It ain’t over till it’s over.
The Rocky series is one of my most favorite Hollywood sagas. If by now you don’t know the story behind each Rocky film, I guess you’ll just have to watch it in this Blu-ray set. These films are so much more than just boxing. Every time I hear someone who’s never seen Rocky before I say that they don’t want to watch Rocky because it’s a boxing movie or any other reason, I do my best to slap them in the face.
These are heroic tales of a man overcoming the odds. In many ways these films are ever more stronger and more powerful than the super hero films of today. That’s the beauty of them all.
Rocky V is a slightly different ballpark. There are a variety of reasons, that I won’t get into here about why I’m not a big fan of Rocky V. I consider it a bump in the road, but it is still necessary to watch in order to view the full life story of the Italian Stallion.
Rocky: The Undisputed Collection features all six films and three hours worth of extra features bundled together. While this sounds great, the end results exactly what I had hoped for.
The majority of the special features focus solely on the first film. It’s great to see all of these interviews and behind the scenes footage from Rocky, but what about the films II-V? There was one featurette that dove into all five Rocky films. It dealt with the opponents and their take on their characters.
Aside from this Bonus disk content, the Rocky Balboa disk contains several special features that have been included on other versions. These include bloopers, an alternative ending, the making of, and more.
I was pretty shocked when I popped in the first Rocky film and saw a ton of grain all over the image. This could have been done on intent or it could simply be a poor transfer. If you don’t like grain, you’ll be complaining a lot at certain points. In a way the grain adds to the gritty feel of the film. The other films do have grain throughout several scenes, but it’s not nearly as much as Rocky I.
Ultimately there’s not much else to say about this product. If you’ve seen Rocky I-VI you know what to expect. If you haven’t seen these films, I highly recommend them to anyone. Just make sure to start in order so you get to see the full progression of Rocky’s life. I’ll never understand my friends that went to see Rocky Balboa in theaters without seeing I through V before. It hurts me so much to think about it.
