Right OK time for part five of my posts on the Rocky film series (can't believe I'm nearly done already!) which will cover Rocky V, which marked the return of John G. Avildsen to the directing chair. Rocky V was supposed to be the conclusion to the series, however it was poorly received on its release, but I will say more on that a bit later. For now let's have the usual look at the plot summary and we'll take things from there.
Sooooo the film begins, in fine tradition like all the others where the last one left off (i.e. Rocky IV) with Rocky after his victory over Ivan Drago in Russia, returning home to the US with Adrian, Paulie and Duke (Tony Burton). On arriving in the US, Rocky is reunited with his son, Robert (Sage Stallone) and at a press conference, Rocky is approached by the boxing promoter, George Washington Duke (Richard Gant) who attempts to get him involved in a fight with his prospect, Union Cane (Michael Williams) but Rocky refuses. On returning home however things turn real bad as it is revealed that Paulie unknowingly had Rocky sign a power of attorney to Rocky's accountant, who had squandered all their money on real estate deals that went sour. The accountant had also failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the last six years and their mansion is discovered to have a $400,000 debt, which forces Rocky to file for bankruptcy and to have his mansion and belongings auctioned off. As a result of this Rocky and his family are forced to move back to Rocky's old neighbourhood in South Philadelphia. And to make matters worse, Rocky discovers from the doctors that he has suffered brain damage after his fight with Drago and as a result he can no longer box.
Rocky then goes back to the gym belonging to his former trainer, the late Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) which Mickey actually bequeathed to Robert. Rocky one day meets a young and hungry fighter named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison) who is eager for Rocky to train him, however Rocky initially refuses, but eventually accepts and takes him under his wing. Together Rocky and Tommy make a name for themselves as fighter and trainer as Tommy's raw talent as a boxer get's him noticed and he climbs up the ranks to be a top contender. Rocky however has become so embroiled in training Tommy that he starts to neglect his son, Robert, who becomes discontent and angry at his father. Robert also get's bullied at school, however he soon learns a few moves from Tommy and he beats up one of the bullies, and they soon start hanging out with one another.
Duke in the meantime uses the opportunity of a title shot to lure Tommy to join him, as he intends to take him away from Rocky. Duke also makes Tommy aware of the fact that he and Rocky don't even have a formal contract agreement, which he also uses to his advantage to lure him away. On the night of Christmas Eve, Tommy turns up at Rocky's house with Duke and he tells him how he is going to sign with Duke so he can get his title shot. Rocky pleads with Tommy to not get involved with Duke as he is just using him, but Tommy refuses to listen and drives off in his car. Rocky afterwards has an argument with Adrian as he tells her he resents being back in his old neighbourhood and that working with Tommy gave him something to aim for. Adrian however tells Rocky that Tommy could never be him as he doesn't have Rocky's heart and spirit and that he should see to his son rather than Tommy. Rocky then afterward goes to Robert and apologises for neglecting him and they make amends.
Later Tommy has his title fight against Union Cane and he ends up defeating Cane with great ease as he knocks him out in the first round to win the world heavyweight title, much to the chagrin of the crowd who boo him for having left Rocky. Rocky is delighted watching at home but is disheartened when Tommy doesn't even acknowledge him on TV and instead credits Duke for getting him there. Tommy however is given a grilling in a post match press conference where the reporters tell him that Cane wasn't even a proper champion as he never fought anyone to acquire it. The reporters also say that Tommy needs to fight a worthy opponent in order to prove himself as a champion. After the conference Tommy is furious and Duke convinces him the only way he can get the respect he so badly wants is to fight Rocky man to man. Tommy and Duke soon confront Rocky at his local bar and challenge him to fight, with Rocky initially refusing, but when Tommy hits Paulie, Rocky challenges Tommy to a street fight, which leads to the film's climax as both men get involved in a dirty street brawl.
There is no doubt that Rocky V is the weakest of all the Rocky films and as it was supposedly the last Rocky film of the series it certainly in that regard proved to be something of a disappointment. However despite all that I still think there is a fair bit to enjoy in Rocky V and while it is far from perfect, one thing that Stallone does do well here is relocate Rocky's story back to where he began in his old neighbourhood. And by doing this Stallone manages to ground the series again back in reality after the wealthy excesses of Rocky III and IV. And its encouraging to at least see the regular characters are still as endearing as they were before with Rocky still having his world weary charm, and Paulie proving to be the same likeable bum, and Adrian providing the emotional anchor to the family. The film however as I mentioned was not successful on its release and even Sylvester Stallone mentioned afterward that he intended for Rocky V to see the series end on a high note but he was disappointed as he felt Rocky V just didn't do that. But as for the film's flaws I will get to them a bit later on.
