Customer Reviews

Rocky (Five-Disc Boxed Set)

5 star:		(119)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rocky (Special Edition) - The DVD quality was good. Interactive menus at best were okay, considering this movie is a classic I believe it should have been done much better.

Rocky II - Is the same version released 2 years ago when I purchased it the first time. MGM you should feel guilty not giving this movie more attention like improving the quality of the picture or putting a nice picture on the disc!!!!! The disk is double sided. Haven't you heard of DUAL LAYER? Plus there are no visual improvements to the movie and the menus. All and all this was a complete let down.

Rocky III - No interactive menus (Another huge let down). Quality of picture was good. In a nut shell Good but by no means GREAT. MGM once again you should feel guilty.

Rocky IV - Exactly the same as Rocky II!!!!!!!!!!

Rocky V - Exactly like Rocky III.

Considering the lack of DTS and overall quality in producing these DVD's, I would have given my review a ZERO. It smells of a George Lucas, lets release it a hundred times and get paid before we decide to release it properly like we could have from the jump. This BOX set is a joke!!! I wish I didn't like the movies so much! My rating of a 3 is due to the simple fact I think the movies are a 5.

I was expecting so much more, like the attention MGM gave to the Bond film "The World is Not Enough." Wait didn't MGM release most or all of the Bond films twice? Cheap stunt that is expensive to fans!

Interested in buying the Rocky Collection, wait till MGM gives these movies the attention they deserve. Which includes:

Full Interatcive Menus, Dolby 5.1, 7.1, DTS, Dual Layered Discs Printed on the top side with an inspiring picture from each movie, Some deleted scenes.

Now that's a real collection not this cheap watered down version.

Fans heed warning: If you're anything like me, you may have asked yourself, "Since this is an updated box set from the LAST box set, what are the new features?" Answer: NONE. No trailers, no deleted scenes, no outtakes, no featturets -- NOTHING. Only get this if you have a HD TV. If you're looking for ANYthing else, get the old box set. The old one was LOADED on the first film (though only had trailers on the rest). The only thing you get here are subtitles. I can't believe I sold my old set in anticipation for this thing. MGM stinks.

Keep playing that immortal song. Heaven to my ears! Sylvester Stallone made himself a legend of a genius after writing all five "Rocky" works of art. "Rocky" was about a struggling boxer trying to earn a living, but his chance to fight the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed, became reality. He trained vigorously and fell in love with the shy Adrian! Yo Adrian! He yelled after fighting Creed. A tribute to the clumsy girl that nobody liked, touching! In "Rocky II", 'The Italian Stallion' Rocky Balboa punched more meat and ran up the infamous steps with children to fight in a rematch! Immortal! He barely defeats Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) and says, "Yo Adrian, I did it!" Pure Heaven! The next sequel in this historical franchise, "Rocky III" had Balboa fight Hulk Hogan and Mr. T! What casting! In "Rocky IV", the boxer came out of retirement to avenge the death of Apollo Creed and fought Ivan (too cool for you, Dolph Lundgren). Finally, in "Rocky V" the retired boxer street fights Tommy Gunn in the Philadelphia streets! I was astounded with such movie-making, I bought numerous copies of this immortal franchise. You say 'no', I say 'YES'!

I love the movies, but I hate the fact that part 3 through 5 are double sided discs with full screen transfers on the other side. I hate double sided discs anyways because the dvd's are clear with no print on them and get scratched easier. Rocky I and II are one sided with print on them. But if you buy a set like this, you would like all the discs to be consistent. These aren't. Its just like the first time they released these and Part II and IV were non-anamorphic, while the other were anamorphic.

In Rocky, Sylvester Stallone plays a street bum who fights in clubs and gets $40 a victory, while the 46-0 heavyweight champ Apollo Creed struggles to get in the ring due to an injury of his challenger. Creed gives Rocky a shot because he knows that only a novice fighter would fight him in the very limited training time. While Creed sits around and drinks coffee, Rocky trains hard by pounding raw meat. I won't spoil the fight scene. Rocky II has our hero out of a job due to his lack of reading skills for commercials. He realizes that he must get money by fighting a rematch with his enraged rival, Creed. Rocky II has one of the series' better fight scenes as Rocky takes on a trained and prepared Apollo. As Rocky downs any challenger to the belt, contender Clubber Lang moves up the ranks in Rocky III. Clubber (played by Mr. T) finally gets his shot at fighting Rocky and downs him quickly, and shortly afterward his loyal manager dies of natural causes. Rocky, now trained by Creed, and full of determination, challenges Lang to a rematch. The outrageous but fun fourth installment pits an East-West battle when a huge Russian smashes the life out of Apollo Creed (literally). Rocky then travels to Russia and confronts the Goliath in hostile territory. The last one should have never been made. Rocky trains an anxious fighter who turns on him and they engage in an out of the ring battle. Here are the ratings:

Rocky: 95; Rocky II: 83; Rocky III: 90; Rocky IV: 88; Rocky IV: 70

How can you not like Rocky movies? They are some of the most emotionally intense, exciting, fun, and inspirational movies of all time. I love all of them in all their cheesy glory. This boxed set lets you experience any and all of Rocky's great fights any time you want. It's too bad only one of the movies has special features, but doesn't really matter to me since special features often aren't even worth watching.

