Rocky Balboa (Rocky VI) plot driven by video game [update1]
by Blake Snow 
{ Jul 13th 2006 at 12:30PM }
Rocky comes out of retirement (again) to go in the ring against reigning champion Mason "The Line" Dixon. The difference this time, is that a "computer fight" (read: video game) was the catalyst in making the Rock re-think his boxing resignation.
Rocky VI? And gamers think we have "sequelitis."
Watch - YouTube trailer
Read - Rocky Balboa (IMDb)
[update1: corrected spelling]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
cringer8 @ Jul 13th 2006 12:37PM
Is Rocky Balboa going to fight in the geriatric division?
Or only fight in Virtual Reality?
JagerQ @ Jul 13th 2006 12:37PM
Now all they need is to have it sponsored by Burger King.
cringer8 @ Jul 13th 2006 12:42PM
Nevermind...I watched the trailer...oh my God...that looks horrible...so many cliches.
Stalone should have stopped at Rocky IV.
Dracula Jones @ Jul 13th 2006 12:45PM
If only Soda Popinski could be similarly coaxed out of retirement.
Seifer @ Jul 13th 2006 12:53PM
.....you have GOT to be kidding me.
martinj88 @ Jul 13th 2006 12:54PM
they should of got Mr T back.....o well theres allways Rocky VII
Ru @ Jul 13th 2006 12:55PM
It sure beats being served by a robot maid. That was in Rocky V, I think.
Scott @ Jul 13th 2006 1:03PM
Kind of makes me think we are getting closer to this poster on the wall in Airplane II
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b252/dfwgator/wallpaper_airplane2_1024x768.jpg
Probot @ Jul 13th 2006 1:08PM
$50 says Rocky dies at the end of the movie. For the same reason Harry Potter is gonna die at the end of the last book. It's better to burn out than fade away.
Jason W @ Jul 13th 2006 1:12PM
Rocky was going to die at the end of IV. The script Stallone wrote had Rocky having a brain fart at the end and killing over after he beat down Tommy. I think It would be good to add that back in since they already killed Adrien off.
I like Stallone so I will go see it, but then again I liked 5 because he was poor again. The best was 3.
bv @ Jul 13th 2006 1:12PM
Would have been great if Rocky gave up boxing to study Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Shoot Wrestling. He's scouted by Dana White and gets his first match in the UFC on Ultimate Fight Night 6 where he battles against Josh Haynes for a chance at competing in a Pay Per View event. After his victory by knee bar, Rocky enters the octagon for the heavyweight title at UFC 63 where he faces Tim Sylvia in a 5 round battle of the bulk. Unfortunately he loses by Disqualification for being incredibly boring. Rocky, overcome with failure, peddles narcotics in a street alley in Downtown San Francisco with pet capuchin monkey renaldo. Rocky is sad, but the audience is happy because the movie lasts only 25 minutes long.
Markster @ Jul 13th 2006 1:15PM
Sorry, but I have to do this.....
*puts on a beret labelled "Spelling Nazi"*
It's "sequelitis"
the deaf guy @ Jul 13th 2006 1:50PM
oh crap the spelling nazi time to get the hell out of here. but yea rocky movies should have ended after giving that russian dude a pounding.
also no mentioning the burger king guy seriously he gives me the creeps.
scott @ Jul 13th 2006 1:51PM
I wonder if they show Stallone in a basement playing a FPS like BF2 for his next franchise movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/
Spencer @ Jul 13th 2006 2:29PM
Just six more movies until he buys the neighborhood deli.
"Fat and weak, what a disgrace!
Guess the champ got too lazy.
Ain't gonna fly now, he's just takin' up space.
Sold his gloves, through his eggs down the drain.
But he's no bum, he works down the street.
He bought the neighborhood deli.
Back on his feet, now he's choppin' up meat.
Come inside, maybe you'll hear him say...
'It's the rye or the kaiser, it's the thrill of one bite.
Let me please be your catering advisor.
If you want substitutions I won't put up a fight,
you can have your roast beef on the rye......or the kaiser.'"
-Weird Al Yankovic, The Rye or the Kaiser (Theme from Rocky XIII)
James @ Jul 13th 2006 2:42PM
Now you guys are bashing the premise of the movie (the commenters, not Blake, who's just allergic to sequels), but it really is a very realistic premise.
Why did Sugar Ray Lenord come out of retirement so many times? His reasoning was that sports magazines kept on "simulating" fights between him and current fighters, saying that he would win/lose, and he wanted to see if he still could do it.
