Creed

Now that's what I call a terrific movie.

Creed is a worthy succesor to the Rocky series, and I couldn't tell you how excited I was when I watched it. I guess you could say the story is a retelling of the original Rocky, but it picks up a few years after Rocky VI. And everything is the same. Philadelphia looks a little more new but it's still Rocky's home. Mickey's gym, Rocky's house, the museum steps, it's all exactly where and how you saw it last. Michael B. Jordan is a great choice to play the son of Apollo, and I'm very proud of him for such a great performance. Of course Sylvester Stallone still has all the charm and heart, he hasn't lost an ounce of it and I have to admit it was amazing to see him play the Mickey role to Adonis. It's just great to see Rocky again and things haven't changed much for him. There's lots of love and attention to detail of previous movies, you see the original Mighty Mick's Gym sign in the newly remodeled gym, you even see Rocky's turtles all grown up. The whole experience of the movie gets you going, it invests you in the story and the characters, it makes you root for Adonis claiming the title of Creed from his father. It's just a damn good movie, and I really want you to see it. One thing I ought to give you fair warning about though is the fact that it is much more adult and more grittier than previous films, you hear some pretty strong language and it just shows this is the film for a person who grew up on Rocky movies and is now an adult. It's a new film, but it still feels like home.

Rocky VI

Yes I call it Rocky VI not Rocky Balboa.

This movie is pretty great! It takes place almost 20 years after the last Rocky movie and stuff has went down since then. Rocky has been retired for that whole time, Adrian has passed away which is a pivotal part of the movie and the driving force which gets Rocky back in the ring. Lots of flashbacks from the previous movies are used to a pure emotional level very much like Mickey's flashback in Rocky V. There is a really good scene which Rocky defends his stance on why he is fighting even though he is getting up in the years. In fact a hell of a lot of dialogue in this movie is fantastic! The whole movie is great and is easily in the top three, maybe even in the top two spots for best Rocky movie. I forgot who truly great this movie was. I mean by the time I started buying and watching all the Rocky movies, Rocky VI was not even five years old. And now Creed is coming out and it's going to be the first time in my life where I see a new Rocky movie in the theatre! So I am very excited and very hopeful for the new movie, which comes out on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so mark your calendars! Thank you so much for reading my recap of all the Rocky movies, and I will see you next week.

Rocky V

Alright, less than a week before the new movie comes out. So let's wrap this up.

Okay so this Rocky movie is...not great. Sylvester Stallone himself gave it zero stars if that should warn you at all. I personally think it's okay, it has some real good scenes. So Rocky comes back from Russia after ending the Cold War and he oficially retires and starts training an up and coming boxer, Tommy Gunn and that's pretty much it. Two best scenes in the whole movie, first is a flashback before the big fight with Apollo in the first movie where we see Mickey for the last time. It's a real tearjerking scene and is easily one of the best scenes in the entire series. Second is a street fight between Rocky and Tommy Gunn, it is badass! Great fight scene to say the least. Sadly there really isn't that much more to talk about and I would only recommend this movie if you are a hardcore Rocky fan. If not just skip to the sixth one, trust me it's really great.

Rocky IV

And this is where the crazy over the top scale breaks. Now it gets awesomely ridiculous.

Rocky IV is a fantastic movie, and I am serious. It gets so crazy and relishes in the 80's cheesiness it becomes something extrodinary. This movie takes place a little while after Rocky III, Rocky and Apollo have become real great friends, Rocky's son has grown up quite a bit, and Rocky and Adrian celebrate their ninth anniversary together. Things have been going pretty well for everybody, until the Russians invade. Well technically it's a Russian boxer, Ivan Drago played by Dolph Lundgren who I got to admit is downplayed majorly from something like his Expendables performance in retrospect. He's pretty much an almost silent monster. He has like six damn lines in the whole movie! They used him for just his physical stature and really he is so much more than that. Dude is super smart and even a bit charismatic but here he is a friggin' walking tank. But hey he does a real good job at setting the bar higher than it ever has been before or since in the Rocky series. But let's continue with the plot. Apollo flips his lid and goes after Drago guns blazing and loses. Badly. So Rocky has to take the fight to the Russians, literally. He travels and trains in Russia. And yes, Rocky ended the Cold War. The absurdly awesome moments don't take long to set in, it takes about 5 minutes before your jaw hits the floor in disbelief. I won't dare ruin the surprise but it does not stop there. I love this movie, and what I noticed while watching it again is there are a bunch of montages in this movie set to blazing 80's music that makes you want to rock out to, and it has to be at least 30% of the movie and Vince DiCola's score is glorious. I know the original soundtrack in the first movie is the greatest but dear lord this comes so close! Some people call this a guilty pleasure movie, and I don't see it as that. I greatly enjoy this movie every time I watch it, and it really never gets old. And just like the last movie it keeps raising the stakes and changes the world in which these characters live in. So yes, it is an important and very ludicrous entry in the series and must really be seen to be believed.

