Rocky V / YMMV - TV Tropes

Awesome Music: The fight from Rocky IV scored to a new version of Bill Conti's "Conquest" theme during the opening credits.
Base-Breaking Character: Tommy Gunn is probably the most divisive opponent in the films. His supporters think he's an interesting, layered character with a lot of potential who was stuck in a bad film. His detractors consider him to be annoying, poorly-acted punk who isn't nearly as menacing as Ivan Drago or Clubber Lang.
Esoteric Happy Ending: Nothing really changes at the end. Rocky's still broke and can't fight professionally anymore and Tommy's still the champion, despite losing the street fight. While George Washington Duke got his comeuppance, he's still managing Tommy. Rocky Balboa fixed this.
Fan-Preferred Cut Content: The alternate ending is viewed as widely superior to the final cut due to paying some respect to the generally ignored Clubber Lang and giving Tommy a Heel Realization.
Fanon Discontinuity: The film is widely reviled in the Rocky fandom due to being too bleak for its own good and having minimal story progression^note for Rocky besides the brain damage (which has never been brought up again outside of a Deleted Scene in Creed II), to the point that many agree it's an entirely pointless entry in an otherwise consistent film series. There are barely anyone who would oppose the idea of skipping this one altogether and going straight to Rocky Balboa.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- This is the last movie you'd see Rocky and Adrian together. Let that sink in.
- Rocky begins neglecting Rocky Jr, who is mocked by his peers for having a famous father and in turn begins acting out towards his parents. Rocky Jr was played in this film by Stallone's real son Sage Stallone, who allegedly also struggled with his acting career due to the legacy left by his father ^note.
- Rocky's initial reluctance to train Adonis in Creed most likely stemmed partially from what happened between him and Tommy in this film.
He Really Can Act: Tommy Morrison, a boxer with no previous acting experience, was praised by the critics as having one of the best performances in the movie as Tommy Gunn. It helps that both of them share a lot of background details, making it easier for Morrison to portray his character.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Sylvester Stallone decided against killing off Rocky Balboa in this film, claiming that "it would be like killing off Superman". This was years before The Death of Superman.
- Even funnier since Stallone voiced King Shark in The Suicide Squad, who costars with a man who's in jail for almost killing Superman.
Love to Hate: George Washington Duke is a slimy and arrogant manipulative bastard who's also charismatic and bombastic.
Moral Event Horizon: A minor one for Tommy Gunn. If clearly betraying Rocky wasn't bad enough, he goes out of his way to be a total jerkass to him at a bar, and even punches Paulie out just because he told him to leave. That was enough for Rocky to want to beat his butt.
Retroactive Recognition: Kevin Connolly in his first acting role as neighborhood bully Chickie.
Sequelitis: While the previous two Rocky films are seen at the worst as So Bad, It's Good installments of the franchise regardless of their quality, this film is seen as the nadir of the series, to the point where many fans will say it doesn't exist.
Signature Scene: Even though the film remains the most forgotten and hated installment, most viewers agree that the climactic street fight between Rocky and Tommy is one of the most memorable fight scenes in the series, due to its unique nature and choreography.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: On paper at least, Tommy has a far more interesting backstory and character arc than Clubber Lang or Ivan Drago did, as they were written purely as one-dimensional jerkasses (albeit Drago would later be given much more depth when he returned in Creed II). Unfortunately, because he ends up starting as a more layered character and turns essentially into a cartoon villain by the end under Duke's influence, any such potential is completely wasted. Additionally, there were scenes shot (which can be viewed online) where Tommy does at least have a Heel Realization for what's happened after the street fight, which would have at least added a little more depth back to him at the end, but they were deleted from the finished film.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: With its frequent focus on Rocky's rapidly deteriorating condition and other characters constantly warning him not to fight again, most of the film is clearly building up to Rocky's tragic death in the climactic street fight, which was originally planned to be the film's ending. However, due to Stallone and the producers deciding at the last minute not to kill Rocky, he instead emerges victorious and with no lasting damage from his fight with Tommy, rendering most of the prior foreshadowing completely meaningless. The fact that Rocky Balboa and the films that followed would later downplay and almost completely ignore Rocky's brain damage doesn't help.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: A major cause of the movie's negative response is just how depressing it is compared to the previous four movies. While a return to the series' roots was not a bad idea itself, it's widely agreed that the circumstances in which this happens, with Rocky losing all his money and success and being brought back to where he started, are just too much of a downer for such an uplifting and hopeful franchise, and unlike the sadder moments in the rest of the Rocky series, this situation never really improves over the course of the film.
Unintentionally Sympathetic: Tommy's decision to ditch Rocky in favor of Duke is treated by the film as a serious Face–Heel Turn, but it's hard not to understand this decision with the circumstances leading to them. Under Rocky's tutelage, Tommy is not taken seriously or even acknowledged by the media, who are far more focused on his famous mentor. Tommy is ultimately just a guy trying to make it in boxing and be his own man, while being torn between two people, Duke and Rocky, both using him for their own agendas.
Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Rocky is meant to be seen as being at the end of his rope and desperate to regain what he's lost. But putting aside the monumentally foolish decision that got him in this situation, Rocky repeatedly insists that he can only make money by fighting again, despite the threat this poses to his health, and he quickly dismisses any other way of making money from his already established fame. When he eventually finds success training Tommy, Rocky becomes less focused on preserving his family's well-being and is more interested in essentially reliving his own career through Tommy, causing him to neglect his wife and actual son. When Tommy eventually abandons him for Duke, it's hard not to see Rocky as deserving this outcome. While Rocky is called out for neglecting his family to try to relive the glory days, the effect of this on Tommy isn’t focused on and in the final fight, Rocky is treated as the hero taking down the treacherous former student, despite Rocky being largely responsible for Tommy’s negative change.

YMMV / Rocky V

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