Rocky Balboa

It's been 16 years between Rocky V and what now promises to be the final screen chapter in the inspirational fictional boxer's saga. We don't know why it took so long, but star/director/writer Sylvester Stallone has gone right back to the formula that made the Oscar winning first Rocky such a winner in 1976. By doing so, he has created another knockout—the surprise of the season—and a movie with so much heart it will remind you of everything you liked about the original. In fact, Rocky Balboa will have you cheering all over again. Exactly 30 years from the landmark fight film that has spawned so many imitators, Stallone has miraculously managed to make his alter ego an underdog again, and in doing so, pushes all the buttons from recreating that memorable run up those Philly steps, to the training montage, to the iconic theme music by Bill Conti. Stallone clearly knows this character and it fits him like a glove. The premise this time finds Rocky mourning the death of his wife Adrian and recounting stories of his glory days for customers at his local restaurant when a segment on ESPN shows Balboa winning in a computerized matchup between the Rocky of old and current heavyweight champ, Mason "The Line" Dixon (real-life middleweight champ Antonio Tarver). When Tarver's managers decide a real exhibition bout with Rocky could win back fans for their unpopular boxing star, they convince him, against his will, to get back in the ring against this opponent nearly half his age (shades of George Foreman). With Paulie (returning cast member Burt Young) and his grown son (Milo Ventimiglia) in his corner, the climactic fight is expertly filmed and grittier than any of Stallone's previous bouts. The series stumbled with Rocky IV and V but Balboa is back and, if this is truly the finale, he's going out like a champ.