Rocky V - The 80's Remix

Updated
 
9.4 (6)
 
9.5 (6)
7328 3 6
Rocky V - The 80's Remix
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1990
Original Running Time:
104 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
82 minutes
Time Cut:
22 minutes
Synopsis:
After the fight of his life against Russia's seemingly unstoppable Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa finds himself returning home to America with not only the realisation that he's suffering from brain damage, but also that he's suddenly facing bankruptcy due to illicit dealings from his accountant. Unable to step back into ring, one last opportunity presents itself in the unlikely form of boxer, Tommy Gunn, a fan of Rocky's who asks the Italian Stallion to manage him and teach him everything he knows.

As one victory follows another, it isn't long before Tommy is eyeing up the heavyweight championship of the world. Along the way however, Rocky becomes so obsessed with tasting success again that he doesn't realise that he faces losing the most important aspect of his life - his family.
Intention:
The intention with this “80’s Cut”, is to try and trim some of Stallone’s over the top performance, remove all of the hip-hop music and replace it with 80’s tunes bringing it more in line with Rocky III and IV, address the issue of Rocky Junior aging about 3 years overnight and present a substantially shortened version of the street fight to make it more realistic.
Other Sources:
Added Music...

Fire Makes Steel - Survivor
All Fired Up - Pat Benatar
Nothing's Gonna Stand in Our Way - John Farnham
Eye of The Tiger (orchestral version) - London Symphony Orchestra
Grand Illusion - Eric Clapton
Behind The Mask - Eric Clapton

Sound Effects from The Freesound Project
Special Thanks:
Sophie Payne, Bionic Bob, DwightFry, tylerdurden.
Release Information:
DVD
Special Features:
Audio Commentary

Rocky V - Electro Version

Trailers

About the Edit
Cuts and Additions:
- Opening sequence re-scored

- Removed scene where Rocky arrives back in the States to a fanfare and press conference.

- Cut scenes when Rocky and family return to the Balboa mansion, also removing scenes with Rocky and his son, plus when Adrian confronts Paulie and tells Rocky about the fact that all their money has suddenly gone. We now go straight from Adrian comforting Rocky in Russia after the fight with Drago to the office meeting with Rocky and his lawyers about the fact that they have suddenly become bankrupt.

- Removed all scenes with Robert (Rocky jnr) when the house is being sold

- After Rocky visits the old gym and remembers his time with Mickey, have trimmed the following scene to remove the shots of Rocky and family moving back to the old neighborhood. Instead, have added “1 year later” caption and we cut to Adrian talking to Duke on the phone.

- Cut Rocky walking his son to school

- Duke talking to Union Cane in his limo, cut.

- Cut Jewel's line to Rocky Jnr, "You know, for an Italian kid you ain't got a bad butt"

- Tommy’s first training sequence re-scored, and trimmed slightly, sound effects rebuilt

- Training sequence 2, re-scored and trimmed slightly, sound effects rebuilt

- Slightly trimmed Duke’s talk at the Christmas party with Tommy, changed background song

- Trimmed scene where Paulie impersonates Santa Clause due to obvious overacting on Stallone’s part

- Re-scored and heavily re-edited street fight to improve continuity and also to shorten the fight in an effort to make it slightly more realistic.

- New End credits with Rocky artwork added, re-scored.
Trailer


Faneditor Diary

DVD_disc
DVD - Rocky 5_v1
Faneditor Name:
Original Movie/Show Title:
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1990
Original Running Time:
104 minutes
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
82 minutes
Time Cut:
22 minutes
Synopsis:
After the fight of his life against Russia's seemingly unstoppable Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa finds himself returning home to America with not only the realisation that he's suffering from brain damage, but also that he's suddenly facing bankruptcy due to illicit dealings from his accountant. Unable to step back into ring, one last opportunity presents itself in the unlikely form of boxer, Tommy Gunn, a fan of Rocky's who asks the Italian Stallion to manage him and teach him everything he knows.

As one victory follows another, it isn't long before Tommy is eyeing up the heavyweight championship of the world. Along the way however, Rocky becomes so obsessed with tasting success again that he doesn't realise that he faces losing the most important aspect of his life - his family.
Intention:
The intention with this “80’s Cut”, is to try and trim some of Stallone’s over the top performance, remove all of the hip-hop music and replace it with 80’s tunes bringing it more in line with Rocky III and IV, address the issue of Rocky Junior aging about 3 years overnight and present a substantially shortened version of the street fight to make it more realistic.
Other Sources:
Added Music...

