Review of Rocky V (1990) by Anthony S — 30 Jun 2014

If the best revenge is living well, then apparently Drago got the last laugh; as Rocky V finds Rocky Balboa bankrupt and suffering from permanent brain damage. This is undoubtedly the worst of the Rocky films, making a fatal error on the direction to take the series.

The film attempts to return Rocky to his roots, which isn't a bad idea in concept (and worked well in Rocky III). But after Rocky's triumphant victory over the Russians in Rocky IV, bankrupting and crippling him just serves to alienate the fans.

And then there's Tommy Gunn, the blandest, most uninteresting of all of Rocky's foils. Rocky V scuttles the series and is one of those few films in a franchise that's best forgotten, to be wiped out of existence as if it never happened.