Hoist the American flag, here comes Rocky...

Rating: 5/10 (14 April 2007)

Sylvester Stallone once again stacks the deck against his most popular character Rocky Balboa, here taking on a freakishly strong Russian boxer in the ring as an act of vengeance for the death of former foe and recent ally Apollo Creed. Once the publicity machine gets cranking, it appears as though Rocky is fighting for the integrity of the entire U.S.A.! Lead weight rabble-rouser managed to hook '80s audiences, but time has turned the picture into a purple-prosy embarrassment. Full of mediocre screen writing and a poor direction (both by Stallone), not to mention ugly, 'flashy' cinematography and editing tricks which attempt to resemble the music-videos of the era. Followed in 1990 by "Rocky V". ** from ****