Current Events > What the hell? Rocky V was actually good (Spoilers)

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've heard so much about how shit this movie was. It's not the best, but it isn't bad. It dealt with the health problems from boxing, the sharp downfall from being on top, and Rocky learning to not be desperate to hang on to glory days and the business instead of focusing on his son.

It may not be as fun or campy as III and IV (besides some of the melodramatic dialogue), but that's the point. If there's going to be a long series of movies about a boxer, it only makes sense for there to be a downfall as they get older.

And the street fight was fucking awesome.

No

Yeah I actually think V is decent. Definitely should have stopped after V though. I pretend like he didnt make anymore after that.

Literally the worst film in the entire Balboa universe

no, no

AlCalavicci posted...

Literally the worst film in the entire Balboa universe

While true, almost all the movies are excellent, so being the worst isn't actually that bad of a thing.

I still remember "Tommy...the Machine Gun!" from the movie. Cool street fight at the end. Interesting enough, originally Rocky was planned to die in the street fight, but that got nicked and the ending we got happened.

archizzy posted...

Yeah I actually think V is decent. Definitely should have stopped after V though. I pretend like he didnt make anymore after that.

Balboa is a fun movie, especially if you watch it right after a rewatch of the first.

Charged151 posted...

While true, almost all the movies are excellent, so being the worst isn't actually that bad of a thing.

I still remember "Tommy...the Machine Gun!" from the movie. Cool street fight at the end. Interesting enough, originally Rocky was planned to die in the street fight, but that got nicked and the ending we got happened.

It's much further down the ladder than any of the others

Charged151 posted...

While true, almost all the movies are excellent, so being the worst isn't actually that bad of a thing.

I've really liked every single one of them. I don't know yet if V is at the bottom of the list, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it either.

archizzy posted...

Yeah I actually think V is decent. Definitely should have stopped after V though. I pretend like he didnt make anymore after that.

no way. V is the definite low point in the series, and every movie after was a big improvement over it. Rocky Balboa was a great comeback from the garbage that was V, and then Creed is also a very solid series.

It was only a matter of time until Rocky had its own revisionist "worst movie in entire series is actually pretty good" discourse.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


Im older so I grew up with the original 2 seeing them a lot when I was young. I really love them both a lot. I dont like 3 nearly as much. I dont hate it, I just dont like it as much as the first 2. I think 4 is probably the best of the series. It just hit at that perfect time of the 80s and I grew up with that Cold War USA vs USSR mentality. 4 is just great and while I do think its the best Im still partial to the first 2 the most.

I just like him going against Apollo and I like it more when he was the unknown under dog and not the famous champion like he is in 4. Just personal preference. Really just a great series though for that many movies.

I really didnt enjoy it, but maybe its because I marathoned it a few more minutes few minutes months before VI (which was s not great, better than V.) Reminds of a worse Hellraiser 3 in terms of early 90s corniness

AlCalavicci posted...

It's much further down the ladder than any of the others

I do agree with you there. Rocky losing all his money out of nowhere and neglecting his son does pull it down a bit. Still had its movements and overall enjoyed it.

Jagr_68 posted...

It was only a matter of time until Rocky had its own revisionist "worst movie in entire series is actually pretty good" discourse.

I watched Rocky V before I realized it was considered the worst of the bunch (which it is). Actually thought it was enjoyable...just not as good as the rest. Still, calling it outright "bad" feels like hyperbole.

I think its commendable how good Balboa managed to be while still acknowledging V as canon and building off of it

I still think IV is the worst

Tyranthraxus posted...

I still think IV is the worst

Well you think wrong

Irony posted...

Well you think wrong

No u

Tyranthraxus posted...

I still think IV is the worst

There's apparently a director's cut that came out in 2021 that makes less hokey and propagandist.

That movie was horrible and erased all that the other 4 built up to

archizzy posted...

Yeah I actually think V is decent. Definitely should have stopped after V though. I pretend like he didnt make anymore after that.

Rocky V is a dumpster fire and easily the worst in the series and Balboa is second to only the original film in terms of best of the series and the first Creed is fantastic as well.

V is the only legit bad Rocky movie.

My favorite part of the movie is that Don King is basically the main villain.

I don't think V was downright horrible or anything, but it's easily the weakest film. Also, I never understood why Rocky put Paulie in charge of his entire fortune, and how exactly did he lose it all so quickly?

That's false.

VideoboysaysCube posted...

I don't think V was downright horrible or anything, but it's easily the weakest film. Also, I never understood why Rocky put Paulie in charge of his entire fortune, and how exactly did he lose it all so quickly?

IIRC Paulie hired a crook accountant

VideoboysaysCube posted...

I don't think V was downright horrible or anything, but it's easily the weakest film. Also, I never understood why Rocky put Paulie in charge of his entire fortune, and how exactly did he lose it all so quickly?

Paulie hired a person to manage the money, who promptly stole all of it from what I remember. Or maybe invested it in shady shit and lost all of it? It's been a long time.

