Poor Rocky. Adrian's dead and all he's got left is a restaurant full of customers who want to hear about Apollo Creed and Clubber Lang. Rocky Balboa is Sylvester Stallone's final take on the champ, giving him one last chance to prove his value, in the ring and metaphorically in life. It wasn't always that deep. Stallone began with a more cookie cutter idea.
Interview: Sylvester Stallone on Rocky Balboa
"I was using the George Foreman format which would be this," Stallone explained. "He had a youth center in Houston. It was going broke. Rocky has a youth center in Philly. It’s going broke. He goes to the bank for a loan. Adrian is still alive. The bank says no. He goes to church for a loan. Nothing. Goes to a pawn shop. Nothing. So he goes, 'You know, I want to go out and do some clubs fights and get the money so I can pay the rent, like George.' And one thing led to another, until finally he’s had 18, 19 of these and people are saying, ‘Wow you should continue this,’ and it becomes commercial like guys like Don King which is what happened with George Foreman. You’ve now become a commercial commodity that he can really sell, and that’s what happened with George Foreman."
Imagine Rocky and a bunch of precocious kids. Thank God he ditched that idea, even if it cost him Adrian. "All Adrian did during the film was, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t do that. Don’t do that.’ We’ve seen that. I went ‘oy.’ So the movie’s about trying to save the gym and the kids. It’s wasn’t really about any kind of visceral emotional journey. It wasn’t about just dealing with life. This is all about plot and a simple subject of the gym. Rocky I was about confusion, loneliness, brotherhood, self-awareness. It was just those subjects, and at the very end finally not even caring about the victory. It was about the love of Adrian. That’s what it was all about. It’s called the ‘Adrian factor.’ So I said, ‘What I am going to do? You have to pull a man’s heart out and take away the thing he loves the most in the world.’ Take it out of his life and he now plummets into the depths of despair. There’s nothing more traumatic than taking Adrian out of his life."
Rocky Balboa
Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire was on board to reprise her role until Stallone called. "I had to call Talia who I had been talking to about the other script, and said, ‘I worked out the plot. It finally works.’ She goes, ‘Oh that’s so great. What’s my part?’ I said, ‘Dead. Your part is dead. You’re dead.’ She says, ‘No, seriously,’ I said, ‘Seriously, it opens up, I’m on a folding chair, you know, looking at your tombstone.’ She goes, ‘Oh come on.’ I go, ‘Yeah, but I bring roses.’ It’s a true story. I talked to her the other day. And she finally got it. She was very cerebral. She goes, ‘Oh I get it. It’s the journey through Sisyphus and down the river Styx.’ I said, ‘Okay that’s close enough.’ That’s exactly what it is. It’s Dante’s Inferno, down the river Styx, okay. She’s great."
All of the Rocky movies have been about Stallone's personal issues, so Rocky Balboa is no exception. "Like in Rocky III when he’s afraid to fight because of fear, because once you acquire everything you’ve ever wanted, now you don’t want to lose it. So that was what that was all about, overcoming fear and then when Mickey died you lose your foundation, it was like now you’re facing the world unprepared. When I was younger I had no idea what an older person goes through, and even though I don’t feel that mature I look at the numbers and I am. So I go, ha, I guess maybe I’m not that different from other people, so other seniors, if you want to say mature adults, also have that feeling like 'God, at the very end I want to feel as though I’ve gotten my most enjoyment out of this life, like I want to try all things I’ve never tried, and quite often that doesn’t happen, but the dream is to do that, to be fulfilled and at the very end.' And I think that kind of sense of peace is what I was fighting for in this film."
Rocky Balboa opens to theatres this Wednesday, December 20th.
For trailers, clips, images, more interviews, synopsis and more movie info, go to the Rocky Balboa Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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