None of the movies in this series has ever failed to keep me entertained no matter how many times I watch it. Yes, even number 5. Here's a little mini-review of each one:

Rocky 1: This one started it all and is my second favorite film, but technically the best. It won Best Picture for good reason. It's dialogue, acting, storyline, and climax are all brilliant!

Rocky 2: Not my favorite because it is basically the same film as Rocky over again with a slightly different ending. I will admit that the end fight is much improved though. This is my fourth favorite film.

Rocky 3: This one is definitely my favorite! It isn't better than Rocky, but it is more fun the way I see it. This is where the films changed from reality-based drama to fantasy-like action. The transition works well because this movie really knows how to push your buttons as far as entertainment goes. It is also the last movie with dialogue and acting as excellent as the first movie.

Rocky 4: This one is a lot of fun too and is even more "out there", but the series seems to be getting tired at this point. There isn't a whole lot of difference, storywise, between this and Rocky 3. They kill off a main character, build up an opponent that seems to be invincible, and throw in some nice training sequences. The only difference is that Mr. T was a better villain than Drago, who has absolutely no personality. This is my third favorite for its great training sequences and fun end battle, but Rocky's character is starting to get unbearably cheesy and the comedy that worked before is not really funny anymore.

Rocky 5: This just proves the fact that the Rocky series has lost its steam. This movie is far from horrible because it still has that Rocky "goodness" that really has no description and the story is at least decent in concluding this great series, but this movie is the worst of the series. At many times, Rocky's character is just like a silly cartoon character and the villains weren't anything like what we've seen before. In a bad way. The dialogue has completely gone sour and there is some truly horrible acting in there. You can judge for yourself whether or not this movie is worthy of the Rocky name, but I am willing to say it is since it certainly did entertain me.

Get this boxed set now! You won't regret it!

These five films are great. Stallone portrayed this character well, and these films, no matter which one you watch, will keep you entertained. The "Rocky Anthology" box set has the films remastered in HIGH DEFINITION, meaning that you get the clearest picture POSSIBLE. If you've never seen these films, do yourself a favor and buy this boxset. If you have seen these films, and don't own them, do yourself a favor and buy this boxset. If you're looking for some entertainment, do yourself a favor and buy this boxset.

I give this boxset my highest recommendation.

I know it's Not Amazon's fault, BUT - Where is the Bonus Disc ?? Some people say they got it, Others say they didn't ? Why would they produce a Box Set like this ? Don't they think ALL people are equal ? WE all pay the same amount for the Box Set.

Ok lets be realistic. MGM re-release the Rocky movies on dvd, with nothing more to offer except for a high-definition transfer. You have to wonder, is it worth buying a new box set of movies that you already own just for the sake of the high-definition transfer? The answer is No. Dont get me wrong, I am the biggest fan of the Rocky movies, I wouldnt be the person I am today had these movies not been made, but the Dvds are given no justice. First if your going to re-release such a succesful franchise, you want some decent extras. I think all five movies are superb, but let me list what the Rocky fans really want to see on each disk:-

Rocky

1. A decent commentary, where we can actually hear what the cast and crew are actually saying, since on this one you can barely hear it.

2. Screen tests of Stallone, Talia Shire and Carl Weathers

3. Deleted Scenes, Outtakes

4. A creating the score documentary with Bill Conti

5. Possible multiple angles of the fight sequence between Apollo Creed and Rocky

Rocky II

1. A feature length commentary by cast and crew

2. An all new 'making of' documentary

3. Fight tests, outtakes, deleted scenes

Rocky III

1. A feature length commentary by cast and crew

2. Eye of the Tiger music video

3. A 'making of' documentary featuring interviews

4. fight and screen tests of Stallone and Mr. T

Rocky IV

1. Feature length commentary

2. A 'making of' documentary

3. Interview with Dolph Lundgren

4. Deleted scenes, outtakes

5. Creating the score documentary featuring Vince Di Cola

6. The original extended version of Hearts on Fire, as it is in the film

7. Training footage, behind the scenes

Rocky V

1. Feature length commentary by cast and crew

2. A 'making of' documentary

3. Tommy Morrison screen tests

4. Street fight out takes, deleted scenes

Bonus disc

1. An all-new documentary looking at the success of all five Rocky movies, and audience response

2. DVD-rom features

Now if MGM decide to do the right thing for a change and include everything listed above, I may fork out for it. I still have the original box set, and the picture is fine as far as im concerned, im not going to buy a re-release just for the sake of better picture. Oh and one more complaint, Why change the covers? You associate the original covers with the movies, this is one of the biggest mistakes of the entire anthology. If MGM want to make this set different from the previous release, than try focusing more on the content of the discs. Meanwhile I love and watch the Rocky movies with passion, but it's a shame they are not given the treatment they deserve.

I want everyone who reads this to know that I do very much like these movies. BUT, I have come across something in the fourth Rocky movie that has me upset.
Durring the final fight the Russian characters speak in there native language. In the original movies (VHS), the subtitles let you know what is being said. For this dvd release, the subtitles have been forgoten. It wouldn't be so bad, but it is a GREAT part in the movie!
I have been trying for quite some time now to get ahold of MGM about this and have not gotten anywhere yet. I urge everyone who reads this to contact them and see if we can get something done about this. Thanks.

email MGM at consumerhelp@mgm.com or go to the site at http://www.mgm.com/help.do