George Foreman attempted a comeback because of sports television constant comparison to boxers of this era to the boxers of his generation and prior. Foreman believed that he could prove his era was superior to the current one.
And its the same story for several modern boxers.
What's scary is that the writers behind this movie is appearently in touch with "Modern Times."
That said, Sylvester Stalone is still a horrible actor, unless he's being stalked in the wilderness carrying nothing but a giant hunting knife.
MetaHuman @ Jul 13th 2006 3:38PM
The concept is similar to EA using Madden to predict the Superbowl, using 'authentic' strategies and 'authentic' statistics from when he WAS champ.
Who's to say that there isn't a legitimate scientific corporation doing the same things?
Also, RAMBO IV is actually the codename for the Hollywood adaptation of Metal Gear Solid 4. :P
We still love you Rock!
Probot @ Jul 13th 2006 4:08PM
"Also, RAMBO IV is actually the codename for the Hollywood adaptation of Metal Gear Solid 4. :P"
Maybe that's a joke I don't get, but I do know Stallone is working on Rambo IV. It won't be based in the jungle though. It'll be more like the first movie focused on the retired soldier.
I only recently found out that Stallone wrote and direced both Rambo and Rocky movie series. He's not the best actor, but the first two Rocky movies were classic.
MetaHuman @ Jul 13th 2006 5:50PM
@ PROBOT
Yeah, I was joking. The fact that both Rocky and Snake are old in the upcoming sequels though. :D
But yeah, while I think I and II are truly classic, I also like IV, V, and III to some extent(in that order).
Rambo IV is being made is about him leading a rescue mission, so I've heard. So I guess I would say on the subject someone said about "basing Rambo IV because of playing a combat videogame" is that while HE might not be a gamer, the joke might be that those that will make up his team(story still speculatory) probably have.
Movies that deal with 'old sk00l' vs. the cocky young'uns tend to do that, like Space Cowboys, where Tommy Lee Jones lands the near-impossible simulation withOUT the computers which the modern astronauts rely on.
Yeah, his age is an issue, but Rocky is about going the distance, not winning or losing (I already know the result). It's going to parallel I&II in many ways, with the addition of new elements to the story, like age (which is why he did it in the first place).
I admire the first movie A LOT. Stallone wrote the film himself and it took 30-some days to film and less than a million to make. Rocky VI is doing the same thing developmentally, so I hope it's at least as half as good commercially and at least as 80% as good as Rocky I&II have been.
KR @ Jul 13th 2006 8:55PM
I don't care what anyone says - this movie looks good. Hopefully the movie lives up to the trailer. And it's not like the result of the simulation is the end-all, be-all reason for the fight. Jeezus.
Jason W - he was not supposed to die at the end of 4. He was supposed to die at the end of 5. If you check around online you can find a Gene Siskel article about the original ending for part 5 where he dies.
Killer Instinct @ Jul 13th 2006 9:29PM
is this the longest gap for a movie sequel (with original actors)? sure seems so :p
Probot @ Jul 13th 2006 10:54PM
#21
Obviously I can't take a joke, so I spent half an hour looking this up.
Rocky V was made in 1990, so it'll be a 17 year gap when Rocky Balboa comes out.
If you're just counting the gap between sequel and original, "Return to Oz" appearently holds the record. The original "Wizard of Oz" was made in 1939, and the sequal was made in 1985, which is a 46 year gap.
www.guinnessworldrecords.com/content_pages/record.asp?recordid=50608
But if you want some of the original cast in the sequal as well, I could only find a couple, only one American pair though. "The Last Picture Show" (1971) and it's sequel "Texasville" (1990) are 19 years apart and share some of the same cast.
Last Picture Show: www.imdb.com/title/tt0067328/
Texasville: www.imdb.com/title/tt0103069/
The longest gap I could find with the orignal cast was a pair of French films "Un homme et une femme" (1966) and "Un homme et une femme, 20 ans déjà" (1986).
Un homme et une femme: www.imdb.com/title/tt0061138/
Un homme et une femme, 20 ans déjà: www.imdb.com/title/tt0092130/
There's also a thread talking about a similar subject, but it brings up animated movies and documentaries.
www.ask.metafilter.com/mefi/33216
mark @ Aug 2nd 2006 7:42PM
Listen, you kids on here, need to understand something. This movie is about never letting anything come in the way of your dreams. It speaks to many of us! Sorry if you young children, cant appreciate the art of getting older, and not doing so gracefully, but kicking the living crap out of it, until its over. Rocky stands for everything that should be positive in todays society. All of these crappy movies coming out are so far fetched, its not even funny.