Rocky Saga : end?

you know its been a week or so since my escapade into the Rocky franchise, and there was this one question that always came to my mind as i went through one film after the other whats next where will they take it now, this was most intriguing question after fourth film and Creed. For $th was the peak the film went to in aspect of fights, antagonist general theme abolute peak, while Creed used elements of Rocky 1 to create a similar tone film feelings its own. both had left me to wonder the future.

but in the past few days it came to me, why was i even thinking about where they gonna take it further, well it was because i knew there was a sequel already that why. thats when i felt stupid for thinking like that and then the question came to me. DO I/we eve need more Rocky films.

i had to think about this a while u see, i really liked the series as a whole its entertaining, has great moments and tells a saga. but yet when i sit to ponder about getting more content i feel very spilt. and it frustrates me that i dont have a definite answer about me wanting more. when then i just have to console myself by thinking well does it even matter if they release a new one i will watch and then write about it so lets we when we get to it.

I know i just went on a tandem about this but i had these ridiculous thoughts and just wanted to type them down for my own sake (like always). Thinking i didnt write an end note to completing the saga left a small gap so filling it with random thoughts. So here’s to completing this mini-quest

see you soon

goodbye.

Creed II (2018)

the sequel to the unexpected wonder-kid of this saga, Creed II was a surprise for me, i remeber the hype that everyone was on when creed first came out and having known of its sequel already before i ventured into this saga i always thought that Creed had an ending that made people yearn more. But that is not the case it is by itself a very content-ful spin off to the series and i my opinion not needed a sequel thus before i sat to watch this film i was curious what was gonna be done this time what would make this film interesting.

And i got my answer in the first scene itself as we see the son and father duo (Florian Munteanu and Dolph Lundgren) going about their training and fight the Drago family. and after watching all the films in order this past week you need no exposition to know whats about to go down whats the story gonna be how it will end up. All you need to know is its gonna be hype well it was for me.

best way to sum this movie is the mix of the #rd film and the 4th film (obviously), this merger comes at the cost of predictability to the story, but seriously who cares for that when we get to see dope action and Drago once again i mean i just got goosebumps when i got to know they were going down this route. that moment changes the story from a normal title fight to a one with a legacy and deep story behind it.

what this film does to me it help ground the bigger than life character of Drago from the 4th film using his relationship with his son and the wife and country that had abandoned it. to me in many ways it was more of a redemption story for the Drago name that was mostly used like a evil entity in old film.

ranking time

now even though i really enjoyed the movie, the fact that its so eerily similar to the past film that you can shrug off as saying history repeats itself, just doesn’t work for me and in the creed saga the 1st film always will take the cake for me. but the hype for the Drago is real.

77 movies down…………..423 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Creed (2015)

my oh my, after 6 movies spanning 30 years it was as if the saga had ended but 10 years later in 2015 a film gets released that continues this saga and does it so better that you just fall in love with the story again. As a fan of this iconic series it’s a worthy spin-off and sequel.

this movie does exactly what was needed to be done by the fifth film, as both premise are similar the difference comes in the way the two characters are written, in case of Tommy he gets very little screen time and creates dont do a good job of us caring about the character its mostly about his relationship with rocky and how it effects his family dynamics. while with Adonis (Michael B. Jordan) not only are we given time to know his motivations and nature we are also given a personal relation with Rocky. this move gives rocky the supporting trainer role rather the lead trainer role. i like to think that the creators of the film ( Ryan Coogler, Aaron Covington) looked at the fifth film on day and thought to themselves how to take the same premise and elevate the film.

now if i was to rank this film with the moves in the saga i would definitely top all as this film has the same heart that could be felt when watching the first film. a heart that knows its character and whats to tell a story about them. where this movie shined for me was especially how well every one imbibes the role that is given to them, and mostly how well they utilise the aged Rocky in the film even though e is a supporting character he himself gets a small arc about him dealing with the thought of mortality with every one he cared about having left him. now for the main man Adonis “Donnie” Johnson the son of Apollo Creed, Michael makes this character his dealing with the sense of identity and to prove to everyone his is his own man and not just a son of the famous Apollo.

