Sylvester Stallone’s career is defined by the Rocky franchise, but he doesn’t hold all of them in high regard. The first Rocky began as a pᴀssion project for Stallone and ended up launching his career in Hollywood. His performance as Rocky Balboa was inspiring and emotional, and Stallone would return to the role several times.

The Rocky sequels explored he journey of this underdog boxer as he rises to the top of the sport, has his moments of defeat, and yet always fights to prove himself to others and keep his dignity intact. It is an incredible journey that spans decades, and even took on a new life in the Creed movies.

However, just as the sequels were not all beloved, there is one Rocky movie that Stallone himself has harsh words for. It is also unlikely that many fans of the Rocky franchise would disagree with his thoughts.

Sylvester Stallone Gave Rocky V 0/10

Stallone Considers The Fifth Rocky Movie The Worst Of The Franchise

When Sylvester Stallone was on the Jonathan Ross Show, the host asked him about the Rocky franchise and how the actor would score each individual movie out of 10. Stallone showed his love for the Rocky movies by scoring each installment with a strong rating, until he got to Rocky V.

Stallone admitted that the fifth movie in the franchise was a 0 out of 10, even blaming himself for not being on the top of his game for the sequel, saying, “I was definitely not there.” Rocky V finds Balboa and his family back to living in his old neighborhood after finding out that their money was stolen by crooked managers.

Rocky also has to face the reality that he will likely never fight again due to the brutal effects of his bout against Ivan Drago in Rocky IV. However, Rocky looks for redemption by training a new young fighter named Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), who comes from a similar background to Rocky.

Stallone disliked the fifth movie so much that he refused to let the franchise end on such a negative note. This led him to develop the sixth movie in the franchise with Rocky Balboa, a look at an older and beaten-down Rocky stepping back into the ring, which has since been hailed as one of the best of the series.

Why Stallone Is Right About Rocky V

The Movie Forgot Why We Love Rocky Balboa

While 0 out of 10 is a rather brutal score for his own movie, Stallone is right that Rocky V is the worst of the Rocky movies. But, that is not to say the movie didn’t have potential. There is a nice twist to the story of Rocky mentoring this younger fighter, only for Tommy to become greedy and corrupted.

However, the entire storyline is betrayed by the cartoonish and over-the-top tone of the movie, including making the villain a carbon copy caricature of controversial boxing promoter Don King. This culminates in a dull fight in the streets, making for the worst climax of the franchise.

Rocky V also cannot be forgiven for how it mistreats Rocky as a character. It is as if Stallone couldn’t decide how to make Rocky an underdog again after he ended the Cold War in Rocky IV, so he simply took away all of his fame and fortune to start from scratch.

After watching Rocky’s journey for so long, the audience doesn’t want to see him like that. Luckily, Stallone was bold enough to return to the franchise years later, delivering the sixth movie in the Rocky franchise that was a return to form and served the character well.