Put aside the silly bits, this is a VERY inspirational film!

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2004)

Okay, okay- there are silly bits in this film that I wish weren't there. My personal worst is the robot that Paulie gets for his birthday.
But set that aside: I don't think there has EVER been a more inspirational film. I can personally attest that the incredible work that Stallone put into molding his body into the awesome shape it was in in this film (at 39 years old!) has provided the fuel for me to try to stay physically fit. I still put it in the DVD player I've got set up near my treadmill, to provide motivation to keep going!
Dolph Lundgren can and did act in this movie. What was his character supposed to be? A monosyllabic, intimidating giant of a fighter. And how did Lundgren portray him? As a monosyllabic, intimidating giant of a fighter. Ask yourself one question: did you believe Lundgren in the role? Of course you did. Thus, he is a good actor.
And Stallone? Ah, the punching bag of elitist acting critics around the world (no pun intended). You want to talk about prepping for a role? Come on, let's see Tim Robbins or Alec Baldwin or Sean Penn or Jake Gyllenhaal get even close to as cut as Stallone was for this film. Let's see... what are the chances of that happening?
Rocky Balboa is a man who has trouble with words. Thus, Stallone's portrayal of him as verbally stumbling and bumbling represents GREAT ACTING! Contrary to the belief of some, acting is not the work of geniuses. Just read the lines on the page, make some believable faces, and you're good to go. There aren't many, but a few famous actors are on record saying as much.
Basically, the hateful messages and critiques directed towards this and the other 'Rocky' films are just the resentful rantings of bitter, pseudo-elite types who vastly prefer the dark, morose, unnecessarily obscure films of the art-house ouevre. They can't stand the fact that the 'Rocky' films make hundreds of millions of dollars, while their inconsequential glorifications of heroin-shooting homosexual degenerate loners struggle to make back their production costs.
Thus, they become verbally incontinent, and most of the world laughs at them.