The Rocky Films

Now I know the films have very little to do with boxing realism, and other films such as Raging Bull, The fighter, The Hurricane etc will have a much closer realism.

However, I would still like to know what everyones favourite Rocky Film is. I personally love them all, and could quite happily sit and watch them all back to back. But which is your favourite and why?

Rocky - the original under dog story. Stallone gives a great performance of a guy handed a dream shot at the champion.

Rocky II - the rematch for the Italian Stallion where he takes Appollo Creed on for the final time.

Rocky III - Clubber Lang takes his bow and Mickey makes his final one.

Rocky IV - I will break you. Well Ivan Drago certainly broke Appollo.

Rocky V - Tommy "the Machine" Gunn averagely played by Tommy Morrisson. I think Sly is actually very good in this film and it gets undeserved criticism.

Rocky Balbao - the finale to the series. A broken man given one last dream fight. Great film and a great ending which completes the story perfectly.

So lets see your thoughts.

I went for IV.

My fave boxing film is Cinderella Man.

1 is the best. Actually a very good film. Sadly though, Philly has a statue of Rocky whilst a true legend in Frazier, who is from Philly, doesn't.

Raging Bull is my fav boxing flim.

I thought after the first one it got ridiculous. I know it's not real but a story of a guy with 20 losses getting a shot and giving it his all was great. Coming back and becoming this reigning champ after already fighting a career's worth of bouts face first. daftness!

I can't really forgive Cinderella Man for the way it villainised Max Baer.

Anyone seen The Fighter?

III

Mr T and Hulk Hogan!
That beats any other answer dead.

I went for rocky v, The tunes in that film were just great and the story line wasn't too bad either.

rocky films are awesome. I went for Balboa.

3. You can't beat a bit of Mr T shooting his mouth off!

"I don't hate Balboa. I pity the fool!"

I went for 4, because I prefer endless montages to actual dialogue.

I went for Rocky II , i remember watching it as a kid and remember how i marked out when Rocky won the title .

My favourite boxing film is Million Dollar Baby , great performances from all the main actors

Went for three, but it was so hard to choose between the first 4 of them, i do like the later two but nowhere near as good i think.

I do like Cinderella man and the Fighter but in all honesty the Rocky movies will alway be my favourite boxing movies

I like Rocky 4 the best, I love the music and the story line, the only thing I don't like is the ending.

There is no way the Russians would suddenly start cheering for Rocky, in the way that they do. Can you imagine if the fight was in America and sudenly all the Americans started to cheer for Drago?

But apart from that silly part, I think it's a wonderful film.


One of the best boxing films I have seen is Midnight Sting.

“He’s bigger than you are. He’s tougher. He’s faster. He’s younger than you are. He hasn’t fought 22 rounds today, but remember this… you are BLACK! ”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know. I mean it’s… I’m trying to inspire you. It’s a Roots kinda thing. It’s a motivation thing.”

“Well, you’re **** at motivation!”

Rocky 1. The original and still the best in my eyes

Ya went for one. An excellent film. Did like that last one more than i thought i would.

Rocky 1 - 7.5
Rocky 2 - 4
Rocky 3 - 6
Rocky - 4
Rocky 5 - 1
Rocky 6 - 7.5

KO-KING wrote:Rocky 1 - 7.5
Rocky 2 - 4
Rocky 3 - 6
Rocky - 4
Rocky 5 - 1
Rocky 6 - 7.5

What!

Rocky II only got 4/10?

Its my favourite one on the list!

I cant even remember the last Rocky film to be honest. Is that the one where he falls in love with the young mother that works behind the bar?

the earlier ones are the best before the cheese takes over. i like 3 and 4 but the majority of the films are montages and funny quotes, cant watch them now without thinking about the montage song from team amercia. first being the best and bit more serious. my order would go

rocky 1
rocky 2
rocky 3
rocky 4
rocky 6
rocky 5

i just cant see how anyone can rate rocky 5, truely awful film

Has to be 2. The feeling you get when he finally wins (spoiler haha) still brings a teer to my eye now.

