Rocky V

"In Russia, he fought the greatest fight of his life. Now...where does a champion go when he takes off the gloves?"

1990 1h 44m EN

😐

5.8

MID

🥫

31%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.4

IMDB

★5.8TMDB · 3,589🥫31%Rotten Tomatoes●55Metacritic★5.4IMDB · 160,064

DramaAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A lifetime of taking shots has ended Rocky’s career, and a crooked accountant has left him broke. Inspired by the memory of his trainer, however, Rocky finds glory in training and takes on an up-and-coming boxer.

“In Russia, he fought the greatest fight of his life. Now...where does a champion go when he takes off the gloves?”

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Cast

Sylvester Stallone
Robert 'Rocky' Balboa
Talia Shire
Adrianna 'Adrian' Balboa
Burt Young
Paulie Pennino
Richard Gant
George Washington Duke
Tommy Morrison
Tommy 'Machine' Gunn
Sage Stallone
Robert 'Rocky' Balboa Jr.
Burgess Meredith
Mickey Goldmill
Tony Burton
Tony 'Duke' Evers

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John G. Avildsen
Writers: Sylvester Stallone
Languages: English, Italian
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Rocky Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John G. Avildsen, shot by Steven Poster. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael N. Knue shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire and Burt Young carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "In Russia, he fought the greatest fight of his life. Now...where does a champion go when he takes off the gloves?".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John G. Avildsen directs. Steven Poster behind the camera. Bill Conti scores. Michael N. Knue cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Italian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

136 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Italian.
3Part of the "Rocky Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by John G. Avildsen, shot by Steven Poster. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Bill Conti. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Michael N. Knue shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire and Burt Young carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "In Russia, he fought the greatest fight of his life. Now...where does a champion go when he takes off the gloves?".
9IMDB entry: tt0100507 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 25 themes, including "career", "friendship", "philadelphia, pennsylvania", "transporter".
11Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Steven Poster
Original score: Bill Conti
Editing: Michael N. Knue
Production design: William J. Cassidy
Makeup / hair: Michael Westmore
Sound: Greg P. Russell
Stunt coordinator: Bobby Bass
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $42,000,000
Box office: $119,946,358
Return: 286% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: Rocky V (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes: 31% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 55/100
IMDB rating: 5.4/10 · 160,064 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

9 nominations total

Part of

Rocky Collection

These sport drama films begin by telling the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted working class Italian-American boxer working as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia.

Also by

John G. Avildsen

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
★ 1/10
From II to III they changed the emphasis away from Rocky's family and friends and the characters and moved it into straight boxing, but it was still inspirational, it was still fun. Here I don't know what they did. It was like they changed the focus back on the characters but somehow butchered it in the process. The result was just horrible. It wasn't the lack of Rocky fighting or the fact that Tommy Gun was kind of an evil traitorous friend that used him and then walked away... it was how they handled it. It could have been the start of a good story of Rocky as a trainer, but it ended up just being awful. The dramatic family dynamic was shot and it turned into a mess with a convoluted story that hinted at being decent, but always missed the boat. It should have been the more personal story, but it stopped being personal the moment Tommy Gun walked on screen and it turned into a mess that didn't seem to know which way it should go. However... the same basic concept was used with Creed, and this time (despite it's FORGIVABLE faults in the script, it was done right). Partially due to the fact that Jordan is a far better actor than Morrison, but mostly due to the fact that it kept what it promised to deliver and the story was more coherent from start to finish.
Nathan2023-03-03
★ 6/10
At the heart of Rocky V, there is a really intimate story about living in the past and being blinded to your present, but unfortunately that gets muddled with its somewhat convoluted screenplay. The decision to take away Rocky’s wealth with a cheap plot device is one that was not needed. Rocky has already hit rock bottom in his life, and ripping away all of his accomplishments makes his story feel like it’s going backwards. The entire plot could have been just as effective if he was still at the top of the world. I think the decision to focus on Rocky’s age and sudden loss of relevance is what really intrigued me with this installment. Rocky is no longer in fighting shape, and the one thing that made him Rocky was this fighting background. He gradually loses control of himself, not only as a professional but also as a man. This causes him to lose sight of everything in his life by focusing on gaining that fighting relevance back. This creates some really emotional conflicts with his son that feel impactful. This film was on its way to getting 3.5 stars from me until the final twenty minutes of the film. It takes a somewhat grounded story, very reminiscent of the original, and turns it into a cheap gang action flick with a bar brawl. This felt incredibly out of place, and I think a more satisfying ending would have been Rocky leaving the fighting all behind without this physical conflict. John Avildsen’s direction is back, with this film being the most reminiscent of the original. The acting is good all around, with standouts being Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, and, surprisingly, Sage Stallone, who was excellently cast across from his real-life father. Tommy Morrison was decent, but Richard Gant was just awful. He had such a campy presence in the film that was really out of place. I hated every time he was on the screen. Overall, I enjoyed this installment more than most due to its more serious tone and interesting look at a post-boxing Rocky Balboa, but it definitely could have been much better with a tighter script. Score: 60% Verdict: Decent