Rocky V Review "I didn't hear no bell!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, now we are into April and Easter is approaching, I figure I would get another post up and as I have been re-watching the Rocky films, there is one that I did review ages back but haven't updated and that is Rocky V. 

Now, Rocky V is often considered the weakest entry in the franchise and had negative reviews on its release but after almost 35 years, how does this film now fair? Well, let's take another look and find out....

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

So, the film begins 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 gets 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 gets 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 apologizes 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 Paulie stands up for Rocky, Tommy hits Paulie and Rocky then challenges Tommy to a street fight, which leads to the film's climax as both men get involved in a dirty street brawl...

THOUGHTS

There is no doubt that Rocky V is the weakest of 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 and he even rated it as 0 out 10 on the Jonathan Ross show!  

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers)

So, moving onto the performances will things are actually not too bad here, with regular cast providing some nice performances.  

Starting with Sylvester Stallone 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.  

And Sly gets some good scenes, such as his first one where Rocky is feeling the effects of his fight with Drago in the shower room, he is trembling and Adrian tries to comfort him. And Rocky says to her "You know Adrian, how Mickey used to say he fought so hard sometimes he thought something was broken inside" and Adrian worried says "Rocky, you're scaring me!" and Rocky trembling says to her "My hand won't stop shaking! I just wanna go home!" and Adrian says "Come on" and Rocky says worringly instead "I wanna go home, Mick!". 

Then there is the scene where Rocky watches Tommy spar roughly in Mickey's gym and he tells him to ease off and says "Sparring don't mean breaking bones, kid!". Tommy then says "Why don't you give me a chance! Not unless you don't think I got nothin goin on" and Rocky says "Nothing goin on? No. You got plenty going on, kid but I ain't no manager, I always been the managed person" and he says "Listen, good luck alright" and he turns his back on Tommy who walks off angrily punching a punch bag as he goes.

Then there is the scene where Rocky argues loudly with Adrian on the street after Tommy drives off on him.  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!" and he slams his jacket down on the wet ground.   

Then there is the scene where Rocky pleads with Tommy not to sign with Duke outside his house on Christmas Eve. So, Rocky says "This is what Mick told me about. About the business, the dirty part of the business. These managers, when they represent these fighters, they promise them the world, then they, they suck' em dry, leave them, leave them in the gutter, broke Tommy! This is what I'm talkin' about? You know Tommy? Duke. Duke, he's, he's like a vampire Tommy. He's living off of your blood Tommy!". Tommy then angrily says to Rocky "But I ain't you and you ain't Mick! When are you gonna realise this is a business and in business you need..." and Rocky annoyed says "Brains?! What you saying I don't have any brains?!" and Tommy says he never said that but its his way or the highway and he drives off leaving Rocky yelling "TOMMY!" but he feels the effects of his brain trauma come over him briefly. 

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! Tommy Gunn only fights in the ring!" and Rocky replies "My ring's outside" and Tommy angrily says "Let's do it!".  And then Rocky sucker punches Tommy a few times and knocks him down and says "I loved you man! We were like this! But you blew it, Tommy! You blew it!". 

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?!". 

And last of all is the scene at the end where Rocky 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!". Robert then pretend punches him and Rocky says "Don't keep punching, I'm gettin brittle ya know". Rocky in his closing says to Robert "You know, I've been running up and down these steps for 20 years and I never knew there were valuable paintings in this building". Robert then says "You'll never too old to learn something new. You're gonna love Picasso" and Rocky smiles and says "Yeah? Well, I love almost everybody" and they walk off.  

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 has quite a few notable scenes such as the one where she berates Paulie for giving their accountant power of attorney, leaving them now broke. And Adrian in the scenes tells Rocky "He gave our accountant power of attorney!" but Paulie defiantly says "I didn't give power to nobody! He's the thief! I need alcohol" and he storms out. And Rocky asks what happened and Adrian says "Its gone" and Rocky asks "What's gone?" and Adrian says "The money. The money! Everything! Its all gone!".

