Originally intended to serve as the culmination of the indelible and beloved Rocky franchise, the fifth installment received notable distinction as the most ubiquitously disdained entry, predominantly attributed to its purported inadequacy in imparting a deserved sense of ceremonious finality to the series and delivering a satisfactory “Rocky” film overall. These pervasive sentiments, which have persistently plagued the film since its initial release thirty years ago, are certainly explicable, as the underlying narrative structure, themes, and tone that constitute Rocky V are rather incongruous with the expected, established formula categorical to the preceding four films. As evidenced by the vast preponderance of parodies and references in popular culture to its memorable training montages and climatic fights, the franchise has truly attained collective preeminence for the inspirational overtones intrinsic to its story arcs. Essentially, cathartic triumph, whether physical or emotional, is shown to be achievable through developing the solidity of will, perseverance, and inner confidence, no matter the seemingly insuperable barriers that a personal journey inevitably incurs. Rocky V, however, deviates rather profoundly from these motivational narratives and, apart from the existence of some minor uplifting reconciliations and a tepid final victory, the overarching atmosphere is comparatively dour and austere. With respect to the “Tommy” plotline and its dominant focus, Rocky V is more redolent of a classical, dramatic tragedy that explores the tremulous foundations and gradual, ineluctable dissolution of an innately insalubrious and incompatible pseudo-familial relationship. Conceptually, centralizing a film’s narrative around the expatiation of these themes can be effective and compelling, though perhaps, for the supposed final entry in a lauded series, employing experimentation in the encompassing writing style would not be entirely recommended. There are, additionally, numerous flaws in the execution and pacing of this darker story which muddle the perspicuity, cohesion, and poignancy in the conveyance of these inherently intriguing ideas and characterizations. However, I still do believe there to be merits in Rocky V’s aberrance, and it’s most certainly possible, at least through the framework of my own personal perspectives and interpretations, to synthesize a relatively comprehensive anatomization of the fascinating psychological themes and discussions that I could perceive suffused throughout the film.
The concept of motivation, or the process of translating an amalgam of stimuli into externalized, reactive behaviors, has mostly been represented in the Rocky series with the depth and verisimilitude that such an innately faceted topic tends to necessitate. As a generalization when evaluating character motivation, the form and weight of each inciting incident or thought, as well as the length of deliberation and the nature of the eventual response, is exceptionally individualized and often illuminating with respect to the personality, past experiences, current state of emotional turbulence, philosophy, personal faults, anxieties, etc. of the subjected character. For instance, Rocky III demonstrates the validity of pursuing personal accomplishment for your own sake, yet, also depicts the frailty in self-assurance and susceptibility to vociferous public opinions which often contribute to this lowered self-perception and the consequential desire to prove this capacity to achieve in the first place. There can certainly be such complexity and humanity to be distilled from the meticulous portrayal of incentives and internal rationale, especially considering that a person’s motivations are rarely in perfect adherence with the dichotomous designations of “altruistic” or “narcissistic” in their source and intention. Additionally, the presence of possible moral ambiguity and the prominence of individual flaws and fears existing within a character’s motivations can potentially breed sympathy or equivocation on the defensibility or judiciousness of their resultant behavior. At the very least, elucidating the true depth to motivational factors can provide some understanding of the origination and underlying personal cause or rationale for a particular action taken, even if the logic is warped and the action is still deemed excessive or unjustifiable. These aforementioned, compelling discussions appertaining to complex motivations are actually quite applicable to Rocky V, not only to the antagonistic Tommy Gunn, but to Rocky and his somewhat culpable thoughts and behaviors as well.
