Rocky Balboa.
IMHO, as a rabid fan of the series I rank this up there with the original. Rocky, now in his late 50s, finds himself a bit adrift in life several years after the death of his beloved Adrian. To fill a gap he applies for a boxing licence so he can do a few club fights, low level stuff to use up his time. Slimy promoters get a whiff of this and try to set up an exhibition fight between the reigning world champion, Mason "The line" Dixon, for lots of money. Initially Rocky isn't interested but as his anger grows at the injustices that life puts his way, he relents.
Of course, Rocky doesn't win, but he makes the champ work bloody hard for the victory. So much so that Rocky wins the respect of the champ himself, and the crowd lap it up. Rocky leaves the arena, finally having quelled the beast inside himself.
The human interest side is something Stallone always does well with Rocky, although this in'ts quite the best of the series in that regard - that plaudit must go to the next in the series, Creed, where Rocky had even me almost in tears when he is diagnosed with cancer but refuses treatment because all his loved ones have died and he feels he has nothing left to live for. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for that and it's a crime that he didn't win.
Nevertheless, it's a close run thing as the rudderless and bereft Rocky and his best friend Paulie, the brilliant Burt Young, come to terms with their grief in different ways, the result being that for a couple of hours you feel like you're there and living it with a couple of old friends.
So it's good, but what really pushes this up to joint best is the fight scene. The fight was filmed at a real boxing match as a treat for the crowd before the real fight. The crowds are real. the announcers are real, the previous world champions at the ringside are real, Mike Tyson gobbing off an pointing his finger is real, and the atmosphere is absolutely electrifying. When Rocky walks into the arena the crowd go absolutely nuts and the effect is staggering. You just can't fake that.
The fight itself is brilliantly scripted and well choreographed, and beautifully tells a story all of it's own. Of course he doesn't win, but he makes the champ seriously squirm, and that is a victory all of it's own.
A fantastic film, and very, very worthy of a...
9/10.
Now, "let's start building some hurtin' bombs!"