Blu-ray Review
Rocky: The Undisputed Collection
Directed by: John G. Avildsen, Sylvester Stallone
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith
Running Time: varies
Rating: PG (Rocky V is PG-13)
Due Out: November 3, 2009
Buy Rocky: The Undisputed Collection [Blu-ray]
PLOT: A south-paw boxer (Stallone) from Philadelphia turns from a nothing to a champ. Throughout his career he must battle new foes in and out of the ring, with his wife (Shire) by his side.
WHO'S IT FOR? Do you get sucked into the Rocky films every single every single time they are on USA and Spike? Are you a fan of the underdog getting his shot?
MOVIE: Rocky: Yes, to watch it now, the film crawls in the beginning ... and middle. But this is clearly the best of the bunch. Most rewatchable? No. But clearly the most quality film. Rocky is a million to one shot. Burgess Meredith is amazing. When he screams, "You're a bum," you believe it. Does anyone know who invented the training sequence? Was it this film? Let's get someone else to do the research on that one. Why? Cause Mickey loves ya.
Rocky II: I would say this is the one that gets forgotten more than any other. Maybe that's because the beginning is simply the ending of the original film. This is the film where Rocky makes his move. This is the first time a docotr says he probably shouldn't fit again. Yeah, that's right. Doctors tell him not to fight about 30 years before his last bout.
Rocky III: Rocky fights Thunder lips (Hulk Hogan) and Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and in the process this kills Mickey. Yes, I blame Rocky for his death. If only he'd taken all of his training seriously. This is where Rocky's body jumps from ... yeah, he could be a boxer to ... good Lord, he's ripped! I was too young to think about steriods, but I'm sure there were thousands of articles written about it at the time ... thousands. Then again, I didn't notice the homoerotic beach running until years later either. This film ranks #2 on the rewatchablility scale.
Rocky IV: Hearts on fire. Strong desire. Rocky ends the cold war ... but he also kills Apollo. Yes, I blame Rocky for this death as well. Christmas Day, in Russia, Rocky does the impossible taking on Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren). Stallone has Drago do steroids (cause Russia is evil). But clearly Rocky works out in a barn and it's legit. This is the most quotable and most rewatchable of the group. It's also the most far fetched. But it hit America at the perfect time. "Hearts on Fire" also makes a great song to be played at your wedding whether your wife understand or not. Trust me.
Rocky V: It happened. My ring's outside. I didn't hear no bell. Touch me and I'll sue. Let's move on.
Rocky Balboa: Underrated. If only we could have just killed the fifth and gone straight to here. Adrian (aka the ultimate wet blanket) is gone, but from what I can tell, Rocky didn't actually kill her. It captures the sad psyche of an aging athlete, and the final fight is the best quality staging of a boxing match in the entire series. Let's start building some hurting bombs.
MOVIE SCORE: 7/10
EXTRAS
Feeling Strong Now: Interactive Game - The trivia comes in two forms ... questions about the films and real life boxers ... and then movie scenes like "Scene It!" Then there's an awful fighting game where you pick punches and see if you beat the computer. There seems to be no strategy, so I would imagine most people will play this once and move on.
Sylvester Stallone on "Dinah!" - Wait a minute ... Stallone used to be insanely coherent? This talk show from 1976 is fantastic to show the man he used to be. I understand every word Stallone says and it's great to hear about him being down to $103, Joey Bishop, is that you making the awful Hershey joke next to Dinah?
Video commentary with Sylvester Stallone: This is commentary that takes place just after 2000. Watching Stallone tick is still a good time. He truly transformed his personal thinking about never getting a break, or never taking a chance and turning it into Rocky is one of the best Hollywood stories there is.
OTHER EXTRAS:
In the Ring: Three-part making-of documentary Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes: Makeup, Music, Directing the Camera Work Boxing Featurettes: Three Rounds with Legendary Traier Lou Duva, The Opponents and The Ring of Truth Tributes: Burgess Meredith, James Crabe Interview with a Legend: Bert Sugar Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots and More
EXTRAS SCORE: 8/10
OVERALL
No other film series has started so high, gone so low, and still remained in the pop culture. Name a better boxing movie. OK, Raging Bull, good call. But name a better boxing series. Can't be done. If nothing else, throughout the films, Rocky's hair tells you watch time it is in America.
True, 1/6th of this movie series can simply be tossed out. But the bonus features are all in one place, compared to being spread out like in other collections. Here's the key ... do you already have Rocky, Rocky III and Rocky IV saved in HD on your DVR? Then you can probably pass. It's not like they've figure out a way to make a 1976 film absolutely perfect with Blu-ray technology. But otherwise, this is the collection to own. Don't wait to get sucked in on a random Saturday afternoon when you should be cleaning out the gutters. Take control. Why? Cause Mikey loves ya. Da da, da da da, da, da, Da, da da.
FINAL SCORE: 8/10