Rocky V | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | John G. Avildsen |
Produced by | |
Written by | Sylvester Stallone |
Based on | Characters by Sylvester Stallone |
Starring |
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Music by | Bill Conti |
Cinematography | Steven Poster |
Edited by |
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Production
company |
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Distributed by |
MGM/UA Communications Company (USA & Canada) United International Pictures (International) |
Release date
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Running time
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104 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $42 million |
Box office | $119.9 million |
Rocky V is a 1990 American sports drama film. It is the fifth film in the Rocky series, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, and co-starring Talia Shire, Stallone's real-life son Sage, and real-life boxer Tommy Morrison, with Morrison in the role of Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer. Sage played Robert Balboa, whose relationship with his famous father is explored. After Stallone directed the second through fourth films in the series, Rocky V saw the return of John G. Avildsen, whose direction of Rocky won him an Academy Award for Best Directing.
Reception to the film was generally negative and it was (at the time) considered a disappointing conclusion when this was presumed to be the last movie in the series. Stallone himself has since admitted that he too was disappointed with how the film turned out. The box office gross was $180 million below that of Rocky IV. Rocky V marked the final appearances of Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith in the Rocky series. Due to the low box office result, Rocky V was the last Rocky film with which United Artists had any involvement. Though this was presumed to be the ending of the series, a sixth film, Rocky Balboa, was released in 2006 and garnered much more favorable reviews. Stallone starred in both this film and Creed, the seventh entry in the series.
Shortly after Rocky Balboa's victory over Ivan Drago in Moscow, he, his wife Adrian, his brother-in-law Paulie, and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers return to the United States, where they are greeted by Rocky's son, Robert. At a press conference, boxing promoter George Washington Duke attempts to goad Rocky into fighting his boxer Union Cane, who is now the top rated American challenger. They want the bout for the World Heavyweight Championship in Tokyo, but Rocky declines the offer. Duke refuses to give up on the mega money with Balboa and surmises he needs to come up with an angle to convince him to fight.