It was great news to hear: the entire Rocky franchise was coming out in a box set on Blu-ray. We could at long last enjoy the whole Sylvester Stallone series in glorious High Definition. Granted, some of the entries in this series were bad enough in the pan-and-scan VHS days, but a sliver of an upgrade every now and then never hurts…

And that’s just what MGM and Fox have given us here: a sliver of an upgrade. While Rocky: The Undisputed Collection brings all six films to Blu-ray (to date — you never know when Sly Stallone will decide to revisit the character in the future), the transfers are less than satisfactory in some cases. For those of you who are actually unfamiliar with the franchise (I find it hard to believe that there are moviegoers people out there who have not at least heard of the films), the series told the tales of Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone), an underdog boxer from Philly who became a sports legend worldwide.

The series started out with an iconic Academy Award winner (the first Rocky, in 1976) which changed the face of American cinema. As time went on though, the human drama that exploded off of the screen in the first film soon gave way to pale comparisons marred by weak writing (the extremely campy and dated Parts III through V have special reputations for being included in such a category). Finally, thirty years after the original, writer/director Stallone returned to revisit his famous creation with Rocky Balboa, the second-best entry in the line-up next to the first film.

Both Rocky and Rocky Balboa have been on Blu-ray before. Sadly, the releases of those two titles included in this set are identical to the standalone issues, so if you are content with simply owning those two flicks by themselves, there is no need to buy The Undisputed Collection. As for Rocky II through Rocky V, HD lovers will be ready to box MGM/Fox execs over the lack of care that has accompanied these Blu-ray transfers. While Rocky V is at least half-way decent looking, the rest (Rocky II and III stand out in my mind as culprits) are as flat as you can get.

Article Author: Luigi Bastardo

Luigi Bastardo is the disgruntled alter-ego of Adam Becvar, a thirtysomething lad from Northern California who has watched so many weird movies since the tender age of 3 that a conventional life is out of the question. …

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