I must say that when I first heard about Sylvester Stallone's interest in making another Rocky movie I was a bit skeptic and immediately thought that a lot of people would take this as a joke. But when I finally read a plot synapsis and seen the pictures on set...this is going to be the most awaited movie, for me I mean, since the Lord of the Rings trilogy or Superman Returns. This is not a biased opinion on my part because of the fact that I'm a huge Sylvester Stallone fan, as well as the Rocky series being on my favorite movies list, but if you look around on many a forum, a lot of people are excited for the next installment of the Southpaw underdog from Philadelphia.

Plot Outline:
It's been years since Rocky has stepped into the ring. His wife Adrian died many years before and he's an embarrassment to his son who works for a big corporation and doesn't have time for him. He's alone and still living in the old South Philly neighborhood running a restaurant named after his wife. He goes about his days just telling stories to his customers about the old days, taking pictures with fans and signing autographs.
One day after seeing a virtual fight which depicts different fighters from different eras compete against one another in a simulated ring contest. One matchup pits Southpaw slugger Rocky Balboa against current heavyweight champ, Mason "The Line" Dixon. The computer recreation's result is that Rocky (in his prime) would have beaten Dixon.

Rocky then gets pumped up and starts exercising so he can jump back in the ring for some local low-level fights. But after seeing the virtual fight, Dixon and his entourage bring an offer even Rocky can't refuse. What is supposed to be a simple exhibition bout turns into the fight of their lives. In one corner, Dixon wants to prove that he is not just a "paper champion" fighting what the boxing community considers unproven opponents. In the other corner, Rocky follows his instincts and his dreams to show that he still has something to contribute despite his old age and all the beatings he took over the years. He's alone, his old neighborhood has changed, all his friends are dead or retired and he decides that he will take this one last shot at being the best at what he loves dearly, even if it means his death.

Trivia:
-Burt Young will return once again as Paulie
-Bill Conti will return to compose the music for the movie. He also composed the music for the first 5 movies.
-Tony Burton will return to play Tony Duke, Apollo Creed's old trainer to train Rocky.
-Mr. T will make a cameo appearance as Clubber Lang.
-This will be the fourth decade in a row to have a Rocky movie. Rocky and Rocky II came out in the 1970s, Rocky III and Rocky IV in the 1980s, and Rocky V in 1990. Rocky Balboa is scheduled for release on December 22, 2006.

That will be a great Christmas present for myself. In this day and age with everything that's wrong in the world, it's great to have movies of self-achievement like this come out. I can't wait until I have a son and be able to show him movies like the Rocky series, the Superman series, the Rookie, and Cinderella Man. I must say...for a guy that's 60 years old, he looks a lot better than most, if not all, people I know especially at that age.