Rocky Balboa aka “The Itallian Stallion” Rides Again
Do I hear true that Rocky Balboa is returning just in time for Christmas? The Italian Stallion rides again? That’s great news! I just can’t get enough of the feel-good struggles that Rocky Balboa has gone through - in and out of the Boxing ring.
It’s been a great run, but few remember that the original Rocky won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Sylvester Stallone a nomination for Best Actor. The American Film Institute placed Rocky at number 78 of its "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" list, and #4 at AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Cheers. Not too shabby!
The Academy Awards next year will have their Hollywood insiders, and movie critics explain why Rocky Balboa is so beloved to movie audiences throughout the world, yet they will probably be voting for some little anti-American documentary. The point they miss is that Rocky is all about the wonderful opportunities in America, and that’s actually what makes the movie audiences coming back for more.
In many ways, Rocky Balboa is every man, woman or child who has ever risen up in the face of adversity, to beat the odds. Rocky’s big speech in the first Rocky movie said it all…
"It really don’t matter if I lose this fight. It really don’t matter if this guy opens my head either, ’cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody’s ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I’m still standin’, I’m gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren’t just another bum from the neighborhood."
At the end of the first fight, Rocky proved himself as a boxer and a man to all those who had doubted him before, including both his trainer, Mickey, the crowd, and most of all himself. True to his word about what his goal for the fight was, he shows no concern at all for the judges’ final decision. As reporters try to interview Rocky, he seeks only to find and hold Adrian, his girlfriend and soon-to-be wife. Adrian finally fights her way through the crowd, into the ring and, as Apollo Creed is being announced the winner by split decision, Rocky takes her in his arms as the two exchange, "I love you’s." No wonder Rocky Balboa has appealed to women, as well as men, for these many years.
Rocky became the role model for millions in that first movie, having demonstrated that one seemingly insignificant man can stand in the face of overwhelming odds, and in doing so, show himself to be a true champion. Pure Hollywood - I love that Rocky Balboa!!
Rocky Balboa has been a retired boxer for many years now, and the buzz on the next movie is that Rocky is lonely and restless in Philadelphia. The former heavyweight champion is approached to fight a match with the reigning heavyweight champion of boxing - Mason ‘The Line’ Dixon. Soon Rocky’s comeback ignites a drive-by media firestorm. Theme sound familiar? I’ll bet they didn’t think of casting George Foreman, but that would have been great.
Some may say that Sylvester Stallone is just trying to squeeze a little more juice from the Rocky movie franchise - that he hasn’t has a box office hit in years and this is merely a futile attempt at regaining his faded star status. Well I hope those people shut up and let me go to see Rocky Balboa in peace. I’m sure whatever happens, if Stallone stays true to the Rocky movie formula, we will have another feel-good movie this Christmas season. What’s wrong with that?
Hey, when do those Rocky Balboa tickets go on sale? Hey, I wrote this without once using the word ‘knockout’ to describe anything! There’s hope for us all.
Tags: Celebrities, Movie Stars, Movies
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