow, they made good movies back in the 70’s”. He was cheering on Rocky the whole way.
When it was over, we fired up Rocky Balboa. The whole family was immediately caught up in the whole movie. I have to say, it was quite well done and definitely worth a watch. The Rocky movies kinda went slowly downhill after the first one, though Rocky 2 and Rocky 3 were still good movies. Sure, the movies have a bit of cheese in them, but they are feel good stories and entertaining. I don’t think I have even seen the Rocky prior to Rocky Balboa. This latest movie returns to the storyline, feel and quality of the first Rocky, in my opinion.
It was very fortuitous of us to have immediately watched the first Rocky prior to Rocky Balboa. They recreated a lot of the scenes and characters from the first one. A lot of the same actors reprised their roles from the first movie in Rocky Balboa. It was a great reference to have just seen Sly and the other actors from the first movie and then literally jump to Rocky Balboa 30 years later. It definitely added to the enjoyment of the latest offering.
Sylvester Stallone is not the greatest actor in the World, but he is Rocky and did a great job in the movie. The fight scenes were very nicely done and tended to not be as long or unbelievable as previous Rocky movies. You still have to suspend belief a bit for a 60+ year old man fighting the Heavyweight Champ (in real life, he’s the Light Heavyweight Champ) of the World. Still, the storyline and the interaction of the characters was nicely done.
Sean thoroughly enjoyed the movie and is now asking for us to rent the rest of the Rocky movies. We spent another hour or so after the movie watching the special features on the DVD. They provided additional insight into Rocky. They also had an alternate ending that was filmed for the movie. I don’t want to give the ending away in case folks haven’t seen the movie, but the picked the correct ending for the movie. It’s a better close to the Rocky series than the alternate.
We also found out that they are currently filming another movie John Rambo to close out the Rambo storyline. Like the Rocky stories, the first one was very good, but went downhill. I suspect closure to this storyline will be very good just like the Rocky Balboa movie was a fantastic end to the Rocky series. Time to put Rambo: First Blood on the rental list so Sean can get familiar with that story before John Rambo comes out. Or maybe we should wait and do a double feature viewing like we did with Rocky?
If you are looking for a night of enjoyment, give Rocky Balboa a try. If you can, watch the original Rocky movie right before it too.
I, myself, loved the Rocky Balboa film. Very nicely done! Just imagine what Rocky would have done to that guy in his prime! Wiped the floor with him.
As far as Rambo goes, if it’s anything like Balboa it’s going to rock.
We watched First Blood again Wednesday evening… while we enjoyed it, the movie has not weathered the passing of time like Rocky… Still, anxious for John Rambo, but its only filming now, so gonna be a while… Will give Rocky 2 another view this weekend…