And You Thought It Would Fail: Not only was the film expected to fail at the box office but was also the butt of many jokes by comedians and film fans due to Sylvester Stallone's age (he was 59 at the time of the film's release) and lack of box office success in the early part of the 2000's. Then the film was released, had positive reception from critics and audiences, managed to be a profit-making hit for the studio and gave Stallone a Career Resurrection.
Esoteric Happy Ending: From Mason's standpoint; he won his match, but the media would have a field day poking a lot of holes in his victory. The main one being that Mason couldn't take down a guy that hasn't been boxing in decades. Rocky was 60 years old; maybe if he had been in his mid-40s and had a string of recent victories and good performances like other old legends pulling comebacks like George Foreman, Larry Holmes, or Evander Holyfield, the film's premise would have worked, but he's just way too old and out of practice for Mason's struggle to look anything other than highly embarrassing. Then again Mason got his baptism of fire which really was all that mattered to him; plus he could at least point to having been forced to spend most of the match boxing with his off-hand after injuring his main hand early on.
Fan Nickname: Easy for fans to sometimes still call this movie Rocky VI as it puts it right at home with the others to do so.
Fridge Brilliance: It works as either a direct sequel to V, a sequel to just Rocky that ignores the four other films, or as a standalone film. One does not need to have any direct knowledge of the prior Rocky films to enjoy it. How awesome is that?
Right after the filming of this, Antonio Tarver, the real-life boxer who played Mason Dixon, happened to have a match with Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins, a then 41 boxer thought to be over the hill (Hopkins would retire...as the oldest boxing champion in history at 50) and Hopkins managed to completely decimate Tarver in a curious parallel and contrast to the film narrative. Furthermore, Tarver ended up retiring from boxing at the ripe old age of 46.
Shortly after the film's release, heavyweight boxing legend Evander Holyfield made another comeback despite being middle-aged. This culminated in him going the distance at the age of 46 against reigning heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev (ended his career 50–2 with 34 knockouts), who was both much younger than him and nearly a foot taller and a hundred pounds heavier. Holyfield only lost via a close majority decision, and many observers were of the opinion that he won. A David vs. Goliath success to match any Rocky movie.
Signature Scene: Rocky's motivational speech to his son has gone down in legend, and eclipses the actual boxing in the movie.
Surprisingly Improved Sequel: While Rocky V was considered the worst in the franchise, this movie proved to be better than fans thought it would turn out.
