Rocky V

Rocky V is a 1990 American sports drama film. It is the fifth installment in the Rocky series, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone,[1] and co-starring Talia Shire, Stallone's real-life son Sage, and real-life boxer Tommy Morrison, with Morrison in the role of Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer.[2] Sage played Rocky Balboa, Jr, whose relationship with his famous father is explored. After Stallone directed the second through fourth films in the series, Rocky V saw the return of John G. Avildsen, whose direction of Rocky won him an Academy Award for Best Director.

Rocky V
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn G. Avildsen
Produced by
Written bySylvester Stallone
Based onCharacters
by Sylvester Stallone
Starring
Music byBill Conti
CinematographySteven Poster
Edited by
  • John G. Avildsen
  • Michael N. Knue
  • Robert A. Ferretti
  • Trevor Jolly
Production
company
Distributed byMGM/UA Communications Company
Release date
  • November 16, 1990 (1990-11-16) (United States)
Running time
104 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$42 million
Box office$119.9 million

Reception to the film was generally mixed. The box office gross was $180 million below that of Rocky IV. Rocky V marked the final appearances of Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith in the Rocky series. Due to the low box office result, Rocky V was the last Rocky film with which United Artists had any involvement. A sixth film, Rocky Balboa, was released in 2006 and garnered much more favorable reviews. Stallone has also brought the Rocky character back in the spin-offs Creed and Creed II.

Plot

Immediately after his victory over Ivan Drago in Moscow, Rocky experiences physical complications from the fight. Rocky, his wife Adrian, his brother-in-law Paulie, and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers return to the United States where they are greeted by Rocky's son, Robert. At a press conference, boxing promoter George Washington Duke attempts to goad Rocky into fighting his boxer, Union Cane, who is the top-rated challenger. Rocky declines.

After returning home, Rocky and Adrian discover they are broke after Paulie was fooled into signing a "power of attorney" over to Rocky's accountant, who squandered all of his money on real estate deals gone sour and failed to pay Rocky's taxes over the previous six years. His mansion has been mortgaged by $400,000, but his attorney tells Rocky that it is fixable with a few more fights. Rocky considers accepting the fight with Cane, but Adrian urges him to see a doctor, and he is diagnosed with cavum septum pellucidum. Reluctantly, Rocky retires from boxing. His home and belongings are sold to pay the debt and the Balboas move back to their old working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia. Rocky visits Mighty Mick's Gym (willed to his son by his old trainer Mickey Goldmill) which has fallen into disrepair. Seeing a vision of himself and Mickey from years past, Rocky draws inspiration to become a trainer himself and reopens the gym.

Rocky and Paulie meet a young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn. Rocky agrees to become his manager. Training him gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and Tommy rises to become a top contender. Distracted with Tommy's training, Rocky neglects Robert, who is being bullied at school. After learning to defend himself, Robert falls in with the wrong crowd and becomes withdrawn from his family.

Union Cane wins the vacant world heavyweight title. Still wanting to do business with Rocky, Washington showers Tommy with luxuries and promises him that he is the only path to a shot at the title. Rocky insists dealing with Washington will end badly, causing Tommy to desert him. Adrian attempts to comfort Rocky. Rocky apologizes to Robert and they mend their relationship.

Tommy defeats Cane for the heavyweight title with a first round knockout but is jeered by spectators for leaving Rocky and hounded by reporters after the fight. Tommy gives all the credit for his success to George Washington Duke, which only fans the flames of contempt for Tommy by the fans and media. They insist that Cane was nothing but a "paper champion", because Cane did not win the title from Balboa. Washington convinces Tommy that he needs to secure a title fight with Rocky to refute the notion that he is not the real champion. Washington and Tommy show up at the local bar with a live television crew to goad Rocky into accepting a title fight. Rocky declines and tries to reason with him, but Tommy calls him weak, prompting Paulie to stand up for Rocky. When Tommy punches Paulie, Rocky challenges Tommy to a street fight. Tommy accepts. Rocky knocks him to the ground with a flurry of punches, but Tommy gets up and attacks Rocky from behind. Rocky is beaten down before he hears the voice of Mickey urging him to get up and continue the fight. Rocky gets up and, with Robert, Paulie, and the neighborhood crowd cheering him on, he defeats Tommy. While Tommy is escorted away by the police, Washington threatens to sue Rocky if he touches him. After a brief hesitation, Rocky knocks him onto the hood of a car.

Months later, Rocky and Robert explore the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives his son Rocky Marciano's cufflink, given to him years ago as a gift from Mickey.

