The ROCKY movies have been a part of the American culture since Sylvester Stallone produced the first one in 1976. I was not really much of a boxing fan at the time, and was more interested in baseball, football and basketball. I vividly recall seeing ROCKY, at an afternoon matinee during the week with my mother, since I went to high school in split sessions, and was home by 12:30. To me, the picture was entertaining, but rather depressing, and I went home having enjoyed it, but hardly found it life-changing.
When the second ROCKY movie was released on June 15, 1979, I was attending computer classes in Philadelphia 5 days a week, and never even saw it in a movie theatre. By that time however, boxing had started to interest me much more, starting in the summer of 1978 with the Larry Holmes-Ken Norton fight from Las Vegas. With every big bout that was aired on TV, I took more notice, and had definitely been bitten by the professional boxing bug.
Now ROCKY III, was an ENTIRELY different situation. The picture was released on my 22nd birthday, May 28, 1982, and there couldn’t have been a better gift than that. Boxing was a huge part of my life by then, and it was on my mind constantly. I had my own backyard boxing gym, and trained hard with ideas of turning professional on my mind every day. The movie itself was incredible, and the movie theatre I saw it in that Friday night with my mom and 2 younger sisters was at an older single theatre, with a large seating capacity of 800 or so. The lobby was draped with bunting, and it felt like you were going to a live fight. The crowd was filled with young people, and everyone screamed at the exciting scenes. It is easily the greatest movie going experience of my entire life. So much so, that I went back to that same theatre 11 times that summer to see ROCKY III, and enjoyed it every single time.
ROCKY IV was released the day before Thanksgiving in 1985, on November 27th, and I was there on opening day to see it. While I enjoyed it, it couldn’t compare with ROCKY III, and there was a lot of the movie I didn’t like. The picture was great until the actual fight between Rocky and Drago began, when it took on a cartoonish feel, with ridiculous effects. Rocky hit the canvas so many times I couldn’t keep track, but I still went back to see it another 3 or 4 times nonetheless.
I was working part-time as a security guard at a local shopping mall when ROCKY V was released on November 16, 1990. By then, boxing was pretty much my whole life, and was on my mind day and night. Not having any cash on me, I borrowed 10 bucks from the guard replacing me on duty one night, so I could go across the street to catch the flick, rather than drive home and come back. The movie itself was decent enough, and I liked the Tommy Gunn character played by Tommy Morrison, but it was hardly a great movie. Gratefully, I paid the guy back the next time I saw him, and gave him back a few extra bucks in thanks. I saw ROCKY V one more time that fall, and didn’t have any desire to see it a third.
Stallone packaged the ROCKY movies into 5 movie VHS tape and DVD sets, and I personally bought both. No one ever though another would be made, even Stallone. However, `15 years later, Sly was involved in producing the NBC TV boxing series, ‘The Contender’, and started talking of making one final ROCKY movie. ROCKY BALBOA was filmed in 2005, and released on December 20, 2006 to great acclaim. I saw it a few days before Christmas that winter, and the movie was absolutely fantastic. I loved every minute of it, and it put a beautiful end to an American classic, ROCKY. For a boxing fan like me, I still watch them whenever they’re broadcast on TV, and they bring back a flood of memories every time. If anyone asks me what my favorite all-time movie is, my answer is ROCKY III, and there is no doubt that answer will ever change.
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