Thursday, Dec. 21, 2006 | 7:23 a.m.
Playing at Brenden Theatres Las Vegas 14, Century Cinedome 12 Henderson, Century Sam's Town, Century 16 Santa Fe Station, Century 16 South Point, Galaxy Cannery, Galaxy Neonopolis, Las Vegas Drive-In, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Red Rock 16, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18, UA Rainbow Promenade 10, UA Showcase 8
It was just about a year ago when I sneaked into Mandalay Bay for the filming of the climactic fight scenes for "Rocky Balboa."
I was sitting above the movie press section, acting like I belonged - this is what happens sometimes when you wear a tie; people let you into places you are not supposed to be.
I was thoroughly enjoying myself, watching the makeup department make up and the set designers design and the gaffers well, whatever it is that gaffers do, when a woman approached.
Because I was not making up or designing sets or gaffing and did not have permission, much less the express written consent of Major League Baseball, to be there, I thought she was going to run me right past where Burt "Paulie" Young was scarfing down a glazed doughnut and out the back door I came in.
Instead, she wanted to know if I knew how long it would take to get to the airport. Then we started chatting about the movie and how this one was going to take Rocky back to his roots. And that if I remembered and/or enjoyed the 1976 Academy Award-winning movie that started it all, I was going to like the final (she promised, crossing her heart and swearing on a stack of Ring magazines) sequel almost as much.
She wasn't wearing a tie, so for all I know, she could have sneaked in the same back door that I did.
But she was right.
I liked the movie.
Having sat through Rockys II, III, IV and having endured much of V between commercials on TNT on nights my phone didn't ring or the dogs weren't barking to go outside, that's something I really didn't expect.
I am quite certain that Sylvester Stallone will now let The (original) Rock retire in peace, to take his rightful spot among the six men who have played James Bond and the five men who have played Batman, and the 112 men who have played Tarzan (150 if you count the Norwegian ape men) as one of the most endearing - and enduring - characters in motion picture history.
Come to think of it, one of the neat things about the Rocky series is that your Rocky and your dad's Rocky is the same guy. That sure as heck beats arguing whether Ted Williams was a better hitter than Barry Bonds, at least at the dinner table.
But if Stallone and the movie company want to make one last ton of bucks on the Italian Stallion, here's what I would suggest: Take that boxed set of DVDs and toss the last four in the big bin of forgettable movies blocking the entry to the entertainment aisle at Wal-Mart. Then add "Rocky Balboa" to the original, put the bookend movies into a collector's tin or alternative fancy box and sell it for $34.95 next Christmas. Two good rounds out of a six-rounder.
If, however, you follow my recommendation and frequent a theater near you to see it, this is "Rocky Balboa" in a nutshell:
He is wearing his porkpie hat and shuffling around the rough side/sides of Philadelphia and appears to be down on his luck again, although his restaurant, named for his wife, Adrian, seems to be doing brisk business.
But yo, Adrian died several years ago, Rocky's relationship with his grown son is typical (which is to say, not very good) and Paulie is still a pain in the butt. Although The Rock is still too distraught over Adrian's passing to find another girl, he does anyway - only it's the same kid from the neighborhood who told him to "screw off" in 1976 when Cuff and Link were tiny turtles, instead of the big ol' Galapagos kind.
Oh yeah, there's also a new dog because if there weren't, Butkus would be 30 years old, which is 210 in dog years, and although movies about overmatched underdogs live that long, plain old dogs don't.
While cleaning his emotional house, Rocky realizes there's still "somethin' in the basement." And when ESPN concocts one of those "What if?" computer simulations in which he whacks out Mason "The Line" Dixon (ex-light heavyweight champ Antonio Tarver), the current heavyweight champ who has fallen out of favor with the public because he's too much like Larry Holmes, it leads to a 10-round "exhibition" at Mandalay Bay.
Which is where I walked in last December.
By treating myself to a sneak preview of sorts, I missed the requisite training montage and musical director Bill Conti's soaring trump fanfare.
They're back, of course, as are most of the trappings of the original "Rocky" - even the tattered gray hoodie, the raw-egg cocktail and Spider Rico (played by Pedro Lovell, a real journeyman pug), who when last seen 30 years ago was head-butting The Rock, thereby prolonging his career in a roundabout way.
The woman in the theater who was sitting on the edge of her seat and cheering as if she were watching a real pay-per-view fight would like to thank him for that.
And it's not just because those fight scenes shot at Mandalay Bay looked great.
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