Cast
See also: List of Rocky characters

Main cast
  • Sylvester Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa Sr., "The Italian Stallion": Heavyweight Champion of the World, who suffers from brain damage caused by the head-trauma he received at the hands of Ivan Drago in the previous film. Because of his injuries, Rocky is forced to officially retire from boxing. After moving back to Philadelphia, Rocky trains and manages underdog boxer Tommy Gunn and helps him to rise to fame.
  • Talia Shire as Adrian Balboa: Rocky's wife and support throughout his life and his boxing career.
  • Burt Young as Paulie Pennino: Rocky's friend, and brother-in-law.
  • Sage Stallone as Robert "Rocky" Balboa Jr.: Rocky and Adrian's only son, who gets involved with the wrong crowds during his father's absence, throughout the training and mentoring of Tommy Gunn.
  • Tommy Morrison as Tommy "The Machine" Gunn: Underdog boxer, who rises to fame under Rocky's training. Throughout his career he is called Rocky's "shadow", and angrily seeks out another manager. After his achievements as Heavyweight Champion, and the public's continued dis-appreciation for him, he fights Rocky in an unofficial street fight, and loses.
  • Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill: Rocky's deceased friend, manager and trainer, a former bantamweight fighter from the 1920s and the owner of the local boxing gym. Burgess appears in new footage, filmed as a flashback to before Rocky's second fight with Apollo.

Supporting cast
  • Richard Gant as George Washington Duke: Loud and obnoxious boxing promoter, who repeatedly tries to convince Rocky to re-enter the ring. He becomes Tommy Gunn's manager during his shot at the Heavyweight Champion title.
  • Tony Burton as Tony "Duke" Evers: Rocky's friend, and former trainer and manager of Apollo Creed.
  • Paul J. Micale as Father Carmine (uncredited)
  • Michael Williams as Union Cane: Reigning Heavyweight Champion of the World who wants to fight legendary Rocky, and eventually fights Tommy Gunn. Williams was also a real-life boxer. He and Morrison were to have an actual match about a month after Rocky V was released, but it was canceled when Williams was hurt. The match was being hyped as "The Real Cane vs. Gunn Match."

The film has cameos by sportswriters and boxing analysts, including Al Bernstein, Stan Hochman and Al Meltzer, and sportscaster Stu Nahan, who was the ringside announcer in every Rocky movie, save the sixth and seventh. Dolph Lundgren and Carl Weathers appear as Ivan Drago and Apollo Creed in archival footage, uncredited.

Jodi Letizia, who played street kid Marie in the original Rocky (1976), was supposed to reprise her role. Her character was shown to have ended up as Rocky predicted she would: a prostitute, but the scene ended up on the cutting room floor. She can briefly be seen during the street fight at the end. The character reappears in Rocky Balboa (2006) as a bartender and confidante to the aging Rocky. Actress Geraldine Hughes took over the role.

Kevin Connolly, who gained success as Eric Murphy on HBO's Entourage, was in his first acting role as neighborhood bully Chickie.

Production

Filming

Filming began in mid-January of 1990.[3] Some of the fight sequences were filmed at The Blue Horizon in Philadelphia, a venue which was a mecca for boxing in the city during the 1970s.

The Rocky statue, which was commissioned for Rocky III, had since been gifted to the city of Philadelphia and moved to the entrance of the Spectrum, and so had to be moved back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for the filming.[3]

Scenes with Mickey, played by Burgess Meredith, were trimmed in the final film when Rocky fights Tommy. Mickey appeared in ghost form on top of the railway bridge, giving words of encouragement. In the final film, this was made into flashbacks. The speech Mickey gives to Rocky in the flashback sequence is based on an interview with Cus D'Amato given in 1985, shortly after Mike Tyson's first professional bout.

As a promotional gimmick, replicas of the golden glove necklace featured so prominently in the film were distributed to moviegoers at the Hollywood premiere of Rocky V at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

Professional wrestling veteran Terry Funk helped choreograph much of the street fight between Rocky and Tommy Gunn.

In the original script, Rocky is killed during the final fight with Tommy, dying in Adrian's arms in the street.[4] According to Stallone, the director and the studio had second thoughts. Eventually, Stallone rewrote the ending, saying that he decided to change it because Rocky was supposed to be about perseverance and redemption, and having him die in a street brawl would be against the roots of the series.

Continuity

In the years following the film's release, Stallone acknowledged that the injury which forces Rocky to retire, referenced in the film as a potentially lethal form of 'brain damage', was inaccurate.[5] Stallone stated that having discussed the story with many boxing medical professionals, the injury Rocky suffered was a milder form of brain damage, similar to that of a long term concussion that many boxers suffer from and by modern-day standards are still able to gain licenses to box. It would not have prevented Rocky from gaining a license to box nor killed him.[6]

Tony Burton briefly reprises his role as Duke at the beginning of the film. However, during his scenes, Rocky refers to him as "Tony". In the credits, Burton is credited as playing "Tony", as opposed to "Duke" (possibly to avoid confusion with the George Washington Duke character). Rocky V is the third time in the series to do so, with the first being Rocky II as Apollo asked "What are you afraid of, Tony?", and the second time during Rocky IV after receiving a pep talk in the former Soviet Union, "Thanks, Tony." Rocky Balboa names Burton's character "Duke Evers".