To me this film ranks among the best spin off movies i have seen, and not only does it makes you love itself it makes u love the original series as well.

76 movies down…………424 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky Balboa (2006)

this film comes 16 years after the last part Rocky V, the saga started in 1976 and if you are a lover of rough off numbers. you go to appreciate that the last film comes 30 years after the first one.

what was the issue with the fifth one that they made another part after 16 years you ask, it failed to give a send off to this iconic character, failing to make enough money in box office and being a mostly forgetfully film overall, didnt sit well with Sylvester Stallone, who rightfully considered this saga his brainchild and thus a fitting end was needed, and this film definitely is that.

this film tries to emulate the first film going back to the roots, even though the director to this film is the man Rocky himself. it seems he has learned from the days of directing the 2nd,3rd and 4th films by toning down the action and concentrating on the characters and their dynamics. making the film about a aged Rocky an old man Rocky and his life direction after he becomes a widower. this gives a dynamic to the family that has been built up since the 5 movies. the whole fight takes a back seat and just is mostly a thing to have a good final fight to end the Rocky saga, but the core is the drama and its what makes this movie fresh compared to the 5th this one just so much better.

this movie shines for knowing its characters knowing them very well and thus to the fan of the movie its a treat as old characters minor characters from previous movie are reference or shown to give as a wholesome feel to the world and as well as show that time has changed and movie on. yet our Rocky remains the same. the core that made this story comes full circle. the one thing that can be associated with the character Rocky is his never giving spirit and this movie milks that aspect to its best value. and never is it more apparent the famous quote of this film. as to me this line was not only said by Rocky but in part said by Sylvester Stallone after his years in industry struggling and the experience he amassed in those years .

And when things got hard, you started looking for something to blame, like a big shadow. Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that! I’m always gonna love you no matter what. No matter what happens. You’re my son and you’re my blood. You’re the best thing in my life. But until you start believing in yourself, ya ain’t gonna have a life. Don’t forget to visit your mother.
Rocky Balboa

ranking time

Rocky III > Rocky IV > Rocky = Rocky Balboa > Rocky II > Rocky V

75 movies down…………..425 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky V (1990)

noooooo the 3year sequel consistency is broken this one comes out 5 years later……and what a change it is.

it would be hard to imagine this film to be the continuation of the fourth installment, because the scale gets drastically shifted to Rocky having to avenge his friend to that of training the next generation. this film more akin to first film and has much more grounded environment which is something i think is the hand of the director John G. Avildsen who as also the director for the first film.

the premise of the movie is one of my favourite film troupes where the next generation is trained by the wiser older generation and it had the making for a good finale to the series but even the return of the original director couldn’t save the film as you could feel it in your heart this is not a good film. my most glaring issue with this film has been the fact that it feels for all the cast it has it underutilised them, creating generic troupes and clique characters to progress the plot.

the moments this film shines to me was the intractions and family dynamics of Rocky and his son and how it gets effected due to Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), fact : Rocky’s son’s role was done by Sylvester Stallone own son. but the moments it doesnt shine are so outright in your face that it makes the film jarringly disappointing.

ranking time

well this one was easy to place if the story line was more streamlined it would have been better but as it is its last place.

Rocky III > Rocky IV > Rocky > Rocky II > Rocky V

74 movies down……….426 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky IV (1985)

before i start you just got to love how each part comes 3 years later, such consistency. now that’s out of the way this movie is just the peak of epic sound track, even epic-er training montages, even epic-erer (i know its not a word) america-soviet Union comparison, well at least they arnt shy about it.

now the whole story line for this movie is to have a greatest fight between Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) who is an aspiring challenger for Rocky’s title, but Apollo wanting to fight Drago first steps in to the ring but due to the massive strength of Drago he ends up dying due to the injuries sustained in the fight. this leads to Rocky taking upon himself to go to Russia to fight Drago in foreign soil and environment to avenge his friend. this cummulates into the hyped up fight. and it ends like all avenge stories good guys aka rocky winning over bad guys aka drago.

