Does Anyone Else Really Dislike The Rocky Movies?!!

The first was a classic ... from the second on they became more and more commercial ...

 

If "Gonna Fly Now" by Bill Conti don't lift your spirits and get you ready for any hard challenge you are dead my friend.
Personally the 1st 3 movies are it for me.
The original movie though very slow, told a great story about perseverance, and not giving up on self. Yes it drags, but the pay off is worth it.
No it's not the " John Wick" movies, where the hero has killed 20 villains in the 1st 10 minutes.
It's Not Thanos snapping his fingers and literally killing half the universe.
Are a galaxy far far away.
Rocky, is a hero and a story most of us can relate to. May not be through boxing ( Though if you're on this site you probably can)
It's about life itself, and the will to fight through for many of us overwhelming odds, to reach some sort of success in life.
Very, very few are born with the golden spoon.
Most of us had to go get it.....
Like Rocky.....

 

I'd rank them as follows -

Rocky - the original and best. I get that it is a bit of a grind but it does have the most fleshed out story.
Rocky Balboa - more like a sequel than the sixth installment. A proper backstory and a fine film.
Rocky IV - the most entertaining but the least plausible. Over the top on the political message but the best produced of the franchise.
Rocky III - rated for Hulk Hogan's cameo which was great fun. Clubber Lang was over the top but a good laugh. "I pity the fool." Classic line.
Rocky II - the rematch, not overly memorable other than the final scenes.
Rocky V - truly awful film. Not worthy of being part of the "Rockyverse."

The new Creed films are good but I see them as a totally separate franchise.

 

“Over the top” to describe Clubber Lang is an understatement of Bill Murray-esque proportions. He is a screaming, heaving cave creature, presented as being the no. 1 contender (who despite this fact appears to still be renting an apartment LOL). Sure, it’s kind of funny, but it is so far beyond stupid it makes Roadhouse look well thought out.

 

Yeah, but does it really count since those scenes that might have given more context to the movie were left on the cutting room floor in 1985?

Stallone, with the Rocky vs Drago (Rocky 4 director's cut) tried to make a very shallow movie "deeper", and as much as I like Rocky the Fourth, I'm not so sure it succeeds. Stallone himself says in the making of doc that you can find on youtube, that he had no real deeper thoughts while making the movie originally than to have Rocky go on a "Great Adventure".

I do, however, like the recut fights (Apollo vs Drago and Rocky vs Drago) as Apollo doesn't go out quite so pathetically as in the original, and the R v D fight has more balance (Rocky doesn't spend the whole fight getting pummeled with little offense like in the original film).

 

I think the directors cut of Rocky IV is better than theatrical Rocky IV. And Creed II works better with the directors cut. But the same time I understand why the scenes were cut in the context of 1985. Both of those things can be true. Also theres 2 kinds of deleted scenes. The kind that are deleted because they are unworthy of appearence and those that are deleted because of the runtime.

 

I'm definitely not arguing any of those points with you, but merely pointing out that as the movie as was originally presented, the scene with Duke screaming at Rocky to throw in the towel and Rocky hesitating to do so (because between the first and second round, Apollo ordered him not to stop the fight under any circumstances) doesn't make much sense because the referee had just tried to intervene and got shoved aside for his troubles...my point... Drago was not going to stop pummeling Apollo until he went down, ref and towels be damned. If anything at all could have been done, it would have required Rocky, Paulie or even GD James Brown to run in the ring to physically tackle Drago to stop his rampage.

As far as the recut... I liked it quite a bit. It does add a bit of layering to the story, and the fights are much better, but, considering the movie did and still has something like a quarter or more of its run time dedicated to montages, there wasn't too much that could be done. Case in point, likely due to the removal of the robot scenes, Stallone padded the recut by showing an extended amount of scenes from Rocky the Third... I know it adds context to Rocky and Apollo's friendship, but no way in hell could he have gotten away with that in 1985.

The only thing that genuinely sticks in my craw about the recut is the Creed/Drago press conference scene where a reporter says something to the effect of "So you don't hate the Russian then?" (to Apollo). That exact bit of dialogue gets repeated twice in what seems to be an editing error as Apollo answered the question the first time, lol.

I think I'm getting too far in the weeds with this movie, lol.

Supposedly, Stallone either has, or soon will be, re-editing Five (it doesn't deserve the honour of having Rocky in the title). I think that one is a lost cause, even the workprint of that film still made for a pretty dire viewing experience.

