The latest collection of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky movies is Rocky: The Ultimate Knockout Collection. It’s hard not to love Stallone, even if the image you have of Stallone involves some Rambo, Judge Dredd, Barney Ross, and a sprinkling of Dwight Manfredi: He’ll always be Rocky to me!
The collection this time around still includes the training montage that’s been clipped and spoofed in thousands of ways from Rocky, the whole way through to Rocky Balboa. That means that in all its spectacular action and drama, you can catch Rocky versus Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), Clubber Lang (Mr. T), Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), and Anthony “Mason Line” Dixon (Anthony Tarver).
The trajectory of Stallone’s Rocky from up-and-comer to legendary boxer makes for must-watch action regardless of how many times you’ve seen it before, and the 4K Ultra HD makes it that much easier to imagine you’re in the theater catching it for the first time. This time around, the collection includes both the theatrical version of Rocky IV and the director’s cut, Rocky vs. Drago. The hard copy of the collection includes special features from Rocky and an extended behind-the-scenes documentary on Rocky IV called “The Making of Rocky IV: Keep Punching.” The other film to get the two-fer treatment is Balboa which includes the theatrical and director’s cut versions. (This means that for those who collected the “Knockout” version previously, the difference is Rocky V and Rocky Balboa are included this time. Maybe next time we’ll get Rocky through Creed III?)
It’s rather incredible to consider the way that Stallone presented the underdog story of Rocky in 1976 and still had audiences calling for more thirty years later. While Rocky V isn’t anyone’s favorite Rocky film, the way that he concluded things (until Creed anyway), made for a winsome look at America’s favorite underdog. Even people who don’t follow (or like) boxing appreciate Rocky, and the ideals that he stood for. He worked hard to improve himself, championed for others, took his losses, earned respect, stayed true to his one true love, and passed on the lessons as best he could for others. Maybe even more importantly, he owned his own mistakes and asked for forgiveness, which isn’t something common in mainstream storytelling.
Whatever your reason for loving Stallone the actor or Stone the director, The Ultimate Knockout Experience covers thirty years of development by the man, the myth, and the legend. Check it out – it’s not over until the final bell.
