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Americans love the underdog. Anytime someone is beating the odds, fighting his or her way to the top, like the Little Engine That Could, it resonates well with U.S. audiences; it's in their nature. Sylvester Stallone knew that in 1976, when
Rocky was a monstrous hit and established itself in the American cultural lexicon. His low-budget tale of a young boxer who came from the slums of Philadelphia and worked his way to the championship recalls Capra characters such as Mr. Smith or John Doe as he worked his way to fame and self-respect. Like Capra's films from 30 years before,
Rocky pushed emotional buttons with audiences, but in a somewhat less maudlin, obvious way; it's possible to enjoy
Rocky without feeling embarrassed about it, even in the cynical, postironic '90s. It ranks respectably among the best boxing pictures, such as
The Set-Up or
Somebody Up There Likes Me. The story paralleled Stallone's own, from a relative unknown to a star with one breakthrough picture.
Rocky II (1979) carries on the story line, playing on the rivalry between Rocky Balboa and nemesis Apollo Creed, while Balboa's wife fights for her life. Mainly, though, the sequel seems like a link between the first film and
Rocky III, in which an aging Rocky takes on big, bad Clubber Lang (the near-forgotten Mr. T). While playing on the same emotional capital as the first movie,
Rocky III is the high-water mark of the sequels; by the next movie, Stallone had turned into a near-self-parody of the original character.
Rocky IV finds the underdog taking on an oversized, blond Russian boxer (Dolph Lundgren) in a cold war scenario (Rocky literally wraps himself in the American flag). The series mercifully played out by 1990, as embarrassingly punch-drunk as the Rocky character himself by that point. Given the way the American pop-culture continuum seems to work, it's probably due time for the later sequels to be plucked from the compost heap of '80s flotsam and revived as high camp; the Reagan-era hyperpatriotism of
Rocky IV is as dated as in junk like
Red Dawn or the dreadful
Invasion U.S.A. Still, the first three films pack a satisfying emotional wallop without giving the viewer the urge to crawl under the couch. The last two... well, use your judgment. They will soon be good for an '80s nostalgia party.
--Jerry Renshaw
Product Description
"Rocky" (1976, 119 min.) - Rocky Balboa, club fighter from the mean streets of Philadelphia, gets an unlikely shot at the heavyweight championship by taking on Apollo Creed. "Rocky II" (1979, 119 min.) - After his fight with Apollo Creed, the embarrassed champ insistently provokes Rocky to accept a challenge for a rematch. "Rocky III" (1982, 99 min.) - When Rocky is dethroned by the brutal Clubber Lang, Apollo Creed offers to retrain him in order to regain his fighting spirit. "Rocky IV" (1985, 91 min.) - When Apollo Creed is killed in a bout against a powerful Soviet boxer, Rocky challenges the Soviet boxer himself in a personal fight for country and for his friend. "Rocky V" (1990, 104 min.) - Due to permanent injuries caused in his fight with Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa is forced to retire. He comes home, his wealth and fame now gone, and begins to coach ungrateful up-and-coming fighter Tommy Gunn.
DVD ~ Sylvester Stallone
DVD ~ Sylvester Stallone
DVD ~ Sylvester Stallone
~ Various Artists
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