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He should have quit while he was ahead with Rocky III

posted 9 years ago by Tiggersmom77
30 replies | jump to latest

Apollo Creed Becoming Rocky's manager and friend would have been the ideal ending for what could have been the perfect trilogy. Rocky IV was very entertaining, but I agree with the sentiment that it was almost a caricature of the franchise. I also think the character of Apollo Creed deserved a better ending than what he got.

Rocky V felt incredibly amateurish compared to the previous 4. It was almost like watching a TV movie due to the awful sound track, and poor acting by the actor playing Tommy "The Machine " Gunn(easily the WORST sound track of the 6 films). I appreciate Stallone trying to take Rocky V back to the magic of the original, but it just doesn't work here. They tried taking Rocky back to the sweet dim wit he was in the original. The problem with that is that somewhere between Rocky II and III, his IQ shot up about 25 points(one of my few gripes with III). I get the brain damage from the Drago fight excuse. It feels forced though, and only accentuates the fact that they took Rocky out of character in the last two films, and now they need an excuse for why he's a dullard again. I do like the street fight ending of V. It was a fresh ending for a painfully mediocre film.

I enjoyed Rocky Balboa, and I think it was everything Rocky V was trying to be. I know V was technically a segue into RB, but I think they could have done RB without IV and V.

"I saw it move too!"-Mo Rutherford

[–] DjokerFan 9 years ago

I go back and forth with this one.

IV was the one movie that added absolutely nothing to the Rocky story. It was like they all got high one night in 1984 and said "hey, let's make another Rocky movie." Given that III was made I liked the idea of V despite its poor execution. You can't end the Rocky saga with him being rich, there had to be some angle for the story to be brought full circle.

At times I go one further and say that III was almost as unnecessary as IV and V. Rocky should have never had even one successful title defense even if Mick admittedly was hand-selecting weak opponents. Rocky wasn't that great of a fighter himself, and as Mick said, the beating he took from Apollo should have killed him. Some argue that Rocky should have never fought again after his first fight with Apollo but I can suspend just enough disbelief to go along with Mick's right-handed fighting tactic allowing Rocky to get one more match in. I would be perfectly fine with him vacating the belt after he won it from Apollo, and using the money he won from the fight to retire and spend the rest of his life running Adrian's restaurant.

[–] Tiggersmom77 9 years ago

I agree with this. They could have easily stopped at Rocky II. What makes Rocky III so endearing (IMO at least) is Rocky's relationship with Apollo Creed. I think it was an awesome development in the story, even if it was unnecessary.

My biggest gripe with IV is how Apollo died. Everything they did in III they undid in IV. IV was great 80's fun, but it added nothing to the story, and actually detracted from it.

"I saw it move too!"-Mo Rutherford

[–] DjokerFan 9 years ago

Another reason why they could have stopped at II. I don't need to see Rocky and Apollo as friends. Rocky earned Apollo's respect at the end of II, that was good enough for me. In fact, an argument could be made that Apollo was gaining respect for Rocky all throughout II, as he took his training and the fight much more seriously this time. Apollo was very public-image conscious so he kept his "this guy is a lucky chump who will fall in 2 rounds this time" exterior but the private dialogue between Rocky and Apollo in the hospital where Apollo admitted that he gave Rocky his best was very telling.

[–] macken74 (660) 6 years ago

Completely agree Tiggersmom77 .... enjoyable in parts but killing off such a loved character from the previous 3 films ... nah it doesn't sit well with a lot of fans im sure !

[–] CapitanJusticia 9 years ago

At times I go one further and say that III was almost as unnecessary as IV and V.

I believe ROCKY III was very necessary because it was about ROCKY falling from grace. Not only did he lose his confidence and title to a ferocious younger fighter, but he also lost his father figure and mentor. The movie starts with Rocky at the pinnacle of his success and we see how commercialized he's become, how he lost his 'eye of the tiger'. That's a great setup for his subsequent downfall and it's great seeing how he regains his confidence thanks to Apollo and comes out swinging against Clubber in the rematch!

[–] MaximRecoil (4744) 7 years ago

>You can't end the Rocky saga with him being rich

Why not?

>there had to be some angle for the story to be brought full circle.

Says who? "Brought full circle" in this context is just another way of saying "regression". Why should the hero of a story regress? "Full circle" is a good thing if the hero has gone off on an irrelevant or destructive path and then gets back to what he's good at or meant to do. For example, if Rocky had given up boxing in favor of e.g., loan sharking, then coming full circle by getting back to boxing would be good for the story. What happened in Rocky V isn't even a case of coming full circle anyway. In Rocky, Rocky was a healthy, active boxer. In Rocky V he's neither healthy nor an active boxer anymore.

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[–] wallacesawyer 8 years ago

Nah. 4 and 6 are my favorite films in the series.

http://www.freewebs.com/demonictoys/

[–] TaRaNRoD (1579) 5 years ago

Well this is very... particular.

[–] TandyMan (11181) 7 years ago

Each Rocky sequel is certainly worse than the last. I love all the movies, the problems don't really bother me. I would agree Rocky works best as a story, in regard to character arcs and the human journey, as a trilogy. But Rocky 4 is also one of my favorite movies ever, even though it offers little to the franchise.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 6 years ago

I'm wrong I know to start off with the fifth in the series but this is the first 'Rocky' I've watched. I wanted to see how patriotic he was. With him waving the Stars and Stripes at his victory. It's OK. But I don't think I'll be watching this particular one again. I've rated it 5/10.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

if you wanted to see jingoistic flag waving you watched the wrong one , try number 4 :)

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 6 years ago

I'll watch number 4 next. I like the poster to that one. I'm working my way back in reverse order. I wonder how he got to be so patriotic?

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I think number 4 will explain that question, and bear in mind when watching it , it was the height of the cold war at the time.

[–] greenbudgie (2355) 6 years ago

Thanks. Sounds it'll be reds under the beds stuff from the 1980s.

[–] Utpe (658) 6 years ago

I've always liked the street fighting scene between Rocky and Tommy "The Machine" Gunn, even though most of Rocky V was meh.

The rating seems rather fitting. It's a 5/10 film at best.

[–] macken74 (660) 6 years ago

They killed off Apollo in Rocky IV ... this reason alone means this movie should not have went ahead ! leaving it at III would have rounded it off perfectly !