Rocky

[Samwise]

I just the other week noticed that the Rocky movies (except for the very latest one) are on Netflix, so I watched them all, because I had never seen them, despite them being such a very firmly embedded piece of pop culture that I already knew most of the story.

I was honestly surprised at how good they were, and by how good Stallone was in particular.  The first one was definitely the strongest, and the sequels were for the most part just sort of retreading the same story (except for V, which to its credit took things in a different direction even if it was a little clumsy about it), but I thought they were all at least watchable.  

Seeing them all in a row like that was an interesting experience since each picks up directly from where the previous one left off, so it feels like one continuous story told over a very long span of time a la Boyhood (which I still haven't seen).

If you also have not seen these movies I would recommend it.

[Malakili]

Yeah, given how he basically became a schlock action movie hero, it's kind of ridiculous that the man wrote Rocky.

[Chimpy]

He also directed II - IV.

[Velorath]

Now you just need to see the most recent one and you'll be caught up in time for Creed (which looks pretty good so far going by the first trailer).

[Ruvaldt]

Stallone was a talented guy.  Not only are the Rocky movies surprisingly good, but First Blood, the first Rambo movie, is as well.  The Rambo franchise didn't take on the absurd jingoistic tenor it's remembered for until the second and third movies.  The first movie is not exactly kind to the US, and Stallone is particularly good in it.

[Ironwood]

Wasn't Expendables also a Stallone brainchild ?  Say what you like, it's done well for itself as an idea...

[Teleku]

I have not ever seen any of the Rocky's either.  It's funny though, I was just having the same thought that I should sit down and binge watch them.  I was in a random upscale Russian/Asian Noodle/Shi-Sha bar the other day, and they had Rocky on.  Just from the 30 minutes I saw randomly glancing up at it and trying to hear the sound over the noise, I could already tell it was a way deeper movie than I had assumed it was.

[Evildrider]

Wasn't Expendables also a Stallone brainchild ?  Say what you like, it's done well for itself as an idea...

He's done all the Expendables. 

[Rendakor]

When the latest one came out, I saw it with a friend and then we marathoned the originals since I'd never seen them. Aside from the bits I slept through, they were surprisingly good.

[Chimpy]

Wasn't Expendables also a Stallone brainchild ?  Say what you like, it's done well for itself as an idea...

And in a random segue to that. I learned while confirming the Stallone directing thing that Dolph Lundgren has a Masters degree in Chemistry and received a Fullbright to MIT (which he passed on to be Grace Jones's boy-toy/body guard.)

[Selby]

I was in the same boat 5 years ago and watched them too.  Not bad overall, especially compared to what comes out these days.

[Evildrider]

Wasn't Expendables also a Stallone brainchild ?  Say what you like, it's done well for itself as an idea...

And in a random segue to that. I learned while confirming the Stallone directing thing that Dolph Lundgren has a Masters degree in Chemistry and received a Fullbright to MIT (which he passed on to be Grace Jones's boy-toy/body guard.)

They actually make a joke about that in Expendables.

[Khaldun]

Rocky I is a masterpiece on a technical level, actually. I'm serious. Look at how often Stallone is shot from far away, from angles which diminish him, look at the South Philly shots. And the acting and setting, great. The pathos is fucking amazing at points.

Rocky II is complicated because it mirrors what was happening to Stallone, I think on purpose--e.g., Rocky himself starts to lose his way, become too big, etc.--look at how suddenly Stallone fills the frame of the camera shots, how he's shot from below to magnify him, but also how the film is honest about how hapless he is, how much he can't help but become what people want him to be.

III IV V are much more schlocky, but they have their moments.

First Blood is also a surprisingly great film. Rambo not so much but at least it gives you a window into the Cold War.

[Margalis]

I quite like Rocky 5. 3 and 4 are just pure schlock. 5 is actually about something again.

[Lucas]

I'm sorry that Rocky 5 went down as the "worst" of the series. It was a "back to the roots" movie, which also portrayed the growing dominance of personalities like Don King and their pollution over the boxing world.

Plus, it features what is arguably the best, or at least most moving scene of the whole series ("Mickey loves you"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmbfZT_mCSI
--

Rocky VI was very nice too, but maybe only for those who started the journey back in the seventies or eighties. I don't know if it has (or will have) the same impact for those who are going to watch the series over a weekend or so.

[stray]

Rocky is one of the greatest, and it never ceases to surprise me how much Stallone helped create the whole thing. He smarter than he looks..... or sounds.

When I was younger, I was on a bigger DeNiro kick ("You fuck my wife?!"), but Rocky is a better boxing movie to me now. And means something a helluva more to a bigger audience, I think. That sounds kind of lame, but I think it has some kind... better cultural significance or something. Raging Bull is awesome, but it's really just about a hard headed wife beater. It says nothing more to the average Joe.