Description: The "Italian Stallion" rediscovers his roots in this exciting, thrill-packed drama that reunites Sylvester Stallone with the OscarÂ(r)-winning* director of the original RockyÂ(r). Upon returning home from his latest triumph, Rocky Balboa (Stallone) learns that all his money has been lost by an unscrupulous financial advisor. To make matters worse, his fight-relatedinjuries force his retirement from the ring. So Rocky, his wife, Adrian (Talia Shire), and his son,Rocky Jr. (Sage Stallone), move to their old, low-rent neighborhood in South Philadelphia. There, the fighter must resolve the deep-rooted resentment held by his son, a bitterness that grows when Rocky trains Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), a young boxer who soon rises to national prominence. When Tommy turns against his mentor and publicly taunts him, Rocky knows he must fight once more. *John G. Avildsen, 1976
Not Memorable, But Still Very Likable I think this was the only Rocky film I never saw at the theater. I guess I'd had enough by then. However, I did catch this on VHS and, despite all the negative opinions I had read concerning it, I was glad I saw it. It was typical Rocky entertainment: hokey but satisfying and generally enjoyable.
Richard Gant did a nice job impersonating Don King and Tommy Morrison, a real-life fighter, turned out to be a pretty good actor. Again, we see the familiar characters, namely "Rocky," his wife "Adrian" (Talia Shire) and "Paulie" (Burt Young), Rocky slob-friend.
The final scene provides the usual over-done fight but, if you've seen the others and enjoyed them, then you should like this, too. It may be the least memorable of the Rocky series, but it was still fun to watch.
NICE TRY, BUT STILL THE WORST OF THE SERIES! 2 1/2 STARS! I own the older box set with the first 5 Rocky films included in it. I wanted to write reviews for the individual films. This review is for the film and the older release DVD.
I have to give Stallone credit for trying to go somewhere new with the series, but this film just has too many clichés to keep it from being very good. Stallone's real life son is a terrible actor and is one of the reasons this film is the worst in the series. Overall the formula keeps you watching and the film is entertaining if you don't think about it too long.
The DVD transfer on my edition is OK, but there is room for improvement.
*** ADDED NOTE *** The worst film in this series is kind of unclear, as part's 4 or 5 could be viewed as the worst installment. While both films are entertaining, they are the least in the Rocky franchise. This point was brought to my attention by an Amazon buddy!
Thank You Stan!
"Slip the jab"....... This movie is what it is..it shows us the ugly side of the boxing business (think of it that way).
A young boxer approaches rocky in the need of aid, rocky retired and broke takes on tommy as manager. George W. duke a very popular boxing promoter always on the hunt for rocky to fight again discovers tommy, and turns tommy into rocky's enemy more or less. This movie isn't that bad, it isn't the best sequel in the series nor is it the worst movie in the series...the worst movie would have to go to rocky IV "the musical", think about it rocky IV is all montages and no real story (my opinion).
Rocky V has alot of heart and charm in the film, i simply love it, and love the soundtrack which i recently bought.
3 stars out of 4 The Bottom Line:
Many fans of the series hate this movie, but I was just relieved to see it try something different--it's not really a very good film, but at least it tells a story that isn't the exact same thing as Rocky III and IV.
Watch It, You S.O.B!! Because Mickey Loves Ya! I love Rocky 5 and I'm not afraid to admit it! This movie has been dumped on for years by critics and fans, but I feel that's all rather harsh. It may not be the best film, but it's nowhere near as bad as it's reputation makes it out to be. When you talk to someone about the Rocky series, people always tend to like them all "except for Part 5, that was stupid". So where did all this hatred come from? Could be a number of things, but I think it has a lot to do with the number 5. When you get to the point of having a 5 slapped on after the film's title, it's usually not a good thing. Part 5s are reserved for Friday The 13s, Nightmare On Elm Streets and Police Academys, not Rocky movies. I think the film may have been conceived as a joke before many folks even saw it, especially since Rocky 4, while an entertaining movie, started delving into the ridiculous. And I think most people went into this film while in the mindset of, "this is a bad movie". Maybe it just wasn't the right time and people weren't wanting another Rocky film. But when you think about it, it's actually a good movie, kind of a downer, but life can certainly be a downer, even in Rockyland. It's a little more down to earth. Rocky loses his money and is forced to move back to his old neighborhood. Brain damage from the fight with Drago has now made it so he can't fight anymore, yet he's constantly harassed by boxing promoter George Washington Duke(a thinly disguised portrayal of Don King) to make a big comeback in a fight with the #1 contender. Adrian returns to her old job and Rocky reopens Mickey's gym. Young boxer Tommy Gunn befriends Rocky looking for his big shot at becoming a pro. Rocky agrees to manage and train him, thus shunning his son who is trying hard to adjust to this different lifestyle. Family conflicts galore!! Then the slimy Duke, still trying to get Rocky into the ring, gets his claws into Tommy. Tommy gets a taste of money and success and soon becomes sick of being referred to as Rocky's "robot", and decides to earn his respect by pushing Rocky to fight. Of course we all know that it all ends in a cool street brawl. This film strayed from the formula of the last two films. It now put Rocky in the role of Mickey training a hungry young boxer like he once was. Rocky acts more like Rocky in this film. We all noticed that after part 2, Rocky's personality changed. He wasn't the childlike, slightly punchy and lovable dope anymore, but seemed like the kind of character Stallone played a lot of in the 80s. It's nice to see Rocky in his old clothes and hat acting like Rocky(he even starts smoking again!), even if it doesn't really make sense why he went from upper class hoity toity back to how he was before. One flaw I certainly found in this film was the character of Tommy Gunn, or maybe it's real life boxer Tommy Morrison's performance. You're supposed to like him in the beginning and view him as a kind of second generation Rocky, but you never like the guy. I certainly didn't anyhow. He never comes across as a very likable or sympathetic character, even when telling a sob story about an abusive father. Gunn's a necessary character to the story, but a lousy one(but again, that could just be Morrison's performance). Often(always)overlooked is the performance of Richard Gant who plays the evil G. W. Duke. This guy has got the fast talking, hustling schtick of Don King down awesomely. He's easily one of the best aspects of the movie. When ever I see Gant in other films, I immediately think, "Hey! It's Duke!" I tend to hear people whine about Rocky's son, played by Sly's real life son, Sage Stallone. A lot of folks think he's annoying, but I don't have a problem with him. Sage grew up to start the company Grindhouse Releasing. So look at it this way, Sage is the reason we have Cannibal Holocaust on DVD here in the states, so I think the entire U.S. should owe a debt of gratitude. So in the end I'm basically saying that Rocky 5 has always been unfairly labeled as a dreadful film. I never said it was a great film(I just said I loved it), but if you feel particularly ballsy, you might want to catch it again. You might...just might...be surprised.
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Trevor
Megaton Man