Fire Makes Steel - Survivor
All Fired Up - Pat Benatar
Nothing's Gonna Stand in Our Way - John Farnham
Eye of The Tiger (orchestral version) - London Symphony Orchestra
Grand Illusion - Eric Clapton
Behind The Mask - Eric Clapton

Sound Effects from The Freesound Project
Special Thanks:
Sophie Payne, Bionic Bob, DwightFry, tylerdurden.
Release Information:
DVD
Special Features:
Audio Commentary

Rocky V - Electro Version

Trailers

About the Edit
Cuts and Additions:
- Opening sequence re-scored

- Removed scene where Rocky arrives back in the States to a fanfare and press conference.

- Cut scenes when Rocky and family return to the Balboa mansion, also removing scenes with Rocky and his son, plus when Adrian confronts Paulie and tells Rocky about the fact that all their money has suddenly gone. We now go straight from Adrian comforting Rocky in Russia after the fight with Drago to the office meeting with Rocky and his lawyers about the fact that they have suddenly become bankrupt.

- Removed all scenes with Robert (Rocky jnr) when the house is being sold

- After Rocky visits the old gym and remembers his time with Mickey, have trimmed the following scene to remove the shots of Rocky and family moving back to the old neighborhood. Instead, have added “1 year later” caption and we cut to Adrian talking to Duke on the phone.

- Cut Rocky walking his son to school

- Duke talking to Union Cane in his limo, cut.

- Cut Jewel's line to Rocky Jnr, "You know, for an Italian kid you ain't got a bad butt"

- Tommy’s first training sequence re-scored, and trimmed slightly, sound effects rebuilt

- Training sequence 2, re-scored and trimmed slightly, sound effects rebuilt

- Slightly trimmed Duke’s talk at the Christmas party with Tommy, changed background song

- Trimmed scene where Paulie impersonates Santa Clause due to obvious overacting on Stallone’s part

- Re-scored and heavily re-edited street fight to improve continuity and also to shorten the fight in an effort to make it slightly more realistic.

- New End credits with Rocky artwork added, re-scored.
Cover art by LastSurvivor (DOWNLOAD HERE) image

Trailer


Faneditor Diary

Trusted Reviewer reviews

(Updated: July 15, 2020)
Overall rating
 
8.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
8.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
Much credit to LastSurvivor for rescuing this film and giving us a version I'm happy to watch with the rest of the series. John G. Avildsen (director of this film and the original Rocky) actually released a workprint "director's cut" online that addresses most of the same issues that LS identified here. It keeps getting taken down, so I can't watch to confirm if it's better or not, but you can see the director reworked the end fight, the training montages, the music, etc. Stallone also famously changed both the ending and his portrayal of the brain damage while filming. All of these are addressed and improved by this fanedit.

Basically, Rocky fans fall into two camps: those that really love III and IV but don't care much about the others, and those that really appreciate the more drama-oriented films in the series. Rocky III and IV are about 60% montage, and while they're great fun, it's hard to say that they're genuinely moving. Rocky V tried to come back to the original's Oscar-winning roots, but lapsed into a studio cash-in of a mess. What this edit does great is strip away a lot of the trendy ideas afflicted on Rocky V and allow the drama at its core to shine. It's one of the most realistic and depressing films in the series, incorporating tons of real-world issues that boxers eventually face in their career. Made in 1990, it actually brilliantly satirizes Don King and his Tyson-beating stooge, Buster Douglas. Stallone's script calls out the twisted business behind modern boxing, the politics of getting big fights, the engineering of fight records, the health-destroying injuries, the broken families. Almost everything that happens in the film ended up happening to Mike Tyson a few years later. The drama in this film is the great strong point, and the scenes between Adrian and Rocky have a chance to rise above and really reach the audience now.

It's not a perfect edit (for me), though. There are a couple of continuity issues created by the removal of scenes, for one. While the "one year later" on-screen title attempts to smooth over the change in actors for Rocky Jr., it's actually a 5 year age difference from Rocky IV! This could've been fixed with a couple more time tags, like skipping ahead 2 years when Rocky decides to open his gym, and another year or so when he starts training Tommy. Sage Stallone does actually look older by the final third of the film, when he's fully rebelling and wearing an earring. Cutting out the scene when he starts doing that makes it a little less obvious what he's doing though, and means Rocky's joke about the earring at the end of the film largely misses. Rocky Jr.'s dig at Rocky about "watching out for scams" also misses because the scene where Rocky walked him to school is removed, so he never says that. We also miss the line he references several times later about him and his son promising to remain tight. Also, this edit of the final fight ends up making it largely one-sided...Rocky hits Tommy roughly 200 times and never seems in real danger. It's a bit anti-climactic. Partially re-instating these scenes would better support the parallel stories of the 'two sons', and make Rocky Jr. seem like less of a needy whiner.