Another good scene is when Duke tries to get Rocky to do another fight on the street in Philly but Adrian runs up to Rocky and stops them. So, Adrian shouts at Duke "HE'S DONE FIGHTING!" and Duke says to Rocky "You're a damn fool! Maybe we should sign Mrs Balboa to fight Cain. Looks like she has the cojones in the family!". And Rocky annoyed with her says "Why did you have to come here?" and Adrian says "I wanted to be close to you" and Rocky says "But YOU don't have to come back here, I do!" and Adrian says "Look all it would take is one hit and you'd be an invalid" and Rocky angrily says "I already feel like and invalid, Adrian!". 

Then there is the scene 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!".

And last of all is the scene where after Rocky watches Tommy win his world champion title fight and doesn't get credit for it from Tommy, Adrian tries to tell him that Tommy never had his heart. So, Adrian says to Rocky "I told you, you could give him everything but you couldn't give him your heart". Rocky however tries to brush it off and says "No. Its OK, Adrian really". 

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 river.

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 "You see that?! That 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!" but Rocky doesn't get the joke and Paulie tells him "That's gym humour, Rocko!".  

And later on after so many fights with Tommy, Paulie sees that Duke has taken over Tommy's PR and imposes himself publicly on Tommy. And Paulie says to Rocky "You hear that Rocko? That's the sound of your ship sinking. This ship has sunk, Rocko, its sunk!" as Rocky looks on disappointed as Duke has Tommy's picture taken with him and a trophy redhead as they start manipulate Tommy.  

And last of all is the scene where Paulie defends Rocky and insults 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! Now get out of here before I break your face!".  And after Tommy decks Paulie, Paulie wipes the blood from his mouth and 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 very good impression as Rocky's son, Robert, who has a subplot involving Robert's struggles fitting into a new school in Philly where he gets bullied but later fights back against the bullies. Sage sadly would later die in 2012 just at the age of 36 coronary artery disease.

And for starters I will mention the scene where 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 as the other kids watch nearby and cheer Robert on.  So, after Robert dishes out the beating, the bully get's up and Robert refers to his stolen jacket the bully wears "I believe that is mine. If you wanna to finish what we started?" and the bully says "No, that's OK, we're good" and he walks away. 

Then there is the 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 said that we'd be tight and you lied!" and Robert warns Rocky "You know when you said to watch out for scams and deceptions? Well you are the one that should have watched out!". 

Then there is the scene where Rocky makes amends with Robert and says to him "Look kid, I would love just to hang out with again. Just you and me this time, I swear to God" and Robert after a moment asks home "Home team?" and Rocky says "Yeah" and they walk together. So, Rocky says "You wanna hear a joke?" and Robert cheerily says "Yeah sure why not?" and Rocky says "Knock knock" and Robert asks "Who's there?" and Rocky says "Tuna fish" and Robert says "Tuna fish who?" and Rocky says "You can tune a piano but you cannot tune a fish!" and Robert laughs and says "Well, you're getting better!".  

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 however does a decent enough job here despite not being an actor himself even if his line delivery at times is a bit hammy and overdone. 

And he does have some notable scenes himself such as the one where he waits outside Mickey's gym to chat to Rocky again to persuade him to train him. 

So, Tommy says to Rocky "I know all about you all back to your first fight with Apollo Creed. I read about how no one gave you a chance. I'm not from the same streets as you but I'm hungry just like you were. Ever since I put gloves on I wanted to meet you. Cos I knew if anybody could have made me a winner, it would be you" and Rocky looks at Paulie and asks "Do, I look like a winner here?". Tommy then says "Look, Rocky you don't know me but anything you need me to do, I'll do it. All I'm asking for is a chance, I mean just one shot".  

And then there is the scene where Tommy while eating with Rocky, Adrian, Paulie and Robert he tells them about growing with a violent father. So, he says to them "So, every time I step into that ring now, I see my father. He's the first guy I ever knocked out. I guess its kind of sick isn't it?".

And then we have the scene where Tommy has it out with Rocky as he tells him that he is signing with Duke and leaving Rocky behind. So, Tommy shouts at Rocky "I'm 22-0! Where's the money?! The way we were going I'm not gonna get a shot at the title for a long time!". And as Rocky pleads with Tommy not to sign with Duke, he tells him about Mickey protecting him when he was a young boxer. Tommy however says "But I ain't you and you ain't Mick! When are you gonna realise that this is a business and in business you need..." and Rocky angrily says "Brains??!! You saying I don't have any brains, Tommy?!!". Tommy then angrily says "Look Rock! You took me as far as you could but Duke gave me my title shot, not you. If you wanna still train me then do it, if not then don't!! But its my way or the highway!!" and he drives off. 

