Rocky V (1990): Go For It!

Rating: 6/10 (5 January 2018)

Rocky V is a 1990 film starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Tommy Morrison, Richard Gant, Sage Stallone, and Burgess Meredith. The film was written by Sylvester Stallone and directed by OSCAR winning director John G. Avildsen, who directed the original ROCKY (1976).
Upon returning from his latest triumph, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) learns that all his money has been lost by an unscrupulous financial advisor. To make matters worse, his fight-related injuries force his retirement from the ring. So Rocky, his wife Adrian (Talia Shire), his friend Paulie (Burt Young), and his son Rocky Jr. (Sage Stallone) move to their old, low-rent neighborhood in South Philadelphia. There, the fighter must resolve the deep-rooted resentment held by his son, a bitterness that grows when Rocky trains Tommy "The Machine" Gunn (Tommy Morrison), a young boxer who soon rises to national prominence. When Tommy turns against his mentor and publicly taunts him, Rocky knows he must fight once more.
ROCKY V was made on a budget of $42,000,000. The film grossed $120,000,000 worldwide, making it the least successful film financially in the entire franchise. The film is reviewed by fans and critics alike as the worst film in the ROCKY franchise.
While I do agree that ROCKY V is the worst film in the franchise, I do believe that ROCKY V is supremely underrated. The music by Bill Conti once again is superb. Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Burgess Meredith all have wonderful performances as they have had in ROCKY - ROCKY IV. Sage Stallone has an OK performance. Could have been better, could have been worse. Real-life boxer Tommy Morrison does a decent job as Tommy "The Machine" Gunn. John G. Avildsen, who directed the original ROCKY (1976), does a good job at the director's chair for one last ROCKY film.
Overall, ROCKY V, while being the worst film in the franchise, still is a highly underrated film. I thought that this was a very decent film.
6/10.