Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.
On the ropes with this one.
FUN FACT: During pre-production, as the filmmakers tried to find a good location to shoot the fight, they met with constant obstacles - every suitable arena was booked out. Sylvester Stallone knew that HBO had an upcoming PPV event with Bernard Hopkins taking on Jermaine Taylor in the main event, at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Stallone suggested that the film could piggyback the real event, using the real HBO format, the real crowd, even the real press conference setup. As such, the press conference scene was shot only moments after the real press conference with Hopkins and Taylor, whilst the scene when Rocky walks through the curtain and down to the ring was shot using the real Hopkins/Taylor crowd. Stallone was hoping that the crowd wouldn't boo or cause any problems, but as he made his way to the ring (as Rocky), the whole building gave him a standing ovation and began to chant 'ROCKY, ROCKY'. The crowd was never told to stand up or to chant - they had done it completely on their own, and according to the filmmakers, by far the biggest cheer of the night was for Rocky, not for any of the real fighters.
Rocky Balboa
Director
Sylvester Stallone
Film Rating
PG
Cast
Sylvester Stallone, Burt Young, Tony Burton, Talia Shire Milo Ventimiglia, Antonio Tarver, Geraldine Hughes
Year
2006
Run Time
1h 42min