All that is not nearly as important as what the edit does right, though. The new music choices fit very well, and that alone is reason enough for this to replace the original. Not only the addition of cheesy '80s rock, but also more Conti music, and a saxy Gonna Fly Now reprise if I'm not mistaken. I didn't get why the pencil artwork was used for the film, until I rewatched and remembered his son becomes an artist. It's actually perfect then, in that the theme of this film is legacy and family, and Rocky focusing on his family instead of his boxing/boxers. However, I would've preferred the son's actual art in the film, particularly the lovely picture of Rocky and Adrian. This becomes the core of this movie for me, a return to the first film. The boxing should be almost secondary. Given how Rocky is dealing with what happens with his son and Adrian in the next film, Rocky Balboa, this film actually becomes stronger for how it sets this up. These scenes with Adrian are now really touching in context, and I wish that were the cover/dvd menu, rather than focusing on Rocky as the boxer.

All in all though, this is a much improved film that splits the difference between the two camps of Rocky fans. It's got lots of heart and personal drama, but it's also short and full of action montages and '80s rock. I don't think it's going to wow fans of either Rocky IV or the original, but it has now secured its place in the series.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
Another excellent edit from LastSurvivor. Tech aspects were great. LS's audio editing is superb, I loved the new music added.

I will say though, since you cut Duke's introduction, when Rocky learns he's broke him yelling he'll agree to fight Cain makes no sense.

Rocky V is still a pretty terrible film in my eyes, but this was much more enjoyable.

(I haven't listened to the commentary yet. When I do I'll add to my review.)

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: November 14, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Ah, Rocky 5. What's not to love? Only a story which many say was unnecessary and should've never happened. Considered the high we're left with at the end of part 4, how could they possibly top it? Well, they felt going backwards and having the story/character go full circle was the only option at this point. Everyone's hearts were in the right place, but the pieces simply weren't there.

However, this edit attempts to wash away all of that, and tries to tie it in with its 1980's predecessors. On that account, the edit passes. However, we're still left with a story that doesn't simply add anything to the Rocky story. Also however, I'm a huge Rocky and Sly fan, so I love this edit. I can now honestly say that I can enjoy all 6 Rocky movies. The music choices work perfectly (if you're into music tone of parts 3 and 4, that is). Love the synth songs chosen for the menus. Hearing Dolph's voiceover from his "Maximum Potential" fitness tape dubbed into the song already lets the viewer know tat we're in for some rocky 4-style goodness. This stuff is my favorite music genre. For anyone looking for a nostalgic 80's sounding genre of music, Look up artists like MPM, Mitch Murder, Miami Nights 1984, and the list goes on and on.

For the Rocky 4 recap, we get Survivor's new song "Fire Makes Steel". This song was intentionally made for Rocky 6, but Stallone didn't use it. So I'm glad it at least got used here. The edit is done perfectly so that the recap feels like a music video. Something the editor of the theatrical Rocky 4 couldn't have gotten more wrong. Even as a 7 year old (back in 1991), I was confused as to why the fight was edited differently than how it played out in the film (something every Rocky sequel did up until this point).

To explain how Rocky's son gets so much older, we simply don't see him until the "One Year Later" screen cap. The way this was edited was beautiful. Fading to black after Rocky's flashback at the old gym, to the train passing was perfect. We don't even see GW until a year passes.

For Tommy's montage, The Pat Benatar song fits great, but I prefer the Mitch Murder song used in the special features more. However, for the tone of the film, PB's song is better. For the 2nd montage, we have "Nothing's Gonna Stand In Our Way" by John Farnham. Another great 80's AOR rock singer. For the big fight at the end we have the orchestrated version of "Eye of the Tiger". The fight was short, but the cuts were seamless. I actually prefer it this way simply because even as a kid I couldn't stand how the fight kept going back and forth between Rocky winning, then Tommy winning, then Rocky, then Tommy, etc... And the less said about some of the crowd commentary ("He took my ROOM!!") the better. Sure we miss out on Mickey's parting words as "the angel over his shoulder", but I'll take the bad with the good. It's great that now we have "Eye of the Tiger" in 3 of the Rocky movies instead of only 2. That's half the series. Also, the drawing of Rocky next to the credits is a nice nod to Rocky 2's credits.