Rocky IV was not a good movie.

It was a jingoistic fable where they Worf Effect one of the best in the world to establish the villain's bona files without any other real motive other than to be big bad Russian guy. And then they tack on a kind of GI Joe feel good half-monologue at the end to make it all feel better instead of remembering they basically killed his best friend. It was as shallow as a bird bath.

A lot of fun. A lot. And I'll watch it every time it's on TV. But it's just not a Good Movie.

DnDer posted...

Rocky IV was not a good movie.

It was a jingoistic fable where they Worf Effect one of the best in the world to establish the villain's bona files without any other real motive other than to be big bad Russian guy. And then they tack on a kind of GI Joe feel good half-monologue at the end to make it all feel better instead of remembering they basically killed his best friend. It was as shallow as a bird bath.

A lot of fun. A lot. And I'll watch it every time it's on TV. But it's just not a Good Movie.

I still think it is better than Rocky V by a fair margin, but you are right in the suspension of belief that is required to stick with the "rhythm of the movies". I mean...an American getting cheered against a Russian in Russia just isn't going to happen. How Apollo's death was kind hand-waved as you mentioned wasn't exactly handled as good as it could have been...but I chalk it up to Rocky feeling guilty over refusing to throw in the towel despite Apollo clearly being beaten. If nothing else, the situation is appropriately handled in Creed 2, which the movie essentially allows to exist in its current form based on the events of Rocky IV.

Charged151 posted...

If nothing else, the situation is appropriately handled in Creed 2, which the movie essentially allows to exist in its current form based on the events of Rocky IV.

Good to know. I saw Creed, but haven't had an opportunity to catch the sequel.

Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with how good Creed actually was. You'd think it'd be a beat for beat love letter to the original. Like a Force Awakens for Rocky, which wouldn't be bad, but also not what we deserved.

But it wasn't. It was better than that. And that was nice.

It was awful. The director wanted Rocky to be poor again so that he could recreate Rocky I.

Nobody wanted to see the man who achieved his dreams become a has-been. It kinda took one for the team -- as it opened up the door for Rocky Balboa and the Creed films to be dramatic again -- but it was a major gut-punch coming on the heels of Rocky III and Rocky IV to find our hero down and out again with no opportunity to get out of his situation this time around. He won a street fight. So what?

The only good rocky movie is the first one.

It's an alright movie but it's definitely the worst of the Rocky movies.

trappedunderice posted...

The only good rocky movie is the first one.

So you only enjoyed the first one? That's sad to hear if true.

Its just so unbelievable to me. Yeah Paula lost all their money. Why still support his ass then?

but beyond that he could have gotten money doing promotions, commercials, tv shows and advertising. He was the number 1 boxer in the world not long before that. Plus havingRocky go out with brain damage was just kinda depressing. The movie made Rocky go out with a whimper. Im glad he brought the character back decades later

Tyranthraxus posted...

I still think IV is the worst

Honestly this. I like the fights but the rest is... forgettable. I love all the Rocky movies though, including 5. 1-2 are my favorites and 3 is right behind them.

LoveLikeJazz posted...

Honestly this. I like the fights but the rest is... forgettable.

The Apollo James Brown performance before the fight
The fallout from Apollo's death
The sex robot
Two of the greatest hype songs in the series imo (No Easy Way Out and Hearts on Fire montages)
Rocky training in the snow vs. Drago training in a facility and taking steroids
Rocky's cheesy speech at the end

These are all forgettable? Hard disagree

AlCalavicci posted...

The sex robot

They apparently took the robot in the recent remaster of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJat-DAfGOo

Having only watched all the Rocky movies last year (haven't started Creed yet), I also prefer V over IV. They're both my lowest movies, but IV challenged my suspension of disbelief a lot more than Rocky going broke in V. I actually think III handled the cheesiness a lot better than IV too, plus I like the Mr. T fight a lot more than Drago's fight.

Rocky 3 and 4 are both dumb

2 is not great either

1 > Balboa > 2 > 4 > 3 > 5

YellowSUV posted...

They apparently took the robot in the recent remaster of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJat-DAfGOo

Yep, unfortunately

It's been a long time since I've seen V, but I remember not hating it. Besides, the street fight is great and so is the build up.

"You knocked him down. Why don't you try knockin me down now?"
"No, no! In the ring! In the ring! Tommy Gunn only fights in the ring!"
"My ring's outside."

And the flashback in it is pretty cool too. "Get up you son of a bitch! Because Mickey loves ya."

I can't even remember if I've watched this movie, that's how nothing it is. I remember a blond guy, and rocky's kid, and was this the one with Paulie's weird sex robot or was that 4.

I personally enjoy IV more than V, but I think V is actually a better made movie (IV is just so much more fun). I think they're both weaker than the first 3 films, but they're still completely watchable so I wouldn't call either "bad," just mediocre. Imo, the first two movies are excellent, 3 is good, and IV-V are okay. I have never watched "Rocky Balboa," not for any deliberate reason but as happenstance.