movies/tv Why is Rocky 5 the most hated movie in the series

[TheMarkz0ne 962]

To begin, the best Rocky movies are as follows

Rocky Rocky II Rocky Balboa Rocky III Rocky V Rocky IV

Rocky III barely beat Rocky V. Rocky III told a story about a man who lost his fire and hunger. A man who was weakened by money and fame and deserved to lose, then came back and won it all. Rocky V had all that 90s cheese, but it had heart and effort. I love the measure of a man in the credits as we see Rocky's life in black and white stills.

Rocky IV is a far cry from what Rocky is. If you can't tell, I love Rocky for the drama and less about the action. Rocky IV, I don't hate the movie. I get pumped sometimes watching it. But it's just bad propagana and a music video.

Anyone want to offer their view?

[Yellow Diamond 7,578]

I haven't actually seen Rocky V -- at least not in its entirety. I've seen all the others (save for the most recent one), and Rocky IV holds a place in my heart as a guilty pleasure. "I will break you" and all that jazz.

 

My impression of the backlash aimed at Rocky V is that people had grown tired of the formula. Rocky was a breath of fresh air due in large part because Rocky persevered hardships and lost, yet still came out a winner as a pure competitor. By the time Rocky IV rolled around, it was the same deal: Rocky falls from grace or encounters some sort of hardship; a prolonged training montage ensues as Rocky finds his fighting spirit; then he defeats his opponent. It was hard to keep Rocky an underdog when he would inevitably triumph in spite of the odds. In short, his story became stale and trite, so much so that the Rocky formula became a parody onto itself.

 

So Rocky V retreads the same tired tropes. Yes, it deals with Rocky at one of his lowest points -- but the fatigue was too great to overcome. As a trilogy, the first three films work well enough: we have Rocky the underdog, Rocky the triumphant, and Rocky the defending champion. Rocky V probably would've functioned better as Rocky IV, that is, the bookend to the first movie by returning to his roots. As it stands, however, it's just dragging things out.

[Twilight Dirac 721]

I never got into any of the Rocky movies myself, but speaking from general experience when you release that many sequels you are just tempting fate.  Many movies start to bomb as early as the first sequel and very few that I can think of can even make a second sequel without bombing (at the moment only Last Crusade and Return of the Jedi come to mind, and serious cracks were already apparent in the latter in the form of the Ewoks).  Four sequels is just begging for a cinematic disaster.