Watching this movie again for the first time in years (with the exception of the work-print version) I have to say I forgot how funny Paulie is. Also have to give props to Sage (R.I.P). His performance is one of the best (and my personal favorite) out of all the actors in the movie. A shame the guy never made it in Hollywood. He certainly had the chops. TBH, I really wish he had revisited the character for part 6, though the guy from "Heroes" did a fine job as well. Talia really brought it here as well. With pretty much the entire cast doing their best, I guess it really boils down to Sly's performance. I guess because Sly played Rocky more as a caricature here, that's the real reason people got turned off by the film. Because overall, this edit makes the best parts of this film shine and honestly makes me hold the film in higher regards now.

Tommy needed to be fleshed out a lot more. Sly really should've written/filmed a scene where Tommy's dad comes to see him now that Tommy is getting famous, and dad wants what he feels is "owed" to him (ie: money). Then Tommy could knock him out and tell his dad what it is. "You were never there when I needed you". It not only would've alluded to later on when Tommy would have to fight Rocky, the man who got him where he was. But it also would've shown that Rocky was beginning to go down that same path with his own son. A nice way to tie it all together IMO.

Anyway, this version is now a part of my fan edit collection. Great job!!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
(Updated: November 06, 2012)
Overall rating
 
10.0
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
Rocky V is a movie I consider more mediocre and a missed opportunity than utterly terrible. I appreciate the attempt to get back to the roots of what was once the story of an underdog before getting lost in the worst of Hollywood excesses, but aside from what others have pointed out (awful central performance, horrid hip-hop, uncharismatic rival, no Rocky in the ring...) it has all the feel of a failed pilot for Rocky the TV Series, with all the son stuff and the general blandness. But still, there's something strangely endearing about it. And the Burgess Meredith scene is simply wonderful.

And I also love anything 80s. It's the decade I grew up in, and its music gets me back there. Even the kitschiest tunes of the era do so. So, this edit was a winner for me from the get-go. Gone are the worst offenders in the acting, musical, and narrative department, and with the new songs this is about the best version of the movie it's likely to ever exist unless deleted scenes in usable quality surface. It still has much of that TV feel, but it now feels more Rocky than ever. In fact, in this form it would be a really solid entry in the series if it weren't because of Tommy Gunn's complete lack of charisma (maybe Carl Weathers, Mr. T, or Dolph Lundgren weren't the greatest of actors, but they oozed personality.)

The editing itself is flawless. I doubt anyone who had not seen the original would notice this is edited. The only "off" bit happens near the end when Robert Jr. tells Adrian about the street fight, the audio levels aren't completely right there and the music "eats up" the lines slightly, but I understand it had to be that way because of the original music bleeding into the dialog track. Still, the rest is perfect. Too bad it's 2.0 and not 5.1, but good enough. As for the video quality, just as good as the commercial DVD.

A big plus is Last Survivor's feature-length audio commentary. One can feel his passion for the Rocky saga and Stallone movies in general. And I appreciate this sort of bonus feature in an edit, I wish more releases included them.

If you like Rocky and/or the 80s, in my opinion you can't go wrong with this one. Even if you hate Rocky V with a passion, as a lot of people do, I'd say this is worth one watch at least. Someone send Stallone a copy! Vocal as he is about his hatred for the movie, I think he'd like the edit.
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 1 0
(Updated: November 02, 2012)
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
To me Rocky 5 always was a flawed movie, but a flawed movie with a heart.
This edit keeps the heart and polish the flaws with success.
It feels a bit short though but nothing feels like missing (maybe a final a bit longuer, because this new version was so great you wanted more, so it's a compliment in a way)
And the winner is.... Last survivor!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
View all Trusted Reviewer reviews