Imparting the framework of motivational analysis to Rocky in the context of his interactions with Tommy can be quite revealing of the foundational circumstances and expectations which predicated Rocky’s persistent dedication and the eventual ruination of their fraught relationship. The film itself is first initiated by the emergence and introduction of two core predicaments foisted upon Rocky whose influence precipitates and underlies the successive events constituting the remainder of the plot’s arc; specifically, the sudden, precipitous decline of his family into a state of penury and the seemingly indefinite termination of his professional career as a boxer. Though it’s possible to interpret the inclusion of Rocky’s financial straits as a bit of a contrivance to evocatively emulate the setting and grounded tenor of Rocky I, this particular development also incurs stressors unique to Rocky himself that transcend the more apparent, tangible issues inherent to impecuniosity. Given Rocky’s exceptional notoriety and visibility in the collective consciousness, news of his financial transgressions becomes readily and fervently promulgated, arguably supplanting celebrations of his legacy upon his retirement and corroding the respect he and his family had accrued. As mentioned during the prior discussion on motivation, susceptibility and the internalization of public perceptions seems to be a pervasive issue for Rocky throughout the franchise, which makes his consequential emotional condition at this point particularly precarious and vulnerable. Compounding these reverberant and vulturous voices intruding into the current torrent of his life’s tribulations, the helplessness of his position born from the unanticipated cessation of his career is arguably the more overwhelming and propagating of the two instigators Rocky is subjected to at the beginning of the film. To further elaborate, Rocky has categorically demonstrated difficulty when confronting the prospect of retirement and adapting to the mundanities of life beyond the stimulating, yet deleterious and brutal, physicality which is concomitant with the experience of professional boxing. Rocky’s few previous attempts earlier in the franchise to abdicate his acquired title were quite transiently underwent as, inevitably, some incipient circumstance would impart a profoundly personal or emotional motivation for reinstatement that his tenuous convictions could not suppress. Augmenting the notable significance of these frequent discussions on retirement, the underlying compunction incentivizing many of Apollo Creed’s various behaviors throughout his entire arc are also representational of this aforementioned thematic struggle to reconcile circumspect protestations of an aging, wearied body with the seemingly instinctual impulse to accept new challenges and continuously prove oneself in the ring. Apollo’s obdurate reluctance to heed his own evident, physical limitations became fatal in Rocky IV, the recognition of which could have potentially contributed to Rocky’s improved and protracted commitment to his prosaic life within the context of this intended final entry.
Overall, given these fighters’ fervent hesitancy to permanently concede their lauded statuses, it can be ascertained that the external reception and innate capability to perform as a professional boxer are inextricably entwined with their sense of self-worth and general conceptualization of personal identity. The sudden, foisted deprivation of the paramount or perhaps sole source of inner value resultantly incurs immeasurable psychological distress, especially without the existence of some substantive, alternate, and stable place from which to once again derive this currently diminished internal esteem. Upon evaluation of the quality in the portrayal of Rocky’s complex and discordant interiority at the onset of Rocky V, it can be argued that the potency of this intriguing parallel and thematic consistency between him and Apollo could have been more explicitly shown to further deepen the acerbic considerations violently swirling in Rocky’s mind. Nevertheless, Rocky V presents a logical extrapolation of the latent character flaws and their associated tribulations that Rocky has confronted throughout his encompassing arc, which, in conjunction with the inauspicious caprices of fate, have rendered him susceptible to voraciously and uncritically believing the assumed solutions offered the moment Tommy Gunn entered his life.
