.....I totally agree w/ that that. You either except it as itself or watch the whole thing...V excluded.

I like the original, have seen I-IV and gave up.

If I'm nostalgic, I do I-IV. If I want closure, I do I-Balboa ignoring V along the way.

Burning Heart > Eye of the Tiger

Rocky III:

I pity the fool who dislikes Rocky III! You can definitely see 80's slickness taking over for the 70's grit, and Stallone was moving into his more professional 80's persona, but they tied it into the character and it works. It makes sense that Rocky would be taken down by a fighter as hungry as he was, and I liked the idea of turning Apollo from opponent to mentor. In fact, I prefer him to Mickey, who I always felt was too shrill, and his death was used to good effect to make Rocky's biggest opponent his own doubt. The scene on the beach between Rocky and Adrian is one of the best in the series. I had also forgotten this is the film where Eye of Tiger came from, so it was nice to hear that as well.

While it's not the best in the series, Rocky III might be my favorite so far.

Rocky I: Saw it for the first time like 5 years ago. Excellent movie.
Rocky II: Also very good, and it was important to the series because it shows his son being born.
Rocky III: Can't miss it because Mickey dies, and this is also where Apollo and Rocky become friends.
Rocky IV: The one I grew up with via HBO. The franchise reached it's zenith with him fighting a Russian Terminator and ending the cold war which made...

Rocky V a big letdown. It was just depressing, and not in a good, independent film kind of way. It didn't even make sense. Rocky chooses not to fight again and risk what's left of his brain, even if it means that his family has to stay poor. But in the end he risks his health anyways and fights, but for free.

Pretty much my sentiments. The one thing I never figured out in Balboa was how he managed to get the money to start the restaurant if he was broke in V. Of course I'm sure he was famous enough to do a few small ads and get enough to do so. Still, a little explanation is needed!

No Easy Way Out > Burning Heart

Same here. The first is unquestionably superior, but III gets my vote for pure viewing enjoyment.

This thread reminded me how much I like Conti's score to 'Rocky', and that it's been too long since I listened to it.

I've been listening to it today. Man it's fantastic stuff.

It really is a great overall score. "Rocky's Reward" being my most favorite track.

The one thing I thought was weird about Rocky III is how twice in the movie bands in a scene play the theme to the movie Rocky. It's not really a big deal, just kind of jarred me a little. Like if in the Star Wars movies a character was listening to the disco remix of the Star Wars theme on the radio.

Probably 'Philadelphia Morning' for me.

They are all on YT if any of you don't have the album.

Rocky IV:

Man, people actually like this movie? If it weren't for the poor use of clips from previous films in the mid-movie montage, I could hardly have told you this was part of the same series as the first three. While Rocky III may have moved the series toward 80's gloss, it maintained the heart that the first two films had and did a good job of bringing the series full circle. Rocky IV feels like an afterthought, bearing as little relation to the first film as Rambo III did to First Blood. Gone is Bill Conti's iconic and stirring score, replaced with lame duck synthesizers and bad 80's rock that doesn't hold a candle to "Eye of the Tiger." Silliness abounds, from the American boxing glove slamming into the USSR glove and the two exploding, to the pointless robot and the idea of a crowd of Communist Party members cheering Rocky and giving him a standing ovation. Stallone's direction is all flash and no substance, and Apollo's death is just a poor retelling of Mickey's from the last film. Drago is a bland and faceless opponent, with neither Apollo's showmanship nor Clubber Lang's grim-faced determination.

If people actually like this movie, I'm really not looking forward to watching Rocky V, which everyone hates. I doubt I'll ever want to watch Rocky IV again. The absolute nicest thing I can say about it is that maybe Stallone felt that the country really needed something to rally around at that point in the Cold War, but even then it doesn't excuse the poor filmmaking and writing on display here.

It feels that way because Stallone only wanted to do a trilogy, but the success of Rocky III made him rethink his plans.

This is my favorite franchise.

I like the original. I respect it, and it's probably the best of the series, but it's not my favorite. It's better than V and Rocky Balboa, though.

When I was a kid, II was actually my favorite. You would've thought III or IV would've been my favotite as a kid, but it was II. Just something about that one.

Nowadays, IV is the most fun one to watch. The soundtrack, the training montages, the speeches, the fights, etc. It's the least credible of the series, but it's the most fun one to watch. One of the most pure fun movies ever, and it pumps me up like no other movie.

IV
II
III
I
V
Rocky Balboa

Nah, go ahead and check out Part V. It's a completely different film than IV (Even though it begins right after IV).
Part V really tried to get back to the basics of Parts I & II with *Rock going back to his roots and going in a new direction with the series. Of course, the results seem to be un-popular with viewers. But who knows. Judge for yourself.

*When I went to see Part V in theaters, I saw it with some friends who were only familiar with the action-extravaganzas of Parts III & IV. Needless to say, they were baffled to see a "Rocky movie" where dim-witted Rock never stops talking (Which makes sense since Rock didn't seem to have no more than 10 lines of dialogue during the last half-hour of IV) They also seemed to be confused as to why Rock suddenly wears an old dirty, black outfit 24/7.

BTW, my Ex pointed out the sponsor-wars that these movies seemed to have. Part III was pro-Nike (Clubber's attire) and Part IV was littered with Adidas.

Balboa under V? wha?

I rank Rocky and Rocky Balboa as 1/2 but like all of them about the same after that.

I grew up near where most of the Philly neighborhood stuff was filmed and
walked through that area almost all the time.

So All these films have a sentimental place for me.
When I watch them especially the first it's like seeing home video of my old neighborhood again.

To each his own...I respect your opinion, but I'm surprised you hated IV that much. Honestly I think part of it is that you're watching them back to back to back to back to back to back. You really can't compare IV to I and II and even to III because they're totally different...especially IV compared to I and II. You're right that IV went for all flash, but that's what I like about it. I mentioned it before but it's 80's cheese at it's best. Of course the idea of an entire arena of Communists suddenly switching sides and rooting for Rocky is ludicrous but that's just part of what makes it fun. And I'm surprised that you find Drago bland.

Bingo.

The thing is, I don't want pure 80's cheese from Rocky. Rambo maybe, but even then I tend to ignore Rambo II and III.

If you want to avoid pure 80s cheese, then Rocky IV and Rambo II should NOT be a part of any viewing schedule. I like them because of the 80s cheese factor, but to each their own. Those two movies, Top Gun, and Wall Street pretty much epitomized the 80s mindset and style.

Rocky V:

After the high sheen of Rocky IV, the more low key nature of Rocky V is something of a relief. Unfortunately, the film gets off to a poor start with a contrived plot point about Rocky's accountant swindling all of his money. This puts him back on the streets where he grew up, but even with bringing back the original film's director, Rocky V can't recapture the spirit of the first three films. Tommy Gunn is a totally uninteresting character, and watching him fight instead of Rocky isn't satisfying. Even more annoying is that Rocky's diagnosed with brain damage, and therefore he can't fight, but he ends up fighting a two-bit punk not worthy to tie his shoes, but this time for free. Also, despite being a professional boxer for a decade and a half, Rocky is suddenly a street fighter with all kinds of fancy moves. Lame.

The one bright spot in the film is Rocky's relationship with his son, which only gets a real resolution in the next film. For scaling back the excess Rocky V is marginally better than Rocky IV, but both feel superfluous to the first three. Thankfully Stallone visited the character one more time to give him a true send off, because Rocky V isn't it.

Like Sonny Bono, I prefer Rocky XXXVIII.