FAQ for
Rocky Balboa (2006)

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. It is assumed that no one who is diligently avoiding spoilers will be visiting this page in the first place.

"When Rocky was diagnosed with brain damage, it must be noted that many athletes have a form of brain damage including football players, soccer players, and other individuals in contact sports such as rugby, etc. Rocky never went for a second opinion and yielded to his wife's wishes to stop. So with the advent of new research techniques into brain damage, Rocky was found to be normal among fighters, and he was suffering the results of a severe concussion. By today's standards Rocky Balboa would be given a clean bill of health for fighters." Sylvester Stallone, 2006 (aintitcoolnews.com interview), available at http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30861.

No. It is quite apparent that Rocky V is still a part of the story. If Rocky V is ignored then in Rocky Balboa where is Rocky's mansion? and where is his fancy car from Rocky III + IV? Why is Rocky dressed like what he would call a "bum"? Why does he drive a van? Rocky is declared bankrupt in Rocky V...he loses his mansion, his nice car, his robot and his motorcycle, which is why none of these appear in Rocky Balboa.

In this film, there are at least four references to "Rocky V." First, Balboa is back in his old neighbourhood, living in the same house as his family did in the last instalment. Second, one story he tells, he states he heard Mickey's (his dead trainer) voice in his head. This can be a reference to Balboa's fight with Tommy Gunn at the end of "Rocky V." Third, he states to his son "home team," a term originating in the fifth film. Fourth, before the fight, Balboa and son joke around and Balboa says to be careful, as he is brittle. This is a reference to the end of "Rocky V" when the two are doing the same thing, and Balboa says he is "getting brittle as it is."

A reason there are not more references to Rocky V in Rocky Balboa is simple: the events of Rocky V are painful memories for Rocky, he wouldn't talk about a street fight with his apprentice who betrayed him as if it was a victory and a proud moment for Rocky because it wasn't and it would have hurt Rocky emotionally and it's something he wouldn't like to talk about. Also Adrian's illness will have overshadowed those events anyway.

So Rocky V is still part of the series but its events other than the bankruptcy aren't totally relevant to the events of the new film.

Rocky's probably 58-59, but I don't know if the writers realized this.

Balboa's age is never actually stated in this film. It is mentioned that he is in his 50's, but nothing more than that is said. Stallone was 59 while filming Rocky Balboa and was 60 years old by the time of its release.

This question is difficult to answer primarily because the age of the fighter is lost in the timeline of the sequels. For example, Rocky is 30 in the original film and the year is 1976, and even though Rocky II was released 3 years later in 1979, the film takes up exactly where the original left off in 1976 so the character hasn't even aged an entire year when the rematch takes place. This happens again from Rocky III to Rocky IV and from Rocky IV to Rocky V. Even though the films are several years apart, the timeline (and age of the character) picks up exactly where the previous film left off. Because time is frozen at points from sequel to sequel, the character hasn't aged as much as the actor, so it's hard to know exactly how old he is.

In Rocky III, however, a newscaster explicitly states that Rocky is 34 when Rocky, Adrian, Apollo, and Paulie are watching a TV interview with Clubber Lang about the upcoming rematch. We know for a fact that this happened in 1981 because that's stated on Mickey's coffin two or three scenes earlier. Thus, Rocky must have been 55 at the time of Adrian's death 21 years later in 2002. Considering that Rocky Balboa takes place "a few years" after Adrian's death, Rocky is probably somewhere between 57 and 59 years of age, depending on whether the movie actually takes place when it was released in 2006. If Rocky Balboa does take place in 2006, then Rocky must be 58-59 years old, depending on when his birthday is.

No wonder the boxing commission is reluctant to give Rocky that discretionary license! As Mason Dixon says to him before the final round of the fight: "You are one crazy old man!"

Not the case. Adrian was in the first few drafts of what was then titled "Rocky VI." However, Stallone felt that the film did not have the necessary emotional impact it needed. So, he and Talia Shire came into agreement, while not initially, that her character would best be left out of "Rocky Balboa", using in her place the impact of her death. Shire made a public statement later that this was obviously the best thing for the movie.

Paulie states in the original "Rocky" that Adrian was "pushing thirty," not actually thirty years old.

Those turtles are Cuff and Link, the same turtles Balboa owned in the original "Rocky" and the basis for the bad joke which Balboa first told to Adrian.

Spider Rico was the first on-screen opponent of Balboa in the Rocky saga who Balboa knocks out in the second round. Rico returns in "Rocky Balboa," older, wiser, and with significantly more screen time and lines.

Lil' Marie was the girl Balboa walks home in the original "Rocky" warning her that if she does not stop hanging around with the crowd that she is, she will end up a "whore." She responds with "Screw you, creepo." It is worth noting here that the character originally had a role in "Rocky V" which was cut in post-production. This scene was to show that "Lil' Marie" actually entered prostitution. She still appears in Rocky V during the street fight scene at the end however she is not acknowledged as being "Lil' Marie". For more info see http://imdb.com/title/tt0100507/board/thread/67680775

Jodi Letizi played the role in "Rocky" and "Rocky V." Geraldine Hughes is Marie in "Rocky Balboa."

Mason "The Line" Dixon references the Mason-Dixon line, a geographical division line that forms the borders between Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland.

No, they are two different trainers. The man that Dixon talks to in the gym is his old trainer from before he became a title contender.

That is Duke, the former trainer of Apollo Creed in "Rocky," and "Rocky II," and trainer for Rocky Balboa in "Rocky III", IV, and the begining of V.

Yes, your math is correct. You caught what was likely a mistake by Stallone. Balboa never did like numbers. That is why he states to Robert "erase them all." Another mistake Stallone made is by saying Rocky is 57-23-1 with 54 knockouts, when, as stated before, in the first movie it is said he was 44-20 with 38 knockouts.

There ain't gonna be no rematch. This is a joke from "The Simpsons."

Yes, and if you noticed this you are quite observant. James Binns is the name of the actor and he also played Rocky's lawyer in Rocky V http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0083083/

It's kind of ironic that in Rocky V he told Rocky he needed just a few more fights to get his money back, and in Rocky Balboa he presented the committee's initial denial of that discretionary license.

Mason "The Line" Dixon wins in a split decision, meaning that 2 judges scored him the victor while one scored Rocky the victor. It is considered a win for Mason Dixon. Since the match was an exhibition a win for Balboa would not have resulted in a title change anyway.

However, the alternate ending on the DVD special features shows Rocky winning the match, and the announcer refers to him as "Philadephia's Heavyweight Champ", which is a possible play on "The People's Champion". Almost every scene afterwards was the same as the theatrical release, except for added footage of Dixon telling an interviewer what a good match it was, and that he learned about heart and determination.

Who knows? He is not mentioned in Rocky Balboa, we hear GW Duke say "If you lose you're finished!" to Tommy during the Street Fight, as we all know Tommy lost. GW Duke probably just washed his hands off Tommy after this...and without Rocky's training Gunn probably lost the title soon after and then just fizzled out into a nobody.

No. The Rocky franchise is over.