Footage from the December 13, 2006 Hollywood, California premiere of “Rocky Balboa” shows the Rocky family back together again for the world premiere of the sixth installment in the franchise.
Stars Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Milo Ventimiglia and Dolph Lundgren are shown here, as are old friends Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone as they walk the red carpet.
“Boxing is a sport, it’s like a blue collar sport where you have a chance to make it from the street, from nothing, and become rich and famous which I guess is the American dream,” Rocky IV star Dolph Lundgren explains while pausing for a chat. Dolph also goes on to mention that the original Rocky is his favorite film in the series (followed by Rocky IV … cough, cough.)
“They just threw me in the fire,” real-life boxing champ Antonio Tarver (Mason “The Line” Dixon) explains of his initiation into the world of acting. “To be here now, on account of a great film, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone – to be a part of this great franchise, it’s unbelievable. Sometimes I have to pinch myself cause I’m dreaming.”
“The truth is, art imitates life,” writer/director/star Stallone says. “If you can catch a character like this – the only way this character works is if it’s tied into something you can identify with.”
He continues: “I’ve made other ‘Rockys‘ where it’s just about the fight, the emotions, the characters … it was more geared toward the event rather than what they’re going through personally.”
“In this one [Rocky Balboa], I wanted to harken back to the first Rocky where for 80% of the movie it’s just self-searching, and trying to figure out ‘what is life?’, and the older I get, the harder it gets. I thought it was supposed to get easier, but it doesn’t, folks.”
