The Triumphs and Tribulations of the Rocky Franchise

What is it about the iconic Rocky films starring Sylvester Stallone that makes them so appealing? Why do we find ourselves settling in on the couch to watch one whenever they’re on broadcast television, like a moth to the proverbial flame? Ultimately, was it necessary for the series to be “capped off” by the sometimes questionable last film in the series, Rocky Balboa? The answers to these questions, though mainly steeped in opinionated reflection, have a lot to do with the “underdog scenario,” and the way in which audiences tend to gravitate to these stories; here is an everyday neighborhood figure many of us can relate to, who smashes through the odds against him no matter how large or seemingly unstoppable his opponents appear to be…and that’s always the underlying power behind a feel-good film.

Interestingly enough, the Rocky franchise plays much like a superhero/comic book series in structure: With each passing film, our main character boxes his way through tougher and tougher adversaries, much like a comic book hero does with his rogues gallery of villains, even though it sometimes goes a bit too far with regard to suspension of disbelief (if anyone punched as hard as Dolph Lundgren’s character did in Rocky IV, no one would survive the hit, let alone come back for more). Rocky, the first entry from 1976 directed by John G. Avildsen – who would go on to direct the fifth film to bring the “Philadelphia” theme full circle – introduces us to down-on- his-luck street/club fighter Rocky Balboa, who collects debts for a local loan shark by day and battles local thuggish boxers by night. This original classic introduces us to key players in the remainder of the franchise, including manager and trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith), girlfriend-turned-wife Adrian (Talia Shire), her unkempt and alcoholic brother Paulie (Burt Young) and heavyweight boxing champion of the world at the time, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).

Many die hard Rocky franchise fans, like enthusiasts of any culturally popular series a la Star Wars and Star Trek, tend to categorize their favorite and least-favorite entries based on strength of characters, storylines, plot cohesion and sheer entertainment value; again and again, it’s unanimously felt that 1976’s Rocky remains the most influential and powerful of the series, introducing us to all the characters and setting up the main character’s love/hate relationship with adversary Apollo Creed, further explored in Rocky II. In the original Rocky, we witness with somewhat empathetic eyes Stallone’s punchy – a bit of pun intended – character endure the hardships of being a local, rather unpopular almost-unpaid boxer while being a frowned-upon collector for the local mobster. Yet as the film progresses, we cheer him on as he wins Adrian’s heart, accepts Apollo’s challenge for a match with a local Philadelphia underdog and trains his tail off under Mickey’s supervision. Of course, the concluding boxing match’s draw sets up the inevitable sequel, which Stallone himself would go on to direct.

Rocky II, released two years later and helmed by Stallone, takes a page from Halloween II’s book and becomes a great sequel because of it, picking up exactly where the first film leaves off. Balboa and Creed both suffer from injuries relating to the beating they gave each other at the end of Rocky, and are shown being transported to a local hospital where Creed spews a series of rematch challenges at Rocky. While Rocky doesn’t initially want it and trainer Mickey advises against it due to Balboa’s state of health after the first tussle with Creed, a rematch is set up, with the premise being that Apollo didn’t wholeheartedly agree with the “draw” ruling in their fight.

It’s often believed by enthusiasts of this franchise that once 1982’s Rocky III arrived, the series took a downward turn, mainly because of the almost cartoonish foes our main character was forced to face in the ring. Rocky, in winning the championship belt from Creed, is now living the good life with wife Adrian and their son, as Balboa defends his title in win after win. However, lurking in the shadows is the ridiculously tough Clubber Lang (Mr. T), a brutal fighter that becomes Balboa’s number-one contender for the title and who uses every demeaning trick to lure Rocky into the ring with him – even coming onto Adrian at a statue unveiling ceremony in Philadelphia. As a sort of turning point in the series, Rocky III is remembered for the way in which Balboa loses the title and then wins it back again under unprecedented odds against him, how his once arch nemesis Apollo Creed becomes his trainer and how the main character endures unthinkable pain with the death of his mentor and trainer, Mickey.

By the time Rocky IV rolled around – with Stallone again in the director’s chair – the “plausible plot” element had become out of control, at least to many diehard fans of the now- enduring franchise. Here, our main character faces his most lethal and powerful opponent yet in Dolph Lundgren’s “Ivan Drago,” a hulking machine of a boxer who comes from Russia to engage in a friendly exhibition match against world renowned champ Rocky Balboa. But when ex-champ Apollo Creed sees an opportunity to face Drago first, he seizes it…and pays a big price for his ego-fueled posturing when he is defeated – lethally – by the massive Russian at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. This sets up the inevitable match between Drago and the physically outmatched Balboa, the two pumped-beyond-belief super athletes duking it out on Christmas in Moscow. Of course, Rocky IV has been heavily criticized for being somewhat beyond believable, what with the unrealistic inhuman blows delivered by Lundgren’s Ivan Drago and the fact that none of them actually kill Balboa in their match, or the way in which Drago receives all sorts of “boosting” chemicals to make him even stronger than he actually is, while Balboa continues to take him on in the ring.

With seemingly nowhere left to go with the plot structures, Rocky V returned the action to the streets of Philadelphia where it all began, reuniting much of the main cast from the original film with its director, and shifting the focus from Rocky being a fighter to him becoming a manager and trainer. Rocky Balboa, meanwhile, felt like an unnecessary bookend to the series by many fans, with Stallone again directing and attempting to create some kind of “closure” that wasn’t really needed; Adrian has passed away and Rocky finds himself visiting her grave every so often, to Paulie’s dismay, who is attempting to put all the pain of the loss behind him. What ultimately feels so odd and out of place about this last Rocky entry (to date) is the way in which the final inevitable fight between a “real” boxing contender and Balboa plays out, for the first time in the franchise, like a genuine pay-per-view event at a Las Vegas resort. Making the situation even more uncomfortable is the way in which Balboa has become so arthritic and downright old, forcing his antics in the ring to appear strangely “off” as he faces his younger, seasoned opponent; this didn’t feel like a Rocky film, at all, but it can be argued this is exactly what Stallone was going for.

Perhaps the most recognized sports underdog story, the Rocky series continues to endure for many reasons and on varying (and a rapidly expanding number of) mediums – including iTunes, DirecTV, and, perhaps the best option for those fanatics out there, MGM’s Rocky Anthology DVD box set, considered to be one of the definitive versions of the collection to own – proving why everyone likes to root for the come-from-behind unlikely favorite.