Persisting beyond these aforementioned foundational constituents predicating Rocky’s somewhat fragile mentality at the beginning of the fifth film, it seems appropriate to analyze and disentangle the latticed threads of disparate motivational factors which underlie the ardency in Rocky’s dedication to Tommy throughout the duration of their relationship. It should be preliminarily established that the predominant focus of this evaluation of Rocky’s incentives will appertain to his slightly more self-centric considerations, however, this is not intended to suggest perfidiousness on Rocky’s part nor compromise the legitimacy of his investment in elevating Tommy’s status out of the genuine kindness and altruistic desire to help others. Instead, this anatomization is purposed to elucidate the extremely diminutive and subtle, yet undeniable presence of self-interest subconsciously influencing certain, desperate decisions and behaviors. In essence, it appears to be a rather natural propensity of former athletes to adopt a proximal role to their previous profession, typically in the form of a commentator, coach, or mentor; however, despite accepting this tangential position provided by his relations with Tommy, Rocky anomalously and without intent finds mentorship insufficient to satiate the stagnancy and emptiness categorizing his current existence. To abate the apparent, instinctual perturbation of being relegated to an indirect, non-participant status, Rocky’s beleaguered mind unwittingly seeks to quell this internal dissonance and elects to live vicariously through Tommy’s success in the ring, thereby solidifying his reliance on Tommy for self-worth and transcending his investment in Tommy’s career from explicable dedication into an insalubrious level of fixation. This imbalanced dynamic fosters unreciprocated dependency, whereby Rocky’s life is dominated by perseverations and obsessive focus on Tommy’s training and future in order to imbue himself with the concomitant sense of respect and fulfillment boxing had always created for him. The psychologically damaging protraction of this state of interrelations with Tommy predictably erodes Rocky’s attentiveness to his true family and the nascent tribulations that adjustment to unfamiliar life circumstances has accrued for them. As a paramount source of external influence across the entire series, and to whom Rocky exudes immense reverence, Adrian once again serves as the lurid, guiding light of reason and support to dissipate the turbid mire of fear, uncertainty, and anguish clouding Rocky’s muddled mind and elucidate the realities and consequences incurred from his obsessions, thereby illuminating the path towards self-realization and change. However, in general, the journey towards attaining sustained betterment is oft sinuous, incremental, and occasionally regressive, fraught with unanticipated challenges which hasten or impede the turbulent fluidity of this forward momentum.
Rocky V is rather commendable, therefore, as its conveyance of these subtle, grounded intricacies and difficulties of self-actualization are beautifully encapsulated in its narrative arc, for instance, during the scene where Rocky watches Tommy’s title bout from afar in his home. Despite having apparently severed his professional and personal relationship with Tommy by that point and translated some of his vested devotion back towards his family, the tether to Tommy and his performance remains firmly affixed, brilliantly represented in the film through intersplicing images of Tommy’s movement during the fight with Rocky’s subconscious replication of these actions in an accurate pantomime against his punching bag. Through the paralleled simultaneity of their fight choreography, Rocky V effectively, through visual means, portrays the intensely emotional and impelling vicariousness that Rocky experiences every time he watches Tommy in the ring. It seems the concern this behavior inspires in his family is generally emulated by the audience, who can more clearly understand from viewing this pitiable display the extent of the suffering that the deprivation of boxing in Rocky’s life has caused him and the reduced, compromised state this desperation has led him to. Tommy has been unwittingly anointed the primary determinant of Rocky’s contentment and self-satisfaction, garnering him immeasurable control over Rocky’s behaviors and emotions as dictated by this sequence, which made the dissolution of their relationship, at least from Rocky’s perspective, inconclusive, incomplete, and possibly reconcilable due to the detrimental mental dissonance accepting Tommy’s irrevocable rejection would cause.
The manner in which the culminating events of Rocky V are contextualized in the film seems to imply the desire for establishing moral certitude in the audience with respect to their conception of the last, brutal confrontation between Rocky and Tommy. Essentially, it appears somewhat evident that the intention was for their street fight to be representational of the immutable conflict between denoted protagonist and antagonist, which, in this case, is depicted as analogous to the battle between the warring ideals of magnanimity versus selfishness, whereby the tolerant mentor is pitted against his own former, obstreperous, conniving, and thankless protégé. This seeming decision rendered many audience impressions, distilled from this oppositional characterization of Rocky and Tommy, corroborative of the perceived unequivocal “villainy” of Tommy in this context despite the arguable reductive nature of this encompassing perspective and the depth and ethical complexity defining their interrelations prior to their separation. Granted, the execution and presentation of the writing for these two could have afforded emboldened conversations of the extant ambiguity inherent to the motivations, fallibility, and culpability of each person leading to their eventual physical confrontation. Though perhaps Tommy is arguably more at fault given the entirety of his callous and truculent actions, the collapse of his relationship with Rocky was essentially an inevitability due to the innate incompatibility of their disparate expectations and desires regarding the mentorship itself.