Rocky III

I have a theory that this Rocky movie and Rocky IV are in a totally different universe.

So movie starts off the same with a recap, and now Rocky is the champion of the world. And of course when fame is achieved others start to challenge the top dog for supremacy. So Rocky fights contender after contender until he meets this damn beast of a boxer Clubber Lang played by badass Mr. T! Strong as all get out and a big mouth to boot. So Rocky has to defend his title as champ and win. The reason why I think this is a totally different movie is because it gets out there. There's this scene where Rocky has to fight Hulk Hogan, yes I'm serious. It's for charity and all hell breaks loose. Not exactly a scene you would see in the last two emotional, inspiring movies. But this movie takes some big steps nevertheless and it completely changes how the characters interact in this world. Apollo turns ally and helps Rocky train more differently than he has before, telling him he's got the eye of the tiger. Yeah, this is where Survivor started in Rocky movies! Truly amazing 80's music and you better believe the soundtrack was selling like crazy. It's a ridiculous but great movie, and is still an important part of Rocky's story. So give it a watch and I pity the fool who doesn't.

Rocky II

Rocky II is without a doubt just as good if not a little better than the first movie.

It picks up right where the last movie left off with a recap of the last fight, a tradition that would last for the rest of the series. The story picks up after Rocky and Apollo leave the hospital and stuff has really changed for Rocky. He's now super rich and is no longer humble in his surroundings and has changed sadly for worse. But he soon gets back to his roots, and all the meanwhile everyone says the big fight in the last movie was rigged. And this is where we get some great insight into Apollo's character, where we see that he really is obsessed with fighting Rocky again because his reputation has been damged. In fact both of theirs are. And this is the main driving point to get them back into the ring which is really funny because at the end of the first movie Apollo says there ain't gonna be no rematch and Rocky says I don't want one. But whatever, it's a great movie that progresses the characters and story. Everyone is back and I got to tell you, Burgess Meredith as Mickey is my favorite character in the whole series, just his grouchy voice and wise ass remarks make me love him to death. Easily top 3 greatest mentors in film history. Bottom line, if you loved Rocky it is mandatory to see the sequel....and after this the sequels get very different and very crazy.

Rocky

Yeah been awhile. Missed out on Spectre and The Peanuts Movie for now. But we got 6 Rocky movies to review before the new one comes out on Thanksgiving.

Rocky is one of the greatest movies ever made, and it's something you have to watch for yourself. It's a true underdog story with nothing but heart and a glorious cast. Sylvester Stallone became famous for potraying the Philadelphia southpaw Rocky Balboa, playing with huge amounts of charm and love. Talia Shire is perfect as Adrian, a shy pet shop owner that Rocky sees the beauty in and I have to admit she is cute as a bug. Burt Young is Paulie a drunk and a bit of an ass but is a good friend of Rocky's. Carl Weathers who is the second coolest black guy next to good ol' Billy Dee is the champion of the world Apollo Creed, and his son is the real main character of the new movie. The music by Bill Conti is soaring to say the least, and is truly a masterpiece. The setting is entirely in Philadelphia and it really shows, you get some real character from the city and the best part is all of it, I repeat all of it you can still find. You can run up those museum steps and Rocky at the top. It's such a great movie, and I don't care for sports movies but the Rocky movies I will watch whenever they are on. And it's because of this movie I incorporated 'Yo' into my vocabulary. So tune in tomorrow where we look at the just as great sequel.

If you want to know where you can find all the Rocky locations go to our old friend Cinemassacre and they got a video documenting all of the settings in all 6 of the movies. It's called Rocky Jumped A Park Bench, and it's really damn good.