Rocky Balboa is a movie that needed to be made. Contrary to early naysayers, this franchise needed more closure than it got back in 1990 when audiences last visited with a cinematic icon. Sylvester Stallone directs, acts, and writes this final sequel and the result is a moving, nostalgic, and engrossing effort worthy of the Rocky name.

Balboa is a flashback to the first installment of the franchise. Instead of following closely with the eventual opponent and building him up to create tension in the closing moments, it takes the opposite approach. This is squarely focused on Stallone, which takes nothing away from Antonio Tarver's believable performance in his first film role after reigning as real life light heavyweight champion.

Characters are re-introduced and follow Rocky's surprisingly long turn back into a pro boxer. Lesser characters make a re-appearance for nostalgia's sake, such as Spider Rico, again played by Pedro Lovell. The movie builds its story around the death of Rocky's wife, and nearly everything focuses on that point. Fans looking for a rousing ego clash along the lines of those featured in Rocky III or IV are in for a wait. The emotional impact of the first 30 minutes is a complete departure from what the series had become.

This leads to a nearly flawless conclusion aside from a few blatant and distracting product placements. A trick ending sends the film in a direction that leans towards being predictable, then twists again to end the franchise on a somber note. The final words of the film could not have been chosen better.

With only brief flashbacks and a somewhat darker tone, Balboa avoids extensive use of nostalgia to carry itself. Led by multiple re-workings of the classic theme "Gonna Fly Now" at all times, it's the right way to mix old with new. Even though the film contains less than 15 minutes of total boxing, these scenes are believable and at times mirror any real life, pay-per-view boxing event.

As expected, the script contains countless inspirational lines designed to bring the audience out of their seats to cheer. While at times forced, careful direction and believable performances splice these moments in where they should be. The inevitable training vignette is a long time in coming and the payoff is stronger because of it.

The range of emotions created in Rocky Balboa is unmatched by any of the preceding movies in this series. Every open plot hole or question is clarified or answered, and it's done so with a sharp eye for details. This is an acceptable and yes, needed finish for a Hollywood legend.

Video is grainy is spots, and this intentional. Colors are bright and contrast is high which, again, is intentional. Detail is spectacular, and this sharp transfer is stunning for DVD.

Audio kicks in, and the classic theme has never sounded better in 5.1. The fight sequence is incredibly immersive, with the crowd seemingly in the room with the viewer. Punches land with brutal bass. The rest of the film is fairly muted given the dialogue driven nature, though there are some nice random ambience if you listen for it.

Seven deleted scenes begin the extras, including an alternate ending that runs a little over three minutes. It’s in the spirit of the series, yet simply doesn’t feel like the right way to go out. A minute and a half of bloopers are unexpected for a drama, though well worth watching. Skill vs. Will is a 17-minute 'making of' that provides a decent look at how the film came to be, and why it needed to be made.

Reality in the Ring is a 15 minute look at how the final Balboa fight was filmed. Virtual Champion takes a short behind the scenes look at the computer simulation was crafted. A commentary by Stallone adds another great bookend to this series.

Rocky Balboa includes flashbacks to each film in the series, with the exception of Rocky V. Stallone himself admitted in interviews the 1990 effort was a “weak link.” While not quite as bad as some would make it out to be, it was hardly the way to leave this otherwise superb franchise out to dry.

Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a classic video game website which he called home after his fanzine (Gaming Source) published its final issue. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for reasearch purposes. Really. He has also begun writing freelance for the Toledo Free Press.

Everyone loves homage, but, not to the point of homogenization. If you can’t be yourself, who can you be? Two more directors left the competition: Kenny and Matteen had the fewest votes, but it was close.

This week On The Lot fields funny films. Who delivered? Tonight featured sparks both literally and figuratively, along with flying themes. But where did it leave the viewer — pining for The Wizard of Oz and Some Like It Hot?

First up, Zach's The Bonus Feature, set in a car. Woman presses a button in the car. They go back in time to the 1950s for a game of chicken. She presses button again and instant star wars — well shot and “incredible visually” from Carrie, who got feisty during the show with Garry. Everyone thinks that Zack has the potential to be a great filmmaker. But he was in over his head. What was he thinking? He must have read too much into other blogs. K.I.S.S., Zach. Trying to convey quantum physics in a few minutes is a stretch even for someone as talented as this developing director.

Next up, Adam's Girl Trouble. This was closer to containing elements of a funny film. Garry got it right: it was more like a skit than an original film. Not a bad film, but difficult for me to be objective about. It’s about two guys discussing their roommates, but both men obviously sleeping with “real men.” The premise was funny, but not my cup of tea. Subtlety lacking in this “skit.”

Unplugged by Will was an office romance where the desk lamps come alive, file cabinets descend into drawers. One of the lamps gets unplugged, and they create havoc in the dark of the office. Where does this leave the two co-workers introduced briefly in the opening shot? Will did not get it right. The set-up was too short. It did not make me laugh. Will made us care about silent lamps though, and overall, the filmmaking was solid and expressive. He got some props from the other directors. The judges found it “original and charming.” His opening character setup was not adequate though.