Explicating the inner conventions, idiosyncratic proclivities, and incitements that comprise Rocky and predicate his behaviors reveals that the paramount, overarching thematic element intrinsic to his identity is the need to experience the profundity of familial love. Facilitating the nascency and development of interpersonal relations is, apart from attaining personal victories in the ring, the most prevalent and significant narrative thread of the Rocky franchise. This want for generosity, honesty, and sincerity without duplicity or preconception in all connections permeates even the professional sphere, as Rocky’s relationship with his trainer Mickey becomes almost paternal and, as encompassed during a flashback scene in Rocky V in one of the most moving and poignant sequences across the entirety of the six Rocky films, the love they shared is clearly palpable and transcendent. Therefore, it is a rather logical attenuation to presume that Rocky would seek replication of this emotional dynamic in the mentor relationship he fosters with any of his proteges, of whom Tommy came first. He projects these expectations and hopes onto Tommy, asking for a level of intimacy that Tommy was never quite capable of harboring for any pseudo-paternal figure in his life. Conversely, the tumultuous past abuse Tommy suffered instills in him a hermetic seal against the percolation of emotional attachment, motivating him to categorize his connection to Rocky as primarily professional and readily severable should a better opportunity arise. At least with respect to this disunity in the conceptualization of the nature and fervor of the relationship between a trainer and their student, neither Rocky nor Tommy articulated their intentions for their subsequent interactions, allowing their already bifurcated values to further split apart in time, creating a capacious divide and eventually causing this brittle foundation to waver and surrender to the external pressure keeping them together.
To preface the following exploration into the intricate rationalization and detailed motivations spurring the character of Tommy Gunn, it should be stated that the process of anatomization does not equate exculpation, nor it is an attempt to derive an argument for the defensibility of his enumerated actions throughout the film. Instead, such analyses are intended to employ the reservation of judgment in order to form an amoral, neutral understanding of his reasoning to be assiduously evaluated and presented. Firstly, it appears that the thematic discussion pertaining to the role and pertinent influence of family on the mental construction of personal identity and the inspiration for future behavior can also be perceived as a prominent instigator from Tommy as well as Rocky. However, the emotional impact and significance of family manifests antithetically for Tommy than it does for Rocky, and the ensnaring tendrils of residual trauma grasp Tommy’s mind and hinders the potential, salubrious formation of any new pseudo-familial relationships, especially with an older, male figure. Suffering verbal and physical abuse at the hands of his father is evidently an unresolved, propagating issue for Tommy that proves preventative in the establishment of any slightly imbalanced dynamic in which his position would be somewhat subservient or requires the relinquishment of control to a more dominant person for their subsequent exhibition and application. Mentor relationships can be categorized as such, considering the trainer is granted responsibilities concomitant with this position of guidance and advice, oft synthesized from the gradual acquisition of pertinent experience and knowledge, which the protégé is expected to be deferential towards. The initial interrelations between Tommy and Rocky are sufficiently amiable as their mutual desires are in alignment and symbiotic, namely, to accrue or dispense boxing acumen for the pursuit and accomplishment of continued growth and success in the ring. Dissension readily amounts, however, unveiling this translucent pall of placidity overhanging their truly tenuous connection, when Rocky attempts to exert his necessary, modest control to make logistical and managerial decisions regarding Tommy’s trajectory as a boxer, specifically, foisting responsibility and humility upon him and trying to imbue the proper ability, maturity, and skill to handle the visibility and stress of rapid ascension through the ranks. Tommy’s response is rather emulative of the puerility and contumaciousness oft associated with youth, and, despite the sagacity and generosity of Rocky’s designs for Tommy, Tommy solely perceived of these actions as domineering and purposeless outside of stymying his ability to combat higher-tiered fighters.
