It’s true Rocky II drags at parts but it has its moments and covers that phase in his life - the proposal at the zoo, etc. — and the fight is great. III is great - really fun and visually exciting — it’s where I got on at 10 years old. IV starts getting a little worn out but as mentioned, Dolph Lundgren and Brigette Nielsen are worthy villains and you get James Brown’s Living In America.
I haven't picked up this set, nor the single releases, as I've read that the Rocky BDs have issues. "Lackluster" is how I've heard them described, as there is no indication that the film was cleaned up at all. I would be in for a 4K restoration in UHD, as I think it would be worth it for the first 3 films alone. One would think that with such a big franchise that they would have done that by now. After all, Rocky was the winner of Best Picture for 1976, beating out Taxi Driver.
I and II are both totally awesome. When he wins at the end of II and Paulie and Adrian jump out of their chairs, I still get goosebumps every time I watch it. III is less of a serious film, but still awesome. IV is overly glitzy and a product of its time, but still highly enjoyable. The training scenes in Russia are incredible.
The first film is a well made popcorn film with some nice, deft character touches. Every film after…ick.
The only one I saw in the theater and man we kids were pumped up for it!! a few years later watching it at a friends house in High school and how parts of it were cracking us up, especially the fight at the end. “If I can change, we can all change” we laughed our arses off. We could even see how dated it all was even in 1991. yeah the Russia training scenes were brutal. We didn't like seeing Chubs,…I mean Apollo ending up like that.
I didn't notice any issues with my BD set....but then again I bought mine several years ago. I don't know if any changes were made since then but having viewed them on my Panasonic plasma it looked great to me. Maybe I should have another Rocky-thon session and see if there are any issues. But I have three of the movie soundtrack vinyl LP's (Rocky, III and IV) so definitely holding on to those.
Rocky: Heavyweight Collection (Rocky / Rocky II / Rocky III / Rocky IV / Rocky V / Rocky Balboa) [Blu-ray] PLUS 3+ HOURS OF BONUS FEATURES.. currently $20.00...works for me.
Yeah, but that's not the optical version of wide stereo. The true resolution is in the higher definition presentation. It's like placing the sound just right, only in picture format.
fair enough, but for 20 clams I ain't complaining and we do get a great 4K scan of Rocky and the other Blu-rays look OK...Rock and Rocky Balboa have all the extra features...
This is the version of the set I have, bought it about 8 years ago, released by MGM Home entertainment:
I loved 1 but 2 is my favorite and felt it was a fantastic sequel. I agree 3 was a cartoon but still enjoyable. I disliked 4 (felt lazy and a by the numbers Hollywood film complete with a annoying music montage) but hated 5 even more. Bored me to tears and I lost hope for the Rocky series. Rocky Balboa was a wonderful surprise. I felt the love again. I enjoyed Creed too. I didn’t see the follow up.
3 is still awesome despite the bit of silliness (Thunderlips fight, which is awesome). Stallone gets a bad rap from some, but he does the heartfelt scenes really well in the Rocky films, and 3 has two of his best, the one with Mickey following his altercation with Clubber ("he'll knock you to tomorrow, Rock!") and later with Adrian on the beach. And let's not forget the early scene with Paulie after he got him out of jail, and then of course when Mickey died. Criticism of 4 and any after I get it, but I m prepared to push back on any of the first three (in a friendly way of course).
Creed is essential. It's quite a beautiful movie. Creed II is good but I think steps away from the other movies too much.
I recall Sly saying in an interview that he had to be airlifted to a hospital because Dolph had hit him so hard, that he had, "moved one of his organs", or something to that effect. Sly told Dolph to hit him harder for more realism---no kidding.
I have to admit that I chuckle every time I see the part after round 1 in the original when Mickey tells Rocky his nose is broken. Rocky's "how's it look?" was a) clearly added later, not said by Stallone right there, and b) sounded too cheerful coming from a guy who had just gotten his nose broken. lol
