345. Rocky V; movie review

 

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ROCKY V

Cert 12A

105 mins

BBFC advice: Contains moderate violence, injury detail

Oh, my goodness. Even Sylvester Stallone admits that Rocky V was a howler and he really wasn't wrong.

Sly knew what made a great film early in the Rocky franchise but had apparently forgotten the key ingredients by the time he was wheeling out the champ for the fifth time.

The charm and the romance are both lost but so is the care with the plot which made perfect sense in the original and sequel but had been progressively losing connection with reality.

The first begin question is posed early. Would Rocky and particularly Adrian (Talia Shire) entrust their accumulated wealth to her brother, Paulie (Burt Young?).

Well, apparently, they did and he signed a deal with a rogue investor which they meant they lost the lot.

The second question is would Paulie have kept paying the rent on his low-grade Philadelphia house if he was living it up in a mansion?

Well, apparently, he did because when they are forced to sell-up, they move right back to where they came from.

This is particularly tough on Rocky and Adrian's son (Sage Stallone), who has been brought up with a silver spoon and finds the going in the ghetto tough.

The third question surrounds whether Rocky would really forsake his loyalties - suddenly the ultimate family man has his head turned by a prospect called Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison).

Meanwhile, he is being courted to come out of retirement by a ludicrously over-the-top Don King-alike manager (Richard Gant).

I had criticised Rocky IV to being too keenly focused on boxing but Rocky V goes completely the other way.

Our hero is not interested in fighting and, frankly, the storyline of his mentorship of the new kid on the block is dull.

Ditto, the difficult relationship he has with his son.

Stallone is right in his negative assessment of Rocky V but the franchise had been on the slide - it was bound to hit the bottom.

Reasons to watch: A classic franchise

Reasons to avoid: So much weaker than the series' other films

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: None

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 3/10

Did you know? Sylvester Stallone's son Sage Stallone played Robert Balboa, Jr. His younger brother Seargeoh Stallone previously played the newborn Robert in Rocky II (1979). Sylvester Stallone's salary for the first Rocky film was $23,000. His salary for Rocky V (1990) was $15m, a 65,217% pay raise.

The final word. Sylvester Stallone: "I feel I let a lot of people down with Rocky V, I really did.  I've gone through a lot of ups and downs myself.  To just put all of this into a film, maybe that's what made the first one work.  Because it didn't deal with boxing, you know, it dealt with the issues of him just coping with life.  And then the metaphor at the end is the boxing." Big Fan Boy

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