Rocky Balboa (DVD, 2007)

"Rocky Balboa" is not only the best sequel since "Terminator 2" and the best movie of Writer-Director-Star Sylvester Stallone's career., it's one of the best American Films of It's Kind.
Massively entertaining and deeply heartfelt, it's a formula movie that rarely feels clichéd., thanks to Stallone's genuine love for his characters and his determination to end the series on a high note. After a decade Stallone uses "Rocky Balboa" to wipe clean the sour slate of artistic failure in the poor diminished decision called "Rocky V". (Winch As You Say It).
As "Rocky Balboa" begins, Rocky is living a comfortable dull life as a restauranteur., mourning the death of his beloved wife, Adrian. Desperate to prove "to himself" that he is still "a somebody", Rocky applies for a new boxing license and eventually ends up in the ring with the Current Heavyweight Champion of the World., as the result of a computer-simulation game that touts "Balboa In-His-Prime would beat the Current Heavyweight Champion".
The boxing story is fun, and Director/Star Stallone stages the final match with energy and style., but the movie's real heart is in the scenes leading up to the fight. After the nightmarish sequel "Rocky V", the Rocky franchise returns to its origins as a series that's more about behavior than action, and the scenes in which Balboa visits Adrain's grave is very moving.
Flashbacks and references to events from the earlier films mean a lot to fans of the series, as Stallone uses a kind of cinematic shorthand to quickly get to the heart of any given scene. He packs a surprising number of subplots and emotional high points into the film., and he's able to do this by building on what has happened in the previous films. He doesn't need to waste a lot of time on what Rocky has lost or where he has come from, because those of us who have seen the other movies can fill in the blanks.
Stallone and composer Bill Conti also skillfully appropriate musical themes from the original film to trigger an almost Pavlovian response in the viewer. (I defy any filmgoer over the age of 25 not to erupt into spontaneous applause when Conti's main theme leads into the inevitable training montage.)
Stallone explores all the things that matter to him as an aging legend: missed opportunities, lost and found loves, and the desire to give what he was born to do "One Last Big Shot"., Not for the Title., but for "Himself".
The film contains several significant relationships, from the expected sparring with brother-in-law Paulie (Burt Young), to a new romance and a sweet Father-Son connection, and in each of these storylines the dialogue is perfect and drives home hard.
Stallone's own strengths as an actor plays flawlessly — but perhaps the biggest shock of "Rocky Balboa" is the rich lead performance. Stallone is an exceptionally generous actor, allowing his superb supporting cast to shine along with him in dozens of truthful moments that are right up there with the best scenes in the original Oscar-Winning film that kicked off the series.
Reminiscent of another Actor-Turned-Director's Masterpiece, "Unforgiven"., "Rocky Balboa" is its author's meditation on getting older.
Paying homage to "The Underdog" - "Rocky Balboa" is "ALL-HEART"., a "Love-Letter" to us ALL, from Stallone/Rocky.
Boxing has long been a metaphor for life., "Life Hits Harder Than Anyman"., "NEVER STOP FIGHTING BACK" !! -- and Stallone pays Homage to us ALL.
Thank You Sly !! Thanks Rocky !!