So moving onto the performances will things are actually not too bad here, with regular cast providing some nice performances. Sly once again provides a charming and likeable performance as Rocky who after being forced to retire from boxing due to sustaining brain trauma from his fight against Drago and losing his wealth and posessions, has to go back to living on the rough streets of his old neighbourhood. Sly get's some good scenes, such as where he pleads with Tommy not to sign with Duke and also in the same scene where he argues loudly with Adrian. And Rocky says to Adrian angrily "Hey Adrian, I know where we live! What do you think I am, stupid? I'm not as dumb as you think I am! I see where I am Adrian, and I don't want this no more! I want something good for the family and not this! Adrian did I come back to have my brains beat out for these guys to say "Hey there goes Balboa! Just another bum in the neighbourhood!". Stallone also however has some fun moments in the film as well such as the scene at the end where he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia museum of art, and he gives Robert, Rocky Marciano's cufflink, and Robert holds it to his ear like an earring and asks how he looks and Rocky says "Well you look like the daughter I always wanted!". Also Sly as Rocky tells some awful jokes, but there is one but I couldn't resist putting in with the punchline being "You can tune a piano but you cannot tune a fish!". And when Duke tries to entice Rocky again to fight he quotes a line written by Mark Twain, and Paulie asks who was he and Rocky replies "He was a painter". Another one of my favourite scenes in the film from Sly is when Tommy confronts Rocky in the bar and after Tommy hits Paulie, Rocky says "Now you knocked him down. Why don't you try knockin me down now?!" and Duke says "Only in the ring!" and Rocky replies "My ring's outside". Also another great line that Sly has is after the fight he walks up to the arrogant Duke, who says "touch me and I'll sue" and Rocky hesitates then punches Duke in the gut who falls onto a car and Rocky smiles and says "Sue me for what?!".
Talia Shire once again also provides a nice performance as Adrian, Rocky's rock (OK I've used that one twice now!) and she shares her best scene with Sly in the scene where they argue over Tommy and their son Robert. And Talia's best line comes during the argument when she says "All those beatings you took in the ring, I took them with you! I know how you feel when someone like Tommy comes along you feel alive! But he's not you - he doesn't have your heart! All those fighters you beat with heart, not muscle! If you wanna pass something on, pass it on to your son, for God's sake! You son is lost, he needs you! I know Tommy makes you feel great, and he makes you feel like you are winning again, but you are losing us! Rocky, you're losing your family!".
Burt Young is great again in his role as the cynical yet somehow likeable bum Paulie, who makes the stupidest decision of his life but giving power of attorney to Rocky's accountant and thereby selling them all down the shitter. Burt has plenty of good lines in the film, such as in the scene when he and Rocky first see Tommy box with such aggression and Paulie smiles "This is the smell of opportunity, Rocko!". And when Rocky asks Paulie what "cojones" means, he says "Its Latin for Spanish nuts!". And in the scene where Tommy arrives in Mickey's old gym, Paulie says "Tommy said to me he wants to fight, so I told him to get married!". And later on after so many fights with Tommy, Paulie realises that Tommy will never be Rocky and he says to him "This ship has sunk, Rocko, its sunk!". He also has a funny moment where he dresses up as Santa for Robert and his friends, except rather than say "Ho ho ho" he says "Yo yo yo!" and tells the kids to shut up. But Burt's best moment comes later when he confronts Tommy at the bar and he tells him "You know you're a real piece garbage you know that, Tommy?! This man spit blood for you, he put you before his own family! Rocky's the real champion and you're just a goddamn joke!". And after Tommy decks Paulie, he looks up to Rocky and says "You should have left him on the streets where you found him!".
As for new cast members Sage Stallone, Sly's real life late son, makes a suprisingly good imperssion as Rocky's son, Robert, although his story is bit less interesting in how he has to deal with the local bullies at school. Although it does allow for a good scene when the kid that bullies him taunts him again and Robert finally stands up to him and shouts "Go for it!" and proceeds to kick his ass. He also shares another good scene with Sly when Robert has finally had enough of his dad's neglect and he warns him about his situation with Tommy "You know when you said to watch out for scams and deceptions? Well you are the one that should have watched out!". Sage, who went on to establish himself as a film producer in his later career, sadly died last year of a heart attack.
As for Tommy Morrison however it has to be said that he is definitely the weakest link here as Tommy "the machine" Gunn, the young and ambitious boxer who wants to make it to the top, and is replete with a ridiculous mullett! Morrison's delivery in the film is so wooden and one dimensional that you can't really root from him on any level and throughout he has a tendency to grate on your nerves with a Southern drawl and his fast delivery of such cliched lines as "Its my way or the highway!". However to be fair his fight scene with Sly at the end is a pretty decent highlight in his otherwise bland performance and I like it when he grabs Duke and shouts "You don't own me!! No one does! I want my respect!" and he later says to Rocky "This time I'm gonna put you through the street!". Tommy Morrison himself unfortunately however has since passed away two years ago from complications due to reportedly having suffered from AIDS probably as a result of drug abuse as he had a troubled history of charges with the police for drugs, assault and possession of firearms. In fact that remains one of the film's more poignant aspects is that two of the lead actors, Sage and Tommy are no longer with us, one of which sadly remains a personal tragedy for Stallone himself.
