Back to the very beginning, a very good place to start (Rocky V (DVD))

Member Name: Sputnik_257

Product:	Rocky V (DVD)
Date:	07/09/01 (368 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Recreates the energy of Rocky I

Disadvantages: Rocky has less of a fighting role

It's 1990 and the Rocky films have been flying for fourteen years. The franchise had evolved considerably through numbers two, three and four - the all-or-nothing bum-come-champ has grown to be a wealthy celebrity and the reigning heavyweight champion. Was it time for Sylvester Stallone to end the Rocky films, as it was Rocky's time to step down from the top spot? Probably. Was Rocky V the way to do it? Some would say no, but I would say yes.

In true Rocky style, the film starts right at the end of the last film, overlapping slightly with the great fight between Rocky and Soviet mean-machine Drago. After we watch the final few punches, we realise that Rocky may not be entirely well. His head had spent a lot of fights attracting a lot of heavy punches, and brain damage was setting in.

Rocky and co. zoom back to the US, where he is welcomed as a hero - he has, afterall, beaten the Soviets for America. But straight away a fight promoter George W Duke (played with great energy by Richard Grant) is pushing Rocky into a fight with a new challenger. Rocky makes his "I'm retired" excuses, and tries to settle back into life - while his title is taken away from him without a fight. But his accountant, during Rocky's time in Moscow, has managed to lose the family fortune, thus plunging Rocky, Adrian (Talia Shire), his son Robert (played by Stallone's real-life son, Sage) and Paulie back into the poverty we've come to forget over the years.

So we're back to the beginning, with Rocky barely scraping a living and the cast wearing their familiar old costumes. But Robert, having grown up surrounded by wealth, finds his new school hard, getting beaten up by the local kids. His plight is not helped when Rocky encounters Tommy Gunn (played by Tommy Morrison), an off-the-street fighter with ambition and potential. Rocky nurses him to champion quality, all the time neglecting his real son, who moves incre
asingly away from his family.

Tommy then strikes for the big title, having been whisked away by Duke the promoter. Rocky watches the man who'd come to replace his son forge his own path to success, having disowned Rocky as his trainer. Rocky, of course, is not too pleased, and eventually we have an excellent street fight between the old champ and the new.

Rocky V faced a great problem - the audience were not happy about letting Rocky take a role on the side, they wanted him in the middle of the action, fighting. But personally, I think the new approach worked - and gives Rocky V the chance to consider the dramatical side not covered in any great detail since the first movie of 1976. Robert Balboa takes a major subplot as the disillusioned child, and does a fantastic job of pre-teen boy. The father-and-son scenes naturally contain great energy and emotion, and are a joy to watch - even if they do seem a little Hollywood-style at times. Talia Shire, in a very similar character to hers of Rocky II, is great at all she's supposed to be, while Burt Young makes Paulie an interesting character to watch as always. Sylvester Stallone himself does a great job of returning to his old character, and even fourteen years after number one he manages the talk, the walk and the fighting just like the younger Stallone that was unaffected by fame back in 1976.

Keeping with the back-to-the-very-beginning theme, John G Avildsen returns to the director's chair after Stallone had directed the middle three films. Sets and locations are recreated almost perfectly, and Avildson recreates Rocky I's energy in a way we'd never seen in the middle films. Bill Conti, after a conspicuous absence from Rocky IV, returns to the soundtrack, and is greatly appreciated.

Rocky V is not loved or respected as the first film was, and generally not enjoyed as much as numbers two, three and four. But I believe that it's still a fine
conclusion to the series. The atmosphere seen in 1976 has been recreated impressively, and new plot elements introduced and milked well. Less of an action film and more of a drama, Rocky V deserves a lot more attention than it has been given. Not the best in the series, but still a great film and ideal closing chapter for Rocky.

I've now reviewed all five of the Rocky films, one of my favourite series of movies, and would heartily recommend each one to anyone who hasn't seen the films. There have been many rumours floating around about a Rocky VI. These have been coming in waves for the last ten years, but there is still a chance that Stallone will write another Rocky. I have to say I'd prefer the series to be left alone unless Stallone can really add something new and exciting - Was number five an unsatisfactory end to one of film's most loved characters? Is the fight not over till the final bell? Should Rocky die? Maybe. What is certain, though, is that the Rocky franchise is not dead. A stage play is currently being written by Stallone, and a video game was shown at last weekend's ECTS. Whether or not a Rocky VI rounds of the series for good, V is still a great conclusion to an excellent string of movies.

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