The offers and quixotic promises promoted by George Washington Duke are demonstrably the most ethically and unambiguously malicious in intent, and his characterization as the predominant antagonist and duplicitous manipulator should not have been quite as understated as he appears in the film itself. Regardless, Duke is representative of the truly insouciant, dismissive father figure who capitulates to every whim of his child and earns their affections through shallow means for their own sake, which, in Tommy’s case, would be the elevation in status wrought by expediting his path towards the championship and affording him the pecuniary benefits, access to woman, and celebrity status that Rocky had been so careful to purposely deprive him of for rational reasons. Tommy’s narrative arc and descension amidst his pugnacious anger and blame are therefore quite tragic from a dramatic standpoint, and his journey could serve as a moralistic warning against the misappropriation of love and trust. Out of the panging, empty need for support and affection, Tommy gravitated towards the individual who knew how to provide the most basic, yet ostentatious form of love, “materialism”, without veracity to his care, while consequentially, he rejects the sole person who desired to foster a true, reciprocal, genuine relationship without the need for such crass manipulation, even if minor conflicts or tumult would occasionally arise. Left in anguish with a besmirched reputation and constant, negative comparisons to the man he was publicly excoriated for abandoning, Tommy synthesized his distress and blame of Rocky into pure disdain for his former trainer, and, just as in the past when the assault of his father terminated his debilitating abuse, and just as Rocky himself taught him to do, he faced his presumed opponent, the paternal figure he believed had destroyed him yet again, and fought.
Of the criticisms levied against Rocky V, the claim that the film lacks a sense of appropriate, ceremonious finality to culminate the entire, comprehensive franchise has certain veracity from a few, various frameworks of perspective. Apart from quelling the prospective ostentation of a formal match within the ring for the last time, the numerous flaws and pernicious propensities constituting Rocky’s character arc throughout the series as a whole were not sufficiently contended with or abated by the moment the Rocky V’s credits rolled. As previously expounded upon, the dissolution of his career subjected Rocky to a mental state fraught with frailty and emotional susceptibility, which, in essence, lingers on as an ephemeral shadow imprinted into his mind. Though it is certainly possible that Rocky distilled an impactful moral lesson from the impetuosity of his resolute dependency on Tommy, the residual issue of where to derive this sense of identity and inner worth seems to remain. Without the retrospective existence of Rocky Balboa (VI) to culminate this arc by showcasing Rocky’s improved acclimation to life largely without boxing and the true satiating finality of his career in a single, last fight, Rocky V tantalizes its audience with protracted, remaining questions of whether adaptation is actually possible for the boxer, or if nothing but complete corporal failure and physical deterioration would be enough to terminate his reliance on boxing at last. Retroactively, however, the existence of sequel films, especially Creed, attenuate the thematic patterns present in the earlier entries and effectively capitalize off the aforementioned characterizations and unresolved narrative threads or set-ups that Rocky V intriguingly inspired, but never sufficiently paid off.
With respect to the foundational plot and enveloping conversations concerning the nature of the relationship between trainer and protégé, Creed is rather emulative of the structure and pertinent developments which define Rocky V. These enumerative parallels establish a familiar, yet antithetical comparison to the events of Rocky V, beginning with the acquired mental fortitude and general contentment comprising the current daily existence of the former champion. Rocky has demonstrably attained some satisfaction in his life as a restaurateur, and the once insuperable compulsion to stand beside or within the ring has, gradually over time, diminished and was dispelled. There are beautiful and subtle inclusions in Creed that signify the beheld glory of these previous days as a fighter, which Rocky still evidently perceives with seeming wistful remembrance as he regales stories of his bouts to any patron who desires re-visitation of the exhilarating years gone by. More revealing of Rocky’s conceptualization of his past in light of his present, he relays to Adonis Creed a rather existentialist approach to considerations of his own mortality, recognizing the demise of his physical prowess and the emergence of new fighters to supersede the legacy of boxers long since passed. He appears desirous of simply relinquishing control to fate and letting go without contest, which arguably implies that remnants of this aforementioned mentality, whereby respectability and sense of self are partially derived from external perception and performance in the ring, still manifests as depressive self-conception and worthlessness, compounded by the loss of the most important element of life to him- familial love. In a moment converse to the relations between Rocky and Tommy, Adonis adopts the supportive role once donned by Adrian and convinces Rocky to fight for the sake of his own survival while Adonis, as his deferential student, fights to earn individualism and a personal victory of his own. Regardless of these extant somber considerations and understandable melancholy for the past, the relatively calm, laminar fluidity of Rocky’s current life extinguishes the formerly incendiary nature of established normalcy and allows relaxation into the regimented pace and quiet flow of prosaic existence. Rocky’s comparative mental stability at this point tempers the prior necessity of fostering external dependency, which affords the ability to explore new relationships without precipitating the obsessive need for another’s acceptance or success. There is an imperative distinction between “want” and “need”, which represents the nebulous tenuity of the line dividing respectable interest and insalubrious fixation. Consequently, existing in a comparatively healthy state imposes beneficial clarity to accept new opportunities with the discernment necessary to objectively ascertain the level of true compatibility and the mutuality of achieving betterment for all parties involved. In summation, Rocky’s ability to form a practical and salubrious mentorship is dependent on both the stability of his encompassing circumstances and the underlying reciprocity in expectations that define the connection to his chosen student.