Richard Gant although he is a more capable actor, his performance is also rather annoying as the manipulative boxing promoter, George Washington Duke, and most of the time you just want to slap him and by the time Rocky punches his lights out at the end, you feel its way overdue! Regardless of that though he does get a few good lines such as when he grabs Tommy after the press conference and says to him he must get Rock to fight him. "You gotta dog him, you gotta humiliate him, you gotta do whatever it takes to get him in that ring! But that's what you gotta do!". Also near the end of the film after he witness Rocky defeat Tommy in the street fight (SPOILED IT!!) he looks on amazed and says "Goddamn! Only in America!". And lastly another good line he has is when he fails to persuade Rocky to fight again and he says to him "You are a damned fool! Looks like Mrs Balboa is the one with the cajones in the family. Maybe we should sign her to fight Cane".
And lastly I will mention Burgess Meredith who provides a charming, albeit somewhat sentimental performance in a flashback scene when Rocky heads back to Mickey's old gym and he gives the younger Rocky, a cufflink that was given to him by Rocky Marciano. And Mickey says to Rocky "If you ever get hurt and you ever feel like you are going down this little angel is gonna whisper in your ear. Its gonna say "Get you son of a bitch, cos Mickey loves you!".
And here's a quick mention to John G. Avildsen who does a decent job with the directorial duties here although he fails to really capture the grimy and realistic qualities that the orignal had, he still keeps the film moving along nicely and presents the boxing scenes well. And lastly Bill Conti makes a welcome return with another charming music score although it does incorporate some music tones of the late 80s which does somewhat date it somewhat to that period.
Soooooo getting to the film's flaws and niggles as Rocky V sure has a few. For starters one of the main problems with the film are its two new characters, Tommy Gunn and George Washington Duke. For starters Tommy Gunn as a character is bland, turgid and one dimensional and his back story is not very interesting either, offering a wholly unoriginal idea of becoming a boxer because the anger he endured at the hands of his abusive father. Yawn! And you don't really care if he will makes it or not as the character is basically very uninteresting, as even in the film they call him "the clone ranger" as he has no real individuality. And then there is the boxing promoter Duke who from the start is just an infuriating pain in the ass, who babbles on like some kind of demented evangelist and is obviously a take on the real life boxing promoter Don King (minus the ridiculous hair!). And he even babbles on during Rocky and Tommy's fight when Tommy get's knocked down, Duke says "Now I told you not try and fight a street fighter's fight!". Achhh shut up! Union Cane is another pointless character, who takes on the undeserved mantle of the world heavyweight champion after Rocky's retiral and he serves to be an absurdly easy obstacle for Tommy to remove so he can claim the title for his own. And the actor playing him, Michael Williams, even has a ridiculous line where he says "I'm better than Balboa ever was!". Aye right!
The film is also somewhat overly sentimental as well in places, particularly in the scene where Rocky has his flashback with Mickey and in that scene it just feels a bit too gushy with Mickey being overly gooey about his love for Rocky like a son. The scenes with Rocky and Robert also feel a bit sentimental as well, and it starts to get a bit obvious and annoying when Rocky keeps trying to pull the same trick on his son by saying "Kid what's up with your ear? You gotta bump!" and he pulls a coin from behind his ear with a bit of slight of hand, yet he does it so many times surely the kid would twig what he's doing! Also the whole subplot of Rocky losing his entire family fortune by signing a blanket power of attorney to his accountant just seems really silly. For starters why didn't Adrian take to do with Rocky's business affairs?! As her character is a smart and capable woman who surely would be better at dealing with the financial side of things than a sleazy bum like Paulie, yet somehow it appears she decided to leave it all up to him! Either that or she had some serious blinders to what was going on, but she would be absolutely mad to leave it up to Paulie, which is what appears to be have happened.
So it has to be said that Rocky V is the weakest of the six Rocky films and it has its problems and Stallone rightly made the decision to later conclude the series with its sixth and much better film, Rocky Balboa. But despite all that it still is an enjoyable film and it did at least bring the Rocky series back down to earth and the three main characters are still as good as they ever were. But its just a shame it couldn't have been that bit better.
Anyway so next up its round six with Rocky Balboa, the final round, and that will follow soon so until the next time bye for now.
Ding ding!
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