Very honourable mention to 3 though as Mr T is awesome

Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Rocky Balboa
Rocky V

Rocky II has the best training montage

You got to give it to Sylvester stallone, he knew how to choreograph fight scenes, even watching them today they are still convincing.

The only thing in those movies that irritated me beyond belief is when Mr T was fighting him and Stallone kept on challenging him to try harder as he could take it.

Now let me tell you something, it ain't possible to stand up to those shots. that's just the movies for you.

And of course this.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAddDdRRRiiAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN.

I loved the over the top fight make up , can you imagine any ref letting a fighter carry on with half their face hanging off

Rocky I is the best of the lot. The fact Stallone wrote the script and was able to capture the reality of amateur boxing and even at times the professionalism of it makes it much better than the others.

For me Million Dollar Baby is the best made. Purely for a script that just totally rips you in 2. Identifying the demographic issues that can increase or decrease the the probability of a amateur making it deserves a bow.

Raging Bull and The Fighter close 2nd

I thought Million Dollar Baby was a bit schmultzy myslef. Good film though.

The Champ is a good boxing film and the ending made me cry (I was only about 10)

THe hurricane and raging bull are my favorites. But did enjoy cinderella man and million dollar baby aswell. Thought will smith did a great ali and the fight scenes in that were probably the best of the lot

Films 1-4 are absolutely epic. I can not choose just the one, so these four it is! 5 and 6 were and still are terrible in my view. I might sway toward number one, as that is where it all began. Thank god Stallone took over for the sequels, the guys behind the first movie wanted Rocky to be some circus guy in Las Vegas in their idea of the sequel!

Morgannwg wrote:Films 1-4 are absolutely epic. I can not choose just the one, so these four it is! 5 and 6 were and still are terrible in my view. I might sway toward number one, as that is where it all began. Thank god Stallone took over for the sequels, the guys behind the first movie wanted Rocky to be some circus guy in Las Vegas in their idea of the sequel!

While 5 is awful, I think Rocky Balboa (6) was really good. I'm glad the character got a proper finish than the crap that was 5.

Balboa didn't really entertain me. Nor did it have the same effect on the audience as the first four movies; the narrative structure was outdated, the binary oppositions couldn't compare to the previous (capatlism VS communism in no.4). I think he did enough to properly 'bow out' from Rocky though as you say, now it's time to leave it for good. I'm wondering if Stallone is still doing another Rambo film though.

Went for Rocky 5. In fairness Rocky 1 is probably the actual best but 5 is a guilty pleasure of sorts, so bad it's good and full of good quotes/one-liners.

Re boxing films in general, didn't like the Hurricane at all. Started off enjoying it, Denzel being one of my favourite actors, but researching the subject matter I found it over glamourised Carter and glossed over a lot that he really wasn't a very nice person.

A bit off subject , but i did read that Stallone was thinking of making a new Rocky film along the lines of his son challenging for the title . That obviously might not happen now given his real life sons death .

Not sure, didn't see anything 'announced' on IMDB. I think the franchise is over now, perhaps Sly should concentrate on making a decent Rambo film, or stick to the Expendables movies; it might not be everyone's cup of tea but I personally love seeing films that remind me of the action movie era (1980s).

ITV 4 is showing all the films one a week at 10pm on thursday nights , caught then end of Rocky last week so its Rocky 2 this week

Does anybody else still do press ups and run round the block after watching Rocky or have we grown out of that?

NEVER [ Rocky Go Now... ]

Rocky 3 is my fav as it's got some great lines from Mr T/Clubber Lang (aka Marvin Haggler I believe) and a great fight between him and Rocky.

Then probably 2, though I could watch them all back to back, and like you say Stella what better training music do you need?

PS besides the Rocky films my fav boxing films are Cinderella Man and Million Dollar Baby, classics

"You should have never come back"

"PAIN"

"Hey woman, hey woman"

"I don't hate Balboa but I pity the fool"

"Clubber what's your prediction for the match?"