The encapsulating narrative arc delineating the journey of Adonis from dissatisfied amateur fighter to professional boxer is exceptionally redolent of the experiences Rocky endures within the scope of his first film. As a result, Adonis also demonstrates a paramount propensity to establish an adoptive family of sorts to provide support, advice, direction, and encourage humility in his path towards personal accomplishment. “Practically Family” is the phrase he uses to categorize his relations to Rocky, a man he knows only through the legacy he shares with Adonis’s father, Apollo. Despite the ardency and security Adonis assumes towards his renascent connection to Rocky, Rocky himself is written in a manner which retains consistency with his past characterization and the lessons likely accrued from the events of Rocky V, leading to his initial hesitancy and austerity when classifying his relations with Adonis. It is Rocky, not Adonis, who staunchly and impulsively defines their relationship as strictly professional instead of familial, which is evidently derived from a residual, developed protective mechanism intended to garner stoicism and prevent the replication of his excessive, misappropriated love for someone who would take advantage of his trust and dedication. Adonis’s warmth and deferential attitude proves ameliorative of his hardened façade of frigidity, shattering Rocky’s brittle armor and opening up his heart once more to the prospect of finding family, as Adonis refers to him following his satisfying title bout, and love in a new, young protégé. These somewhat subversive instances of transient conflict in their interactions are infrequent, yet normal attributes of any relationship regardless of its apparent solidity, though the specific conversations presented and distributed throughout the film seemingly adopt their form and subject matter in reference, and thus giving further credence, to the foundational psychological tribulations Rocky endured and learned from in Rocky V.
Rocky V, in its aberrance as an entry in the compendium of Rocky films, employs deeply riveting and resonant psychological and interpersonal dramatic themes that are, by nature, a bit grim and heavy especially without the existence of some comparably uplifting culmination which has been categorical to the series overall. The somewhat dour atmosphere renders the film anomalous and less apt to be enjoyed by those seeking a more rapidly-paced, inspirational narrative depicting the efficacy of perseverance, conviction, and support in the ardent pursuit of personal accomplishment. However, Rocky V harbors moments of touching poignancy from the intricate, grounded complexity and visualization of its character personalities and interrelations. Though the performances and generalized writing quality could have been improved to bring greater cohesion and verisimilitude to the conceptual depth and veritable accuracy of the subject matter and themes it discusses, the presentation of these tribulations still maintains the potential to evoke a sense of understanding or empathy given their immutable commonality and pervasiveness across a diversity of populations and personal experiences. To enumerate; the portrayal of trials in the re-invention of self, the salubrious determination of inner worth, finding respect in impecuniosity, reconciling past abuse or trauma and moving forward in a manner unencumbered by residual preconceptions or subconscious, negative assumptions, and establishing reciprocity and compatibility in expectations and intentions for a new relationship. Rocky V also realistically depicts the unfortunate frequency of regression in the arduous path delineating self-betterment and the misappropriation of love and trust which is oft concomitant with desperate impetuosity and obsessive need to satiate some current deprivation. Creed finally culminates these incipient arcs and allows Rocky to grow and find peace, contentment, and familial love with the right people at last.
No matter the irrevocable legacy of its noticeable flaws and mired execution of its brilliant themes, Rocky V is a complex piece of character study that, especially due to the elevation in quality and purpose imbued by the retroactive existence of Creed, deserves to be seen and enjoyed as a worthy entry in the lauded Rocky franchise.