Quick Reviews Of The Rocky Movies

Creed is coming out this November...if you're in America because oscar movies for some reason hate England and we have to wait till fucking January to get this thing seriously i've been waiting to watch Creed for months GIVE IT TO ME! *Deep breath* But before the film comes out i'm going to give very quick reviews of each of the films, not full reviews for each because i feel like i would be repeating myself a lot because these films are quite repetitive in terms of story structure. With that being said, let's get too it.

Rocky
The original and often considered the best, you know it's funny, when i first saw this film i only thought it was okay, but seeing all the others has made me appreciate it more, and not because the others are so bad this one is a masterpiece in comparison, but i mean as i got to know these characters and grow to care about them i found it fascinating to see where they all began. Sylvester Stallone loves this character so much he practically is Rocky and he's a sympathetic and likeable underdog who's rise to stardom is enjoyable to watch. Though the story structure is repetitive this is the one that does it the best, it has the best training montage, it has the best underdog to focus on and while the ending sounds good on paper something about the execution feels a little bit too rushed and flat for me. Also I hate Adrian and Paulie in this movie.

Rocky II
This film sort of the exact opposite of the previous one, the original had great build up with a shallow ending, this one has a slow and boring build up but a fantastic ending. The majority of the film is just watching Rocky being famous and it's not very interesting though he does get a great dramatic scene halfway through the film which tells everyone that Stallone can actually act. But it's the ending that gets to me, Rocky holding that belt and shouting "Yo Adrian! I did it!" Always brings a lump to my throat, you just feel the passion, sacrifice and pride in Stallone's voice when delivering that line, despite the great emotional scene earlier on, this one line is the best performance Stallone has ever given.

Rocky III
Sort of the forgotten middle child of the franchise mostly because it doesn't rely on a gimmick, i know that's strange to say seeing as it features Hulk Hogan and Mr T but it's true. Rocky II ends with Rocky finally winning the big fight and becoming the champion and this is just a film about Rocky...staying the champion. That's not to say there isn't good drama, a great training montage and in my opinion the best Rocky and Adrian scene when he admits he's afraid-side note, Adrian has fuck all to do for the first hour of the movie, if not more-so while this is a very satisfying film it's also the simplest of all the films.

Rocky IV
How can you not love this masterpiece? Rocky takes on Ivan Drago and single handedly ends the Cold War with a speech about change and peace from the man who punches people for a living. Paulie is in a relationship with a robot maid, Rocky trains using farmhouse equipment, good god this movie is cheesy from beginning to end and i love it to death. However, the only legitimately amazing thing about this movie (Unironically of course) is the soundtrack, this is the best soundtrack in all of the Rocky movies and if you've never worked out while listening to Hearts on Fire, change that ASAP.

Rocky V
Often considered the worst of the Rocky movies and honestly, i don't see why. Okay i understand some of the hate, like Rocky's son in the movie is annoying as shit and i just want to punch him in the face. But for the rest of the film, it's fine, sadly the son stuff takes up about half the movie but everything involving Tommy Gunn was interesting enough and the final street fight i thought was great, no rules, no strategy, just passion, fury and fists, i found myself getting really amped up by that ending. Also Adrian sucks again.

Rocky Balboa
The last Rocky film (Until Creed) for a lot of people was a great way to end the franchise...i thought it was okay. The best thing i can say about this film is that it's the best paced of the lot, i was 3/4 through the film before i even checked the time and i was surprised to see how far through it i was. It does improve a lot from the prior films, Rocky's son is no longer annoying, the final fight is brilliantly shot (With a real audience that is really chanting for Rocky). So while granted it's definitely a good film, it also doesn't have that many risks to it that make it stand out. Also Rocky speaks in nothing but motivational speeches, i'll leave that up to you whether or not that's a good thing.

So those are my opinions on all of the Rocky films, a franchise that i had never seen a single on of at the start of the year but now have seen them all in preparation for Creed...which I still have to wait till FUCKING JANUARY YOU COCKSUCKERS! Sorry, sorry, lost my cool there for a second...it's still a shit decision though.

-Danny