Rocky V – Punch Drunk

Rocky V is a textbook example of a franchise hanging on too long. Without any more mountains to climb, Stallone took the titular character back to his roots. Unfortunately, that journey isn't a very compelling one.

Rocky V has a lot to say—spotlighting the transactional nature of sports media, the devastating effects of head trauma, and how sports places profits over people; but none of it, sadly, is done particularly well.

Instead, we get a muddled movie overstuffed with subplots that fails to ever find a clear focus. Lost in all of it is the central narrative of Rocky sacrificing valuable time with his actual son to train Tommy Gunn. Gunn, of course, is not who Rocky believes him to be. He's petulant, ungrateful, and willing to cast Rocky aside with just the slightest hint of greener pastures.

Because so much of this is jumbled in other nonsense and weighed down by a sub-par script, we hardly care when it comes time for them to fight. Critics agreed. They threw haymakers at Rocky V, knocking it out with a paltry 31% on Rotten Tomatoes with 39 reviews. It even received seven Razzie nominations.

And if Stallone thought the fans would never turn their backs on the beloved character, well, yo, Adrian, this movie did it.

Now, sit back, concuss yourself with a few Arrogant Bastard Ales from Stone Brewing, and slip the jab! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Chumpzilla, Bling Blake, and the J-Man from the Double Turn Podcast are suffering from far too many blows to the head!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Go for it! (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – The Double Turn Podcast rings the bell, and then we discuss the absurdity of Rocky V. (58:05)
• The "You Know, I’m Not as Stupid as Everyone Thinks" Trivia Challenge – Bling Blake challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:41:03)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We finish off "Hops and Franchise Entry Flops," with the cinema's greatest showman, Hugh Jackman, in X-Men Origins: Wolverine! (1:51:53)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the highs and lows of Tommy Morrison's career and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, Amazon Music, and more!

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