jeffkjoe

I've already read the http://www.dvdfile.com article.

Now, with the weekend coming up and pre-orders coming in (my local mom-pop store JUST sold out of them, drat!),


WHAT do you guys think????

spaceman

Watching the Rocky Collection is like taking a snapshot of American culture and Sylvester Stallone's career at the same time. No matter how many duds the Italian Stallion put out between sequels (Cobra, anyone?) he could always fall back on his original charming oaf of a creation, Rocky Balboa. And the public just ate it up.... at least, until Part 5. But every series has to have a rotten apple just to make the others taste that much more sweet.

MGM, who set the standard for all DVD collections with their fabulous James Bond sets, has packaged Rocky in all its bicentennial glory, but left a lot of meat and potatoes off the sequels. The original still packs an emotional punch, with its low-budget chutzpa and inspirational tone. Stallone finds his one and only voice as an actor in the good natured street tough Balboa, and a great improvisational partner in director John Avildsen. The DVD explains just how fortuitous some of those magical on-set moments really were, and how Stallone only got the part because the suits in New York confused him with "Lords of F

There's a well-rounded commentary from director Avildsen, producers Winkler & Chartoff, Talia Shire, and Burt "Pauly" Young. Stallone gets a solo gig that only lasts 28 minutes but covers a lot of ground. There's also trailers, advertising materials, tributes to Burgess Meredith (who went to the great ring in the sky in Part 3), cinematographer James Crabbe, and super-8 test footage of the final fight. The commentary is particularly brisk and informative, edited together with close attention to detail rather than letting each party ramble and reminisce interminably.

The subsequent films (2 through 5) are forced to go it alone - no extras other than a theatrical trailer and Stallone’s transformation from “ham and egger” to hammy action-movie icon (if you look carefully you can actually see his ego getting bigger). But for fans, the sweet science of watching Rocky take down Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, and Dolph “Drago” Lundgren in one Sunday afternoon is time well spent. The DVD’s themselves are reasonably well presented, although the first film in particular looks like it was dragged through the streets of Philadelphia behind Butkus the dog. I’m assuming this is a product of the much lamented low budget rather than a lousy transfer. Hell, Rocky looks better with a little grit and grain on his face anyway.

But make no mistake - if you’re looking for beautifully remastered versions of the Rocky series, think twice. The new surround tracks on part one add a little flavor to the set, but otherwise these are just a few notches up from VHS. A disappointment? Sure, but this is most likely the best you’ll get in a long while.

It’s probably unfair to wish the Rocky Collection turned out more like the Bond sets. After all, they’re much less complicated films; products of pumped up posturing and subsequent emotional release. The real story behind Rocky (the film and the character) is his rise to greatness, not his time spent on the top. So I suppose it’s only appropriate this is reflected in the collection of extras.

But I pity the fool who had to tell Mr. T he couldn’t record a commentary track.

GRADE: B

JiGGY

I am also looking for extras with Rocky 4. Maybe some commentary about Cold War.

jeffkjoe

Well, I just got my box set a couple days early, courtesy of SAMs Club in Westchester, NY (notorious for putting out box sets DAYS, sometimes WEEKS, before release date....I'm going there next Saturday for SUPERMAN I-IV).

Anyway:

It took me all of 45 minutes to get through the extras for the ROCKY box set, save for the Audio Commentary.

I'm a DIE HARD Rocky fan. I'm satisfied with the set, EVEN if all five movies don't have anamorphic transfers....Who cares? They're NOT changing the format.

I still point my finger at the MGM Home Video twerp who decided to cut corners and RECYCLE the old ROCKY II and IV discs, but at least I've got III and V now.

I really think THIS is the version of the ROCKY saga that will be us until the next anniversary (30th in 2006).

kahuna

I'll wait till 2006.

Kahuna UN -

pagemaster7

It's not as bad as one would think. The transfers are decent to good(much better than I expected), and the audio is suprisingly good(much much much better than I expected). Yes the extras are missing on 2-5, but at the price it sells for I think it's well worth it. Yes I would love to see a real special edition, but until then I'll be happy with this set.

GuessWho

Agreed!

At $11 per movie ($55 for box this week at Best Buy), this is good stuff.

JUST REMEMBER:

3 years ago you were buying VHS at $19.95 each.