this movie is the one that is the most meme-ed out of all the series and thus is no surprised it was also the most profitable one, it gives it a nice stronghold in the pop culture. this was also the movie that i most associated as being a Rocky film before i ventured into the series, but now that i have seen its prequels i am left to wonder how much of this movie was truly a Rocky film, it lacks a character depth that the initial movies tried to established and improve upon, and replaces it with plot to avenge a friend which by nature is fine but plays into the aspect that i guessed that the movies are trending to a more action oriented sport series that the character driven ones. a shift that jumps right at you if you watch the first and 4th part side by side.

ranking time

this is a tough one i would have to say i did like this film, it is a movie that i guess most people including me will always remember first or foremost when thinking of Rocky or his epic fights and thus it does rank high for me, but it cant take the top spot for one simple reason, the robot. to those who dont know in 1st half of the movie to showcase advancement of science and america and robot much like that of C3PO from star wars is shown in the movie talking and doing stuff, now though this might now sound like a big thing but it broke my immersion into this world of characters and spoiled the movie in the process for me (i might be the only one though)

Rocky III>Rocky IV>Rocky>Rocky II

73 movies go………….427 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky III (1982)

after winning the belt from Apollo, Rocky has had 10 successful title defends making him famous and giving him a stable life, so much so that all his ambitious seemed to be fulfilled and he feels to let his gloves hang. this is when the new upstart challenger comes in front of Rocky and accuses his team of not accepting his challenge offer which rocky himself wasn’t aware of. when Rocky confronted his manager Mickey (Burgess Meredith) about it he gets to know that this challenger James “Clubber” Lang (Mr. T) has been hungry for that belt which is an attribute lost in rocky now. even still Rocky takes the challenge and fights Lang only to lose a crushing defeat in the 2nd round. this results in a slump that affects Rocky and the one to take him out of this would be this rival Apollo Creed, he volunteers to train Rocky for the next Fight with lang for a future favour, and this is where the training montages begin. finally getting the hunger and his edge back Rocky challenges Lang and the fight begins. in the fight Rocky shows his revived self while Lang shows his inherent strength. to counter this Rocky takes a bold move and taunts Lang to make him get exhausted and using that to defeat him and reclaim the title.

now the movie ends with my favourite scene so far into this series, the closed room fight between Rocky and Apollo, that Apollo initiates using his Favor for the training. the scene ends with both of them throwing their first punch directly to each others faces simultaneously and film ending leaving us to decided how it ends (i guess we will never know….or never be told the result) to me this scene is a fitting conclusion to the rivalry and friendship that gets built up between these two individuals and acts like the cheery on top of the cake.

one thing that keeps getting pumped up and improved is the soundtrack and theme of the movie, the song ‘Eye of the Tiger’ is epic for the scene. the movie has a lot of training montages, he itself u see such a considerable difference that initially something that was rarely used now gets used before each fight and acts as the mirror to the characters determination. after watching the movie i was left with a thought that this series could have been a good trilogy itself even without anymore parts to it, though that has not been the case.

ranking time

now this is where it comes to a change overall this movie ranks in the same level to me as the first part not because it inherently that good most people will call it average but i like it because it gives the story a progression that reveals rocky as a character and as well as gives the supporting characters a chance to shine, and that last scene of Apollo and rocky fight sealed it for me

rocky III > Rocky > Rocky II

72 movies down ………….428 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky II (1979)

the movie comes out 3 years later after the initial release, but takes off exactly like literally where it left off with the characters being taken to the hospital of checkup. and guess what Apollo definitely wants rematch now especially to prove the world that rocky’s performance of a full 15 round fight was a fluke. while Rocky has no interest to do so and gets advice the same by doctors due to his injuries. now due to his increase in fame he gets sponsorship and endorsements giving him a financial high life he was never accustomed to, but with the highs comes trouble unable to manage his new lifestyle financial problems emerges, giving him a reason to accept Apollo’s offer. this is also the time when he and Adrian marry and have a child together. with all this family drama done we get to the training montages and finally the main fight. this time Apollo has decided to end the fight quick and with a knockdown to prove all the nah Sayers wrong. while Rocky is decides to protect his injured eye and plays defensively. even then this fight goes till the 15 rounds with a clear point advantage to Apollo, he doesn’t want this again to be decided by points and rushes the last round for that knockdown but this is when Rocky opens his arms and goes for a full on assault this fight with both drains them equally resulting in a double knockdown both exhausted try to stand but its the main man Rocky that finally prevails while Apollo collapses resulting in Rocky finally becoming the Heavyweight champion.

