Rocky Balbao - Could have been better

WildWaylon · Post by **WildWaylon** » 21 Feb 2007, 16:57

Rocky comes out of retirement (almost old enough to draw his pension) to fight the world champion for the title - I wont say more in case you are planning to see it - I would have preferred to see him training his son and setting up the fights for him in a film possibly called son of Rocky- To me this would have made the film far more believable and set the stage for son of Rocky 2 etc - Stallone with his huge ego would have likely seen this as a supporting role so instead he cast himself in the lead having Rocky doing the impossible - Fans of Rocky would have enjoyed seeing Rocky turn his son into a champion and it would have given someone else the chance of stardom as the son of the worlds most celebrated screen fighter Rocky Balbao - Not only my opinion but that of several friends also, but what do you think?

oliverfennell · Post by **oliverfennell** » 22 Feb 2007, 06:30

Disagree.

This was a fitting finale to the series. A strong finale is much better than setting up a whole new batch of sequels by introducing a boxing son.

Rocky Balboa could have been better in some regards, but as a story, I thought it was fine.

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 22 Feb 2007, 06:35

Looking at some of the trade press, a new movie featuring the son is in script development.

That's a long way from getting made, but they obviously still see milage in the franchise

Probably better suited to the small screen than general release given the lacklustre performance of the RB ( which I thought was a much better finale than the dreadful Rocky V )

Slapsie

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 22 Feb 2007, 06:36

It was too melodramatic. Too many speeches about the right to follow your dream, to much moping around. Was a bit embarrassing really. Probably the best one since part 2, but I'm no ROCKY fan.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 22 Feb 2007, 07:11

Aren't the makers/distributors chuffed with the Box Office sales, Slapsie?

Its done better than the Cinderella Man.

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 22 Feb 2007, 07:17

You are right

Actually, if has done a lot better than I thought

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rocky6.htm

Production budget of $24million + I would assume c$10 million for promotion and marketing

Worldwide take c$134 million

+ DVD and TV to come

I was just looking at US figures

There is, perhaps, Big screen life in the old man yet

Slapsie

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 22 Feb 2007, 07:47

what effect will boxing films have on boxing, I wonder? Reality TV is already making an impact, with Mora and Manfredo getting title shots, DLH-PBF having a 4 part show to get ppl interested in the fight, etc.

I hear there's a Micky Ward film being made. Wonder whether this will be starting a trend.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:05

Slapsie Maxie wrote:You are right

Actually, if has done a lot better than I thought

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=rocky6.htm

Production budget of $24million + I would assume c$10 million for promotion and marketing

Worldwide take c$134 million

+ DVD and TV to come

I was just looking at US figures

There is, perhaps, Big screen life in the old man yet

Slapsie

Not sure I quite understand all those figures (are they projected or actual current $$$£££). Is it likely to overtake Rocky II in the Box Office Charts globally?... If yes, then I think they would be delighted. I am sure one of the reasons it was made was so it would do better than 5, but I don't think they anticipated coming near the other sequels in terms of box offfice sales.

I think part of the reason why the press coverage of its box office success has been limited cause it never hit the #1 US film - it was up against some good competition. It was UK #1 for 2 weeks I think.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:09

viciousmaussa wrote:what effect will boxing films have on boxing, I wonder? Reality TV is already making an impact, with Mora and Manfredo getting title shots, DLH-PBF having a 4 part show to get ppl interested in the fight, etc.

I hear there's a Micky Ward film being made. Wonder whether this will be starting a trend.

Yeah, I believe Mark Wahlberg is playing him.

Slapsie Maxie · Post by **Slapsie Maxie** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:09

These are actual receipts

$70+ million US + $64 million worldwide

Shamefully ( using US figures only ) RIV is the highest rated

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises ... =rocky.htm

Very much a film of its time

Slapsie

WildWaylon · Post by **WildWaylon** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:22

oliverfennell · Post by **oliverfennell** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:29

I am sure one of the reasons it was made was so it would do better than 5

Stallone wanted to do it so it would ARTISTICALLY better than 5. I don't know what the takings were like for 5, but typically studios keep making sequels for as long as they keep making money. Stallone couldn't get anybody to commit to a sixth for a very long time and (I think) he stumped up cash himself and/or took a pay cut for his own efforts. It was essentially a personal project for Stallone.

Mimmy · Post by **Mimmy** » 22 Feb 2007, 09:59

wildwaylon wrote:Rocky comes out of retirement (almost old enough to draw his pension) to fight the world champion for the title - I wont say more in case you are planning to see it - I would have preferred to see him training his son and setting up the fights for him in a film possibly called son of Rocky- To me this would have made the film far more believable and set the stage for son of Rocky 2 etc - Stallone with his huge ego would have likely seen this as a supporting role so instead he cast himself in the lead having Rocky doing the impossible - Fans of Rocky would have enjoyed seeing Rocky turn his son into a champion and it would have given someone else the chance of stardom as the son of the worlds most celebrated screen fighter Rocky Balbao - Not only my opinion but that of several friends also, but what do you think?

spoiler

OK here is my 2 pence worth.

Rocky Balboa came out of retirement to fight small hall bouts, he didn't want a title shot or any big fights, Rocky knew his limitations. Rocky had to retire 15 years previous because of medical reports, he passed medical examinations 15 years on and wanted to fight, he still had that fire in his heart.

The current world champion (mason dixon) was going through a bad patch of PR, as today there are no worth while heavyweights out there that are going to get the paying public on seats.

Rocky got his chance to fight in an exhibition, which was a believable plot in the story. As Rocky is Rocky he didnt want to get beat up and embarrassed so he took the fight seriously. All the training was believeable, i guess all boxers get the ailments rocky had through the years of boxing.

The world champ obviously thought that he didnt need to train too hard as it was an exhibition, but he was wrong. In the fight Dixon broke his hand early on so that gave Rocky an advantage. He lost the fight on a split decision but went the distance and didnt get beaten up. He walked away from boxing getting his final hoorar.

It was a beleivealbe movie, Big George got his chance, and he became world champion again against a good fighter.

The movie was very good in my opinion and closed the chapter on a great boxing series. Lets face it the Rocky movies are the best known and no matter what you think it took over $100million at the box office, the movie cost around $20 million to make.

Stallone could have made Rocky win and get another movie out of it, but this was more realistic in lots of ways.

oliverfennell · Post by **oliverfennell** » 22 Feb 2007, 13:40

Mimmy, please edit your post because many people won't have seen the film and not knowing the result is a big part of the appeal.

Rocky Balbao - Could have been better

Rocky Balbao - Could have been better

Re: Rocky Balbao - Could have been better (spoiler )