Sage Stallone, Sylvester's real-life son, portrays his character's son in the film. In Rocky IV, he was portrayed as a nine-year-old child whereas Sage was 14 at the time of filming, making him a teenager in Rocky V, despite it taking place just days after the events of Rocky IV.

Music

Soundtrack
Main article: Rocky V (album)

The soundtrack album is not the original motion picture score, but rather has music from and inspired by the film. This soundtrack features Joey B. Ellis, MC Hammer, 7A3, MC Tab, Rob Base, and Bill Conti. Most of the soundtrack album contains rap music, rather than the Bill Conti score. Also, two of the scores from Rocky IV were featured in this film's trailer, but were not present in the actual film or soundtrack. "Measure of a Man" was written by Alan Menken, Elton John, Tim Rice and performed by John.

Like Rocky IV, a full version of "Gonna Fly Now" with lyrics is not heard in the film. However an instrumental horn version is played during the early scene where Rocky gets off the airplane, and at the end of the movie after Rocky defeats Tommy, another instrumental version is heard. In addition, a solo piano version is heard during several scenes including where Balboa speaks with his son upon his return from Russia, and during the scenes where his property is being auctioned.

Reception

Box office

Anticipated to be one of the big hits of the 1990 holiday season, Rocky V finished second in its opening weekend to Home Alone[7] and never recovered. The film earned US$14 million on its opening weekend and $40 million in total US box-office sales, about one-third of its predecessor's take. Rocky V however made almost twice as much overseas and thereby a total of $119.9 million worldwide.

Critical response

Rocky V has a 31% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 36 reviews, with the site consensus, "Rocky V's attempts to recapture the original's working-class grit are as transparently phony as each of the thuddingly obvious plot developments in a misguided installment that sent the franchise flailing into longterm limbo."[8] It also has a score of 55 out of 100 on Metacritic, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[10]

In 1999, Time placed the film on a list of the 100 worst ideas of the 20th century.[11]

The Los Angeles Times regarded it as the best of the Rocky sequels.[12]

Accolades

It was nominated for seven Golden Raspberry Awards in 1990 including Worst Picture, Worst Actor and Worst Screenplay for Stallone, Worst Actress for Shire, Worst Supporting Actor for Young, Worst Director for Avildsen and Worst Original Song for "The Measure of a Man".

Other media

Sequel
Main article: Rocky Balboa (film)

Sixteen years later, Stallone wrote, directed and starred in the film Rocky Balboa. Stallone suggested that advances in medical science during the period between the films had shown that the injuries mentioned in Rocky V were less debilitating than once thought, and that he would receive a "clean bill of health" by the time of Rocky Balboa, allowing him to box again.[6] The film grossed over $70 million at the US box office, and $85 million abroad, and received largely positive reviews.

Video games

In 2002, a video game called Rocky, based on the first five Rocky films, was released by Rage Software.

References
  1. "Rocky V". TCM database. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  2. Berger, Phil (November 15, 1989). "Film Flam for 'Rocky'". The New York Times. Retrieved August 12, 2010.
  3. Hinds, Michael Decourcy (January 23, 1990). "Love Gets in the Way as Rocky V Starts Filming". The New York Times. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  4. Hasted, Nick (December 5, 1997). "He could have been a contender". Independent. London. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  5. "Round One With Sylvester Stallone Q&A!!". Aintitcool.com. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  6. Moriaty (December 1, 2006). "Round One With Sylvester Stallone Q&A!!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved June 15, 2009.
  7. Broeske, Pat H. (November 20, 1990). "'Home' KOs 'Rocky V' at Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
  8. "Rocky V". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  9. "Critic Reviews for Rocky V". Metacritic. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  10. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  11. August, Melissa; Barovick, Harriet; Derrow, Michelle; Gray, Tam; Levy, Daniel S.; Lofaro, Lina; Spitz, David; Stein, Joel; Taylor, Chris (June 14, 1999). "The 100 Worst Ideas Of The Century". Time. Retrieved April 8, 2018.(subscription required)
  12. Wilmington, Michael (November 16, 1990). "MOVIE REVIEW : A Kinder, Gentler Rocky Balboa : Of Sylvester Stallone's 'Rocky' sequels, No. 5 comes closest to some of the endearing qualities associated with the first". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 29, 2010.
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