Stallone gets serious about aged Italian Stallion

"Rocky," an out-of-nowhere low-budget film that won the 1976 best-picture Academy Award, rocketed Stallone to stardom. Inspired by a title fight in which a hopelessly outclassed boxer hung in tenaciously with Muhammad Ali, Stallone wrote the screenplay and held steadfast against studio executives who wanted to cast a big-name actor as Rocky.

The first film had the already aging club fighter go the distance after earning an unlikely bout with the world heavyweight champion. "Rocky II" had him crowned champ in a rematch, while the following movies strained credibility as Rocky faced more preposterous opponents and circumstances.

Stallone thought he was done with the character after "Rocky V," in which the fighter loses his fortune, sets out to manage a young boxer and ends up in a bare-knuckle street brawl.

The movie left Stallone as unsatisfied as everyone else with Rocky's fate.

"It was caricaturish, broad acting. It just wasn't there, and I'll take responsibility for it," said Stallone, who wrote all six "Rocky" movies and directed four, including "Rocky Balboa." "It bothered me immensely, and people weren't shy about also vocalizing their disenchantment with the final effort.

"So it ate at me. I've had other films that haven't worked, but this really ate at me. I felt I'd let everyone down."

About seven years ago, when he was 52, Stallone got the idea of resurrecting Rocky one last time and giving him a better send-off. No one in Hollywood wanted it.

"The quotes were pretty vitriolic about the idea of making the film," Stallone said.

New management at MGM decided to bite and gave him the go-ahead last year, when Stallone was nearing 60.

Ready for a return
"Rocky Balboa" has the fighter initially hoping to return for some small exhibition matches. The notion strikes him after a computerized virtual match declares him the winner over current champ Mason "The Line" Dixon, played by real-life light heavyweight king Antonio Tarver.

Dixon's handlers talk him into an easy payday match against Rocky, who of course ends up in another rousing training montage that includes a reprise of his run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

What does Tarver think of Rocky's return to the ring?

"It would never happen," Tarver said. "I think 60 years is a bit over the hill when you look at real-life boxing. But that doesn't take away from Sylvester Stallone being a totally unusual 60 year old. When you look at his physique, his strength, the way he's kept his body up, the guy looks incredible. If I can only look that good when I'm 60, God bless me."

However audiences receive "Rocky Balboa," Stallone knows he has another tough sell ahead. Early next year, he's scheduled to start shooting a fourth "Rambo" movie.

Stallone said the "Rambo" sequel was in the works before he got financing for "Rocky Balboa" and that he's contractually obligated to do it now. His preference would be to separate the two with a different film — like the Edgar Allan Poe biopic he has written and plans to direct — so it doesn't look as though he's cashing in on past success twice in a row.

"I think I can make the best of it," Stallone said of "Rambo IV." "I think if I can find some heart and soul in that whole journey, it can be worth it, because it's an interesting character. It's a different character than they're doing today."

Stallone ultimately is pragmatic about why he's reviving Rocky and Rambo back to back.

"You give the people what they want," he said. "That may not be such a popular credo for artists to live by, but I found out the hard way, you give them what YOU want, they may not come."

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