Rocky completes a full circle

The saga of Rocky has come a full circle, bringing a proper conclusion to a series of movies that delivered powerhouse performances, sequel after sequel. The story of the underdog boxer rising to dizzying heights, biting the dust and resurrecting himself all over again was truly the stuff of dreams. To me, it meant a lot more than just another movie series. In fact, Rocky was phenomenal in several aspects. At a time when sequels were looked down upon, it was Rocky that set the path for the others to follow, and how! Each sequel had something new to offer and were not merely an exercise in squeezing out more money out of a successful franchise.

Penned and directed by Sylvester Stallone, the movie was what gave the struggling Sly a firm toe-hold in the movie industry. Though the producers were initially skeptical of casting Stallone in the lead, the man with the slurred accent and a cerebral palsy induced sneer delivered a phenomenal performance in Rocky, which was termed a 'sleeper hit' on account of the low investment and phenomenal returns that it earned. The accompanying music scores too were very popular and had the original theme by Bill Conti recurring in all the subsequent Rocky movies with the exception of Rocky IV.
If one looks back, none of the Rocky movies really have any elaborate story or plotlines, yet what made them the success that they were was the fact that people could relate to every aspect of the movie.

Even though Rocky lost the fight against his opponent Apollo Creed in the first Rocky, he had made his mark. A rank nobody went the distance against an established champion and earned the love and respect of his fans. Rocky II saw him fighting a rematch against Apollo and winning it in the last round. Rocky III sees him getting complacent and lax and he pays the price for it, by going down against an aggressive boxer, Clubber Lang. I was almost in tears when I realized that Rocky went down and out. The resurrection of Rocky with the help of his new found friend Apollo Creed, combined with the excellent soundtrack 'Eye of the tiger' by Survivor, made for a superb movie. I'm sure that the movie has motivated a lot of people to overcome their obstacles and fight their inner demons. I'm one of them. I listen to 'Eye of the tiger' every time I feel down and it peps me right up. Rocky IV was about avenging the death of Apollo at the hands of a burly Russian fighting machine, Ivan Drago. The montage in which Rocky trains in the cold and frozen wastelands of Russia was in total contrast to everything that he had done till then, and it too was brilliant. Stallone even jokingly claimed credit for bringing the cold-war to an end with Rocky's line "If I can change and you can change, everybody can change!!".The soundtrack 'No easy way out' too was bang on target.

The storyline of Rocky V was surprising dull and lacklustre and die-hard Rocky fans felt let down with the way Rocky chose to make his final exit. Apparently Stallone too was not happy with it and so he came back, one final time with Rocky Balboa.

Initially I had my doubts as to how good the movie would be, given the fact that Stallone has aged considerably, but all those doubts were firmly laid to rest by the movie, in which Rocky comes back against all odds, trains hard, concentrating on building mass, as speed is not something that he can hope to improve upon, given his age and reduced reflexes. He delivered another powerhouse performance and the movie is considered to be the most authentic boxing movie of all time. In a salute to the first Rocky, Stallone aka Rocky Balboa goes down to the current heavyweight champion, Mason 'the-line' Dixon, in a split decision, after going the distance all over again. Though he lost the fight, he won hearts right, left and center. He proves that anybody can achieve anything, as long as the desire to perform and excel is present. If a guy can come out of retirement, get the heart and the guts to take on the reigning champion in a boxing ring and perform as well as he did, it just means that there is no such thing as 'Impossible'. This movie gave the saga of Rocky the most suitable conclusion possible.