Jason's film was Keep Off Grass and was set in a backyard. In this film a meteor makes an appearance and with it a man appears in a superhero suit, with a female co-superhero. The two are arguing while the main character is pruning flowers and never sees all the sexy action, now starting to take place just behind his back — cute, funny. They almost take it off, but fly off instead — he turns around. They have completely trashed the yard in the meantime. Why didn’t they destroy the whole town? It had good pace, good story. But Carrie thought it was “too ambitious, problems with the execution,” and she was right. Too many storylines to juggle into a seamless fit, in the end he did not tailor the story to the characters. The ending fizzled after all the sparking and flying.

American Hoe, Sam's film, takes place in one room. That’s a problem. A couple getting married — no glamour there. Good opening shot, and setting, but it was also the only setting. Gary, fiancé, gives fiancée the stamps for use on wedding invitations. She looks more closely at the stamps and after seeing a man milking a cow declares: “I don’t want nipples on my wedding invitation!” That made me laugh. Come on guys, make me laugh. Then one of the stamps reads “American Hoe.” He says “They are just stamps,” another funny line. She wanted love stamps and he did not deliver. Did Gary do it on purpose? That was unclear. This would have made it just right. Garry could not stamp approval. I agree. The cute guest director, Brad Silberling, thought the woman in the film was “shrewish” and he could not get into the film for that reason. Nowhere for it to go… good point.

Old Home Boyz was where Jason took a role in his own film. Did he bring it for the b-boys? The story begins with Jason seeing himself in a high school year book, then moves right along to develop conflict at a party that the “old boys” attend. He sees an old flame. Sudden competition from another old guy. They dance it off — good moves. The old Jason gets the girl in the end. The best film of the night by far goes to Jason. It left you wanting more. Comedy is difficult but first flaunt what you know, and you will bring it each time.

While it doesn’t break any new ground, push the genre forward, or change how we view horror movies, Cabin Fever is loads of fun. It may lack in multiples areas, especially explanation, but that doesn’t detract from the goofy, gory fun of this low budget, flesh-eating virus flick.

Starting off with a clichéd and predictable teen horror movie set-up, Cabin Fever is as campy as they come. In fact, the final ten minutes are so off the wall, you’ve simply never seen anything else go this far to end on a downer. Granted, it’s one so funny that you won’t forget it anytime soon, and that’s how much of the movie plays out.

As a disease begins picking off the college crew, panic sets in. Cabin Fever shifts between straight comedy, dark horror, dark comedy, and then straight horror. The panic can go either way depending how you see the film, and each character deals with it in their own way. They may be tired clichés, but they’re well thought out and enough time is spent to build them up to make their actions later have a purpose.

The plotline is stuffed between some truly bizarre and incomprehensible scenes. “Pancakes” will end up as a high-ranking sequence in terms of baffling inclusions in a film. Somehow, it all makes sense in terms of Cabin Fever. Director Eli Roth knows the genre, and takes great care to make his own style stick out.

Sadly, there are many questions left over. There’s never an explanation for why the disease/virus/infection/sickness begins to affect people. The kids become trapped, and the movie leaves this important plot point behind. A killing spree late in the film is also somewhat odd, though there is enough character development to possibly figure out a reason for it.

Many will take a pass on this one, and that’s fine. Fever has a very specific audience in mind and goes to great lengths to satisfy those of us with a dark, sick sense of humor. If you’re part of that group, here’s one created just for you.

Being low budget, there’s an especially solid video presentation at work. Colors are intentionally muted, so the transfer lacks any outstanding features. However, it’s clean, clear, and sharp. Black levels are strong, and the copious amounts of gore show through beautifully, or disgusting depending on where you fall.

When the film has a chance to showcase some action, there’s a solid 5.1 effort to carry it. Motion is conveyed nicely as shots are fired, and a few minor scenes use the rear speakers to create some false scares. Bass is solid and effective when called upon.

Beneath the Skin is a 30-minute 'making of' that begins the extras. It shows how making the film was loads of fun, including plenty of commentary from Roth. Pancakes is a brief VHS clip of a Kata by Danny, someone who Fever fans will know. Five commentaries (yes, five) load the audio portion of the disc with more information than you’ll ever need.

Family version runs about 30 seconds, and fits right in with the movie itself in terms of sense of humor. It’s the only G-rated edition of the movie you’ll ever see. “Chick Vision” blocks out the scary scenes, making it easier for couples with weak stomachs to take in this movie, and completely miss the point. Rockin’ Fruit is a series of three animated shorts produced by Eli Roth that are well worth watching for gore fans, or to see how sick some people in our society (in a good way) can be.

It would take three years after the box office success of Cabin Fever for Eli Roth to land his next hit. Hostel would prove enormously successful. The sequel didn’t fare as well when it released in June of 2007.

Matt Paprocki is the reviews editor for Digital Press, a classic video game website which he called home after his fanzine (Gaming Source) published its final issue. The deep game collection which spans nearly 30 systems and 2,000 games line his walls for reasearch purposes. Really. He has also begun writing freelance for the Toledo Free Press.