The Rocky movies, much like their eponymous underdog boxer, have seen some extreme highs and lows ever since Sylvester Stallone made his debut as the Italian Stallion. The original film was an acclaimed box office hit, taking home the 1977 Academy Awards for best picture, director, and film editing. However, its follow-ups wavered pretty wildly in terms of quality and commercial and critical success. In fact, some of the sequels have been downright hard to watch. Just ask Stallone himself.
“[‘Rocky V’] was bad,” the actor once said during an interview on Friday Night with Johnathon Ross. “It was a goose egg. I definitely wasn’t there.”
When asked to rate the Rocky films on a scale of one to 10, he gave the fifth entry a zero, calling it “bad” and “off-key.” And the franchise star isn’t alone in his disdain for “Rocky V.” The movie currently sits at 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, the lowest of the series by a decent margin.
Why doesn’t Stallone like Rocky V?
Balboa has seen better days when we catch up with him in “Rocky V.” Much of his fortune has been lost to money mismanagement, he’s estranged from his son, and he’s forced into retirement after years of bodily trauma. While all the other Rocky movies end with a glamorous boxing match under spotlights, “Rocky V” ends with a gritty streetfight under flickering lamposts. It’s not hard to see why Stallone thought his character deserved a better farewell.
But while he may not think back on the movie fondly, “Rocky V” could have been something of a blessing in disguise for Stallone and the future of the Rocky universe as a whole. He’d return to the role in 2006’s “Rocky Balboa,” 16 years after his last disappointing go. He cites the regrettable “Rocky V” as “one of the reasons I wanted to do [‘Rocky Balboa’].” This decision would, in turn, lead to him reprising the character yet again in the Creed spinoff movies, scoring him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in the process. 2018’s “Creed II” gave Rocky a proper sendoff, seeing him reconnect with his son. After that film’s release, Stallone implied he was done playing Rocky, passing the mantle to “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan.
While “Rocky V” may have left Stallone feeling defeated for at least a while, Rocky would, as usual, get up and continue fighting.