"PAIN"

"Hey woman, I bet you lie at wake at night dreaming of having a Real Man, how about you bring your pretty little self over to mine and I'll show you a Real Man"

I am not ashamed to say that a few years back my kids biught me a Rocky bath robe and everytime i put it on i do a little shadow boxing and a few ...................Adrian ............Adrian .....calls

KingKenny7Heaven wrote:I am not ashamed to say that a few years back my kids biught me a Rocky bath robe and everytime i put it on i do a little shadow boxing and a few ...................Adrian ............Adrian .....calls

Nothing to be ashamed of, you do afterall support Liverpool

Rocky II for me has the best training montage. Rocky IV runs it close.

Rocky Bath Robe , Liverpool Boxer Shorts .......................... i look a pretty picture when i come out the bathroom

Yup, I love the bit in Rocky 2 when he's running down the street with the kids chasing him and then he starts running faster, and faster till he's going flat out (which isn't very fast with Stallones short legs to be fair )

Great scene.

Although the montage bit in Rocky IV is great, what always puts me off is the sledgehammer heavy American/communist propaganda in the film and training sequences - where (for some reason) there's a poor American, with no resources doing it old-school and winning just because of his 'heart', while the Russians have got all the technology, money and science behind them (even though they were pretty skint at the time) and nobody can compete with their superior resources and training techniques (and obviously the steroids, which is more than hinted at).
In real life it would have been the other way around (except for the steroids)

Still good montage though

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Yup, I love the bit in Rocky 2 when he's running down the street with the kids chasing him and then he starts running faster, and faster till he's going flat out (which isn't very fast with Stallones short legs to be fair )

Great scene.

Although the montage bit in Rocky IV is great, what always puts me off is the sledgehammer heavy American/communist propaganda in the film and training sequences - where (for some reason) there's a poor American, with no resources doing it old-school and winning just because of his 'heart', while the Russians have got all the technology, money and science behind them (even though they were pretty skint at the time) and nobody can compete with their superior resources and training techniques (and obviously the steroids, which is more than hinted at).
In real life it would have been the other way around (except for the steroids)

Still good montage though

True but this is Rocky and not to be taken to seriously.

Smirnoffpriest wrote:Yup, I love the bit in Rocky 2 when he's running down the street with the kids chasing him and then he starts running faster, and faster till he's going flat out (which isn't very fast with Stallones short legs to be fair )

Great scene.

Although the montage bit in Rocky IV is great, what always puts me off is the sledgehammer heavy American/communist propaganda in the film and training sequences - where (for some reason) there's a poor American, with no resources doing it old-school and winning just because of his 'heart', while the Russians have got all the technology, money and science behind them (even though they were pretty skint at the time) and nobody can compete with their superior resources and training techniques (and obviously the steroids, which is more than hinted at).
In real life it would have been the other way around (except for the steroids)

Still good montage though

This was the only bit I really didnt like about the film.

Why couldnt Drago just have been a freak of nature? Why did they have to make him a cheat? It always really bothered me.

My order:

rocky II
Rocky IV
Rocky
Rocky III
Rocky Balbao
Rocky V (although I still really liked it!)

To put any of them bottom is unfair as they are all great. The ending of RB is perfect in my opinion, although the film is slow up until the last 30 minutes.

The Rocky films are a great piece of escapism , you feel for the character you will him to succeed .................. and i defy anyone not to get that warm feeling when the music starts .................da da daa ...da da daa

KingKenny7Heaven wrote:The Rocky films are a great piece of escapism , you feel for the character you will him to succeed .................. and i defy anyone not to get that warm feeling when the music starts .................da da daa ...da da daa

The first film brings back good memories for me.
Rocky was the first Video I watched. My parents bought a video recorder around 1980 and kept it a secret until it got delivered. Me and my dad then went down the local shop and rented it out. It wasn't my parents cup of tea but hey I enjoyed it.

I used to love our local video shop lots of great memories in their , i used to be allowed 1 video a week so choosing used to take awhile

I dont know why but going to Blockbuster to rent a dvd isn't the same .

KingKenny7Heaven wrote:I used to love our local video shop lots of great memories in their , i used to be allowed 1 video a week so choosing used to take awhile

I dont know why but going to Blockbuster to rent a dvd isn't the same .

Our local shop was nearly always out of the video I wanted and you had to book it. Blockbusters at least have multiple copies but I know what you mean.