Then there is the fight scene with Rocky and Tommy at the end which is  pretty decent highlight and I like it when he grabs Duke and shouts "YOU DON'T OWN ME!!! NOBODY DOES!!"and he turns to Rocky and says "I want my respect!" who taunts him "Come and get it". And after Tommy beats up on Rocky, who seems to be feeling the effects of the fight, Rocky then manages to get up and says "Hey Tommy! I didn't hear no bell! One more round!" and Tommy says to him "This time I'm not gonna knock you out, I'm gonna put you through the street!".  

Tommy Morrison himself unfortunately however has since passed away in 2013 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 does a pretty good as the insufferably obnoxious and 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! 

And Gant's notable scenes include the one where Duke tries to persuade Rocky into fighting but Adrian stops him. So, Adrian shouts at Duke "HE'S DONE! HE'S DONE FIGHTING!" and after a pause, Duke angrily says to Rocky "You're a damn fool! Maybe we ought to sign Mrs Balboa to fight Cain. Looks like she's the only one with the cajones in the family!". 

Another good scene is the one after a disastrous title match press conference Duke grabs a furious Tommy and says to him he must get Rock to fight him in order to gain the respect that he so badly wants. So, Duke angrily says to Tommy "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 he says to Rocky "Hey Balboa. You finally outclassed the bum huh?". Rocky then moves toward him with intent and Duke smiles and says "Touch me and I'll sue. Come on, punk! Touch me and I'll sue" and Rocky tightens his fist and after a moment punches Duke in the gut onto a car and Rocky says "Sue me for what?".

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 up you son of a bitch, cos Mickey loves you!".     

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

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. He also deserves credit for bringing some sense of reality back to the Rocky series here after the outlandish nature of Rocky IV where Rocky was buying robots for his son that he uses to look after him while Robert's parents abandon him! 

And lastly Bill Conti makes a welcome return with another charming music score although it does incorporate some music tones of the early 90's which does somewhat date it somewhat to that period. However we still manage to get the familiar charming themes that featured in the previous Rocky films that Conti scored and they work just as well here. 

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!)
   
So, as for flaws...yes Rocky V has a few worth mentioning. 

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 pretty bland 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. And its hard to really care about if he makes it or not as he goes on, we see that Tommy is seduced by the promises of wealth that Duke makes to him more than his faith in Rocky getting him a shot at the title.

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 gets knocked down, Duke says "Now I told you not to try and fight a street fighter's fight!". Achh just shut up already!!

Union Cane is another pointless character, who takes on the undeserved mantle of the world heavyweight champion after Rocky's retiring 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!".  Yeah, just keep telling yourself that one mate! ;-)

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 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! To be fair though their onscreen relationship does have it charm.

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.

I also found the film had one or two cringey throwbacks with the main offender being the Italian priest that appears in Rocky II that blesses Rocky and Tommy's partnership and Rocky says "I love it when he does that!" when the priest blesses them. And the priest again appears later on in the film out of nowhere after Rocky wins his fight against Tommy! And its such a stupidly random moment for them to pop him in the scene again so Rocky can say "I love it when he does that" again.  

Anyway that's it for the flaws. 

SUM UP    

So to sum up, Rocky V remains the weakest entry in the series as it has its share of problems regarding its bland and annoying supporting characters in Tommy and Duke and some rather daft plot holes as well as some overly sentimental moments at times in the film. But despite all that it still is an enjoyable film and it did at least bring the Rocky series back down to earth and Stallone provides another charming likeable performance as Rocky and Talia Share, Burt Young also reprise their roles well and Sage Stallone is also very good as Rocky's son Robert.

And if you go into Rocky V with low expectations and don't try and look for something great, then you might just enjoy it and it is for me still an underrated film that doesn't deserve the hate it gets.

So, I will give Rocky V:

7.5 out of 10

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post at some point this month.

Until then its bye for now!