 

My favourite training scenes in the franchise are from Rocky II. "Rocky there's just one thing I want you to do!" "What?" "Win.....just win!"

 

Well as a callow teen in 76 i bought into the original Rocky, hook, line and sinker.

Rocky 2 was ok, but subsequent Rocky's i have been less of a fan.

Ah the innocence of youth, and now reminiscence of that youthful life of the 70s

 

First one is brilliant . I like pauly throwing the turkey out the window

 

My order of preference...

Rocky 4: It's the silliest of the bunch, Rocky Wins the Cold War! Apollo getting killed in the ring should have been a larger dramatic development, but it's fairly glossed over and the weirdness that ensues afterward practically ensures it's completely forgotten about by the end credits.

Rocky: The best of the bunch as a film, and the most realistic and grounded of the series.

Rocky Balboa: Also, a very solid, grounded-in-reality film... until the fight at the end. I believe Stallone was 60 when the movie was made, and Rocky is supposed to be a "Fifty Something" in the movie. Even though the fight with Dixon is supposed to be an exhibition... once the fight gets serious, Rocky should have been KOed almost immediately. That's not even getting into the fact that they handwaved away the brain damage he was diagnosed with in the fifth installment. Also, Stallone should have kept his ego in check, and went with a fully choreographed fight instead of him needing to prove his toughness by having him and Antonio Tarver (as Mason Dixon) throw "mostly" live rounds at each other. It makes the fight look needlessly sloppy and it's obvious in parts that they are connecting, but not trying to hurt each other. It looks like a bad sparring session.

Rocky 3: What's not to love about this one? Mr T makes his debut here, it's also got Hulk Hogan in it, which all but ensured that he'd become a household name. Mickey dies though, and like Apollo's death in 4, it's quickly forgotten about.

Rocky 2: When I was a kid, this one was my favorite as it was the first one I saw on cable TV in 1979 or so. Viewing it as an adult... it's just too derivative of the first one, and it's a huge slog in the middle.

Rocky 5: **** this movie...

Ok, some words... I really don't know what Stallone was thinking here. It's just depressing from start to finish. It has some potential in the story, but of course, the suits need Rocky to fight so there is a reason for people to see it. The street fight with Gunn is OTT and ridiculous. Rocky is diagnosed with brain damage...sooo Stallone turns back the clock to his performance in Rocky 2, which is to say that instead of Balboa simply being an under-educated street tough, he becomes "Rocky the Developmentally Challenged". His son hates him through most of the film, and if all that wasn't bad enough (plenty of bad and OTT acting abounds here from all involved as well), Rocky was supposed to die in this, thankfully saner heads prevailed as the 6th installment was a fitting finish to the series.

I really don't count the Creed movies as part of the series, as they are really little more than modern redos of the originals. The first one was pretty well done.

 

Unpopular opinion but I don't know why so many people like Rocky 4.

They kill off Apollo Creed.

Ivan Drago is too cartoonish.

The whole movie just feels like one big montage it bores me to tears in all honesty and it just has a weird unusual vibe to me.

Rocky 5 is actually underrated if people actually watch the directors cut scenes it becomes a much better movie.

 

Yeah I don't think V can be salvalged its problems are all structual IE the lack of a boxing match. Gunn being considered a paper champ because he didn't beat a retired fighter who trained him in the time since hes been retired doesn't make a whole lot of sense. It feels like a manufactured reason for Rocky and Gunn to fight at the end of the movie.

 

Rocky was a brilliant film in every way. It stands the test of time.

The rest are just fun, entertaining popcorn films. I know when I saw Rocky III and IV in the theaters I had a lot of fun. These aren't great works of art, and maybe they don't age all that well, but you'd be hard-pressed to find folks who saw those movies in the theaters in the 1980s who answered truthfully and would not admit that they enjoyed and had fun watching those movies. That's why so many were greenlit - they kept making money - people went to see them and enjoyed them.

Same with First Blood. Amazing film that stands the test of time. I never tire of it. The others are fun too. A certain formula, not great art or anything, but Stallone made it work quite well and knew how to put forth an entertaining product. I remember being riveted by First Blood: Part II when I saw it in the theaters.

 

I love every Rocky movie except Rocky V, that **** was trash, Rocky Balboa was ok......meh. The other ones though 1-4, I can watch them and enjoy them each time I watch like it's my first time watching them.

note: I don't count "Creed" as Rocky movies..............