User reviews

6 reviews
 
100%
7-9 stars
 
0%
5-7 stars
 
0%
3-5 stars
 
0%
1-3 stars
 
0%
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.7(6)
Audio Editing
 
10.0(6)
Visual Editing
 
10.0(6)
Narrative
 
8.3(6)
Enjoyment
 
8.2(6)
View all user reviews View most helpful
Overall rating
 
9.5
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
9.0
Having never seen the original film all the way through but hearing horror stories, I thought it’d be better for my sanity to watch a fanedit of this one that had the intention of making it better. They’ve replaced a hip hop score with one that reflects the original films. And the fact that this film originally had a hip hop score shows how misguided some of the decisions were.
Yet honestly, it’s not entirely misguided, with the third and fourth film they had turned into fun but formulaic films that resembled music videos and lost quite a bit of the character drama that made the original film such a masterpiece. Rocky V tries to return to that, there’s a lot of interesting ideas in here, the brain damage, the corruption of the boxing leagues, the mentorship, and of course Rocky having to balance his familial duties and return to his masculinity and purpose. Yet it’s just not well written, feeling forced rather than a natural progression of the story. I know the final fight is often criticized because people wanted a boxing match in an arena,, yet I enjoyed the street fight as something different, a small personal victory rather than one that’s in front of the whole world. Thankfully all the missteps would be corrected in the next film, yet this film almost feels necessary as at least an explanation of why Rocky lost all his money.

As for the fanedit itself, Excellent Audio and Video Editing throughout. A lot of excellent choices here, the film certainly improves in it's shorter runtime and the more nostalgic score. There's one narrative hiccup that bothers me, as Rocky's son as an artist comes out of left field and we don't get the build up to that before the end.

User Review

Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
As a Rocky fan, Rocky V is definitely at the bottom for me. I liked this edit, I liked the changes to the music. There are a couple continuity issues and the quality isn't very good, but even with that I really enjoyed this edit.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.7
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
im a fan of the rocky films and the fifth installment of the series is obviously the black sheep. you did a great job of re-doing it, and you made it better. its still not a great movie. i don't know how anybody could make it good, but you made it from bad, to watchable, fantastic job, and i can't wait to see what you did with rambo!! thanks last survivor!

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched
Digital
Report this review Comments (1) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.2
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
7.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
it's been a long time since I've seen Rocky V, it's the film that came with the box set that I never had any intention in watching and the general feeling I had was that it is the weakest in the series. While this edit may improve a lot that was wrong with the original film I still found it to be a pretty bad film. The character of Duke is just a Don King rip-off while Tommy Gunn is for me the weakest villain in the Rocky series. And I do believe this is Sly's worst performance as Rocky Balboa, he's almost impersonating the character that I know and loved. The edit it self is extremely well done, I didn't notice any obvious cuts, while the only thing that stood out in terms of a scene that had been removed was when Rocky mentions Duke before we've had the chance to see just who he is.

the problem I have with Rocky V is that there is nothing memorable about the film, with Rocky I it was all about the underdog story, Rocky II had Rocky running with the kids running behind him, the double knock down and we still had a great villain in Apollo Creed. Rocky III introduced the world to Mr T and Hulk Hogan while Rocky VI has way to many memorable moments (I consider it to be one of the best worst movies of all time) while Rocky Balboa was made at a time when Sly's career reflected the character of Rocky. Last Survivors edit certainly gives us something memorable in the form of 80's soundtrack, which complements the edit making it seem a more natural follow up to part VI.

One thing that stood out for me was just how everything occurs within a short time span, most notable the character of Tommy Gunn who appears to have a 22 unbeaten streak within a very short period. It's very noticeable when after the last fight he has with Rocky as his trainer to his title shot match this seems to happen within a week. This is more of a problem with the film than it is with the edit but maybe a couple of title cards here and there showing that time has moved on would have helped, but that would of course would ask the question why his son never ages

Overall this edit is well done and I'm glad that it gave me the chance to watch Rocky V again, however I find myself in a strange situation that I enjoyed the edit but didn't enjoy the film. All I will say is that if your like me, your copy of Rocky V has never been used then this edit is a great excuse to watch Rocky V again. I've briefly listened to the commentary track in which Last Survivor gives an entertaining insight as to the changes he's made
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.4
Audio/Video Quality
 
10.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
8.0
Enjoyment
 
7.0
An excellent edit with some very nice menus and an audio commentary to boot. I love it when fan editors include commentaries.

Overall I thought this was a very well put together edit. The music was replaced nearly flawlessly -- which often left me wondering how the editor pulled it off. Doing that with the music certainly did alter the feel and give the film a more 80's feel.

The narrative was altered a bit -- fixing some holes and picking up the pace which I appreciated.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
View all user reviews