Only in the bowels of a Chinese DVD shop will you find such rare classics as the Rocky Balboa Christmas. So rare in fact, you wont even be able to find it on IMDB. While it's a little difficult to figure out exactly what's going, it appears to be a Rocky-rendition of the Christmas Carol, with our hero as a Philly-fied version of Ebenezer Scrooge. But instead of being a miserly old man atoning for his penny-pinching ways, Rocky must fight the personal demons created by the sacrifices he's made in pursuit of his boxing career.
As I understand the plot, Rocky is awakened on Christmas Eve by this late wife Adrian (playing Marley?) whose come to warn him of the consequences of his punch-drunk ways. Symbolizing the burdens Adrian suffered by being Rocky's wife, we see her carry the chains of boxing ring ropes from all of Rocky's past fights. I suspect this could be a very touching scene if not for the fact that most of us were glad to see Adrian die...
The rest is a little fuzzy, but the cast line-up is fantastic:
- Ghost of Christmas Past: Mickey
- Ghost of Christmas Present: Apollo Creed
- Ghost of Christmas Future: the Robot from Rocky 4.
- Tiny Tim: Paulie.
I have to admit, the last one may seem a little miscast, but seeing Burt Young wobble around the screen probably bears a striking similarity to a small child with a gimp leg and wooden crutch. And Burgess Meredith yelling at Rocky to chase the chickens of his past is probably some of the best work we've seen from him since well...he died.
And as if the star-studden line-up wasn't enough, there is a bonus trailer for Rambo Thanksgiving: First Pilgrim included in the DVD.