where this movie falters to me is that we can see a small but visible shift from the drama to the sport story format, a shift that i guess will carry on to the later films too. yet i will say i enjoyed this film. the soundtrack something i forgot to mention in previous film to is still epic and iconic the montages has been pumped compared to previous, this movies is more sporty that the previous as the rematch becomes the core in this film with moments of the character driven story line like the pregnancy crisis, the financial issues and the sense of identity for Rocky who by his own definition only knows to box to keep a balance. Overall the movies sits well with me .

welcome back to the rankings

in all sense this movie feels to be less than its predecessor, but to me who is a sport media fan and fan of comeback stories……..this should have taken the 1st spot but looking back the heart of the film is set by the 1st film on its own this didn’t satisfy me and thus

Rocky I > Rocky II looking forward for the 3rd part now where they take this series from here

71 movies down………..429 to go

see you soon

goodbye

Rocky (1976)

wwhat mesmerises the most about this film is that when i watched it and later read about it being made, the fact that this was written by Sylvester Stallone, it was his breakout film, it was the film that won best picture in Academy Awards, got him nominations and many more……you could say in the truest sense of the word that this film was his child, and such is it feels like the whole movie from the way he acts and how the movie feels.

i had heard about rocky well who probably hasn’t before i sat down to watch, i knew it was about boxing, it had Stallone he was in Rambo so my initial expectations are probably guessable to you. so imagine my confusion when there was no explosions and high octane action in the story, but a somber laid back feel to the movie, the film doesn’t feel like a sport movie or atleast like one i imagined but it was more of a character driven tale of a small time boxer Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) and his once in a lifetime chance to win the heavyweight belt.

though the premise of the movie is what you would expect from a sport movie, but the way they limit the action the match to the very end and make the story more about the characters their situation their relationships, it makes us as viewers connect with the characters, i guess this in one of the main reasons why this series existed for so long as to all those who watched had connected to Rocky and were invested in his story that spanned 40 years.

this was also among the movies were the characters seem natural at ease, as if its a true life story they are sharing to us. it helps massively sell the story. to those who arent aware of the story already, the current world champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers)(important name is worth remembering for future context in series) chooses Rocky for a fight as a last minute replacement, as initial challenger withdraws. sensing a huge chance of his lifetime Rocky trains (though this movie that popularised training montages in films does it for only a short time and also towards the end only, but still its an epic montage) all along rather than this fight the main story seems to be that of the relationship being built between rocky and his love interest Adrian Pennino (Talia Shire). in the fight itself Apollo never expected much from rocky and thus was overconfidence which comes to bite him in the ass, as rocky knocks him down leading him to take this fight seriously, going for the full 15 rounds and ending in decision with both of the participants broken and drained promising to each other there will be no rematch (yah right!!!!). the decision goes for Apollo even though the audience seem spilt but rocky doesn’t care for the outcome as he expresses his love to Adrian to end the story.

but not the saga.

well i also thought i will rank the movies in this series (obviously its subjective)

since only one watched yet, Rocky I takes the top spot.

70 movies down………………430 to go.

see you soon

goodbye

The Rocky Saga

when think of iconic movie series a lot of the great come to mind instantaneously like Star wars, LOTR, the Dark knight……but i had watched all of them, even still there was one that i never watched yet i knew about it it gets reference and parodied even imitated to an extent that its most definitely a iconic movie the Rocky series.

spanning 40+ yrs having 6 films and 2 spin off, i thought i know the gist of the movie but i haven’t watched them not in order not with interest so why not use that excess pandemic time on my hand to this semi grand journey, a mini task inside the mammoth task. and talk about my views on this famous series. (which i know i am 40+ yrs late to)