BACK COVER SYNOPSIS: 30 years after the clang of the first bell, Rocky Balboa dons his gloves for the last time... and delivers "a knockout" (US Weekly)! Armed with a highly credible, heart-wrenching story, Sylvester Stallone leaps "back in the ring with a champ" (Rolling Stone): this "triumphant final chapter for one of the most iconic characters in the history of motion pictures" (Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times)! Since retiring, Rocky Balboa reminisces about his glory days for the locals at his Philly diner, Adrian's. But his quiet world is suddenly rocked when the current reigning champ (Antonio Tarver) - after losing to a virtual, in-his-prime Rocky in a computer-simulated match - challenges the "out-to-pasture" stallion to the real thing! Not one to back down, Rocky commits to the unthinkable: He agrees to the fight of his life... and pushes himself to the breaking point to go the distance one last time.

FILM REVIEW: The idea of “Rocky 6” when it was first floated seemed like the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. Sylvester Stallone just didn’t want to let go. He was too old; how could a character who would be portrayed at the age of 60 (or late fifties at the youngest) realistically go back in to the boxing ring? When you look at “Rocky Balboa”, you’ll come away still thinking that notion at least in terms of the final fight, but you have to give Stallone a lot of credit because somehow this film is the best Rocky film since the first one. He was obviously aware of the issues working against this unnecessary instalment and managed to create an almost believable scenario for Rocky to go back in to the ring one more time and make the film relevant, even over the previous sequels. The final fight will still leave you scratching your head at its believability, but everything else is spot on. This is the conclusion we didn’t get with “Rocky V”; it’s a straight-forward tale about courage and inspiration told through some very real, human characters, even if it’s a little corny at times. “Rocky Balboa” is a solid conclusion to the franchise and reminds you what made this whole saga so good in the first place.

The premise of getting Rocky back in the ring is based around a computer simulation between Rocky and the current heavyweight champion Mason Dixon, where Rocky turns out to be the winner. This ‘cartoon’ fight gets a lot of people curious, and Dixon’s managers are keen to improve their client’s reputation after a spate of bad matches in which Dixon has been accused of bringing the game in to disrepute. Rocky is hesitant, not wanting to be “all mangled and embarrassed” (something I thought of Stallone when he first suggested doing this film!). Eventually he agrees to do it if only to prove something to himself. With Adrian dead (a big change for the series) and his son feeling as if he can’t get out from under his father’s shadow, Rocky goes in to the fight to prove to himself that he’s still got what it takes, despite his age. What’s great about this premise is that it goes a long way to making the idea of sixth instalment believable (if not totally believable) and goes right back to what Rocky was all about.

There’s an authenticity to “Rocky Balboa” that hasn’t been present in the series since the first film. Rocky looks and behaves more raw, more vulnerable, more real. Maybe Stallone was humbled by a series of bad films, or by seeing his star wane over the years, but this is the first time in a long time that Stallone is right on target in both his direction and performance. Take the scene in the meat shed with Paulie (Burt Young – the only other original cast member that has survived to this instalment) where Rocky breaks down over the death of Adrian. It’s a very moving, down to Earth scene the likes of which you would have seen in the first film. Or even the scene between Rocky and his son where Rocky explains to him what life is all about; it’s a little corny in it’s dialogue but coming from Rocky it’s an inspiring piece of truth. Moments like these were traded in earlier sequels for music, one-liners and spectacle and it’s refreshing to see elements like these in a new Rocky film.

The final fight? Well, at the end of the day there’s a sixty-year old fighting a top of the line athlete in his twenties. Stallone throws everything but the kitchen sink in to the script to make the reason behind the fight believable (including an impressive work-out regimen to get himself back in to top shape) but at the end of the day the age difference is a bit hard to get past. As with the first film, Rocky doesn’t win the fight but Stallone cleverly makes it irrelevant for the character; it was just about getting up there and having another shot at it, and when he leaves the arena, he feels like a winner, if not on the scorecard. This is what Rocky was all about and as you recall, the first film in the series was about an ordinary man given a shot to do something extraordinary. Finally, the Rocky franchise has returned to its roots.

Despite it’s over-the-top premise of getting Rocky back in the ring at 60, “Rocky Balboa” is a solid, entertaining, and moving conclusion to the Rocky franchise.

TECHNICAL REVIEW: The video transfer is spot on, and I might add it’s the first excellent transfer for the entire Rocky series; not surprisingly really given it’s such a new film. There’s some film grain in the picture but that appears to be done intentionally on the filmmakers part rather than any issues with the transfer. The audio transfer is likewise excellent, offerring a true surround sound environment, particularly in the fight sequences and the uplifting Bill Conti score. Overall, an excellent transfer.

EXTRAS REVIEW: Of the entire series, this DVD arguably contains the best extras. In terms of quantity this collection is probably on par with the first Rocky DVD but they’re more interesting overall. We get an audio commentary from Stallone which is quite informative, giving a real insight in to how much this character means to him and how he personally identified with the underdog nature of the story (given he had to endure similar issues getting his film career going). There are a number of making-of featurettes including a direct making-of doco, a look at the filming of Rocky's final fight, a blooper reel, some deleted scenes, and an interesting alternate ending where Rocky actually wins the fight but was changed when Stallone felt it wasn't the right ending for Rocky (absolutely!). This is a solid collection of extras, but the making-of featurettes could have gone more in depth on the production. Overall, it's a decent collection.

BOTTOM LINE: Worth having in the collection.