Rocky 5 (Rocky V, 1990): Cast, Plot and Ending Explained

The Rocky 5 plot starts in the aftermath of Moscow, with Rocky Balboa hurt and out of boxing. After his fight with Ivan Drago in Rocky IV, Rocky is told he has a brain condition and must retire. Then he learns his accountant has stolen his fortune, so the family loses its house and possessions.

The Balboas move back to their old Philadelphia neighborhood, which is the reverse of the climb the saga had been telling since Rocky (1976). Rocky reopens Mighty Mick's Gym and begins training Tommy Gunn, a promising young boxer. Meanwhile his son Robert is being bullied at school, and Rocky is paying too little attention to him.

Rocky V is a story about a trainer losing his fighter, and then settling the argument with his own fists. Tommy rises to contender status under Rocky's training, but promoter George Washington Duke lures him away. Under Duke, Tommy wins the heavyweight title, yet the public dismisses him as a paper champion who never beat a real name.

That label drives the last act. Tommy wants respect, and the only name that would give it to him is Rocky's, so he challenges his former trainer to a fight in the street. Rocky takes the challenge, and he wins, with help from his family and the neighborhood around him.

The film also keeps a second thread running beside the boxing: Rocky's neglect of Robert. The street fight closes the Tommy story. In short, the title belt is never the prize here, because the only fight Rocky takes on is the one Tommy forces on him.

Rocky V opened in US theaters on November 16, 1990, according to Box Office Mojo. Australia followed on December 26, 1990, and the United Kingdom on January 25, 1991, based on TMDB release data. All three dates are theatrical.

The film is rated PG-13 in the US, PG in the UK and M in Australia. At 104 minutes, it is the fourth shortest of the six Rocky films, longer than Rocky IV at 91 minutes, Rocky III at 99 minutes and Rocky Balboa (2006) at 102 minutes.

The Rocky 5 ending is a street fight between Rocky and Tommy Gunn, which Rocky wins with his family and the neighborhood behind him, and Rocky lives. In my opinion, the choice of a street brawl over a ring bout is the most interesting thing the film does. Tommy holds the title but not the respect, so the only fight that settles anything is the one with no belt, no promoter and no referee.

Compare how the saga closed its earlier chapters. In Rocky (1976) the climax is a title fight in a ring in Philadelphia, and in Rocky IV it is a bout in Moscow in front of a hostile crowd. Rocky V takes the stakes away from a ring altogether, and Terry Funk, a pro wrestler, choreographed the brawl, which is why it reads as a scrap rather than a boxing match. That makes Tommy the first opponent in the saga who is Rocky's own student, and the fight is as much about a trainer and his fighter as about two boxers.

It could be argued that the ending is also the film's biggest what if. Stallone's original script had Rocky die after the fight. Director John G. Avildsen told CBS Philadelphia in 2014 that the studio head said Rocky would not die, and that the studio changed the ending about two weeks into filming. Avildsen added that he felt the change hurt the film. A death would have made the street fight a final statement about pride, while the survival ending leaves Rocky standing in the same place he began.

The saga answered the question later. Stallone has described Rocky Balboa (2006) as a chance to give the character a better send off, which suggests that the Rocky V ending left the story unfinished in his eyes. In that later film Adrian is already gone and Rocky Jr. is played by a new actor, and Rocky V is the final series appearance for Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith. Perhaps the fair reading is that Rocky V is a bridge film: it strips Rocky of his money, his gym and his title standing, and Rocky Balboa builds the closing chapter on that.

Rocky V was filmed mostly on location in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with production starting in mid January 1990. Some fight scenes were shot at the Blue Horizon, a Philadelphia boxing venue, and the Rocky statue was moved back to the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps for filming.

Shooting in the real neighborhood suits a story that sends the Balboas back to their old streets, and it keeps the film close to the setting of Rocky (1976).

• Pro wrestler Terry Funk choreographed the climactic street fight.
• Stallone's original script had Rocky die after the street fight. Avildsen said the studio changed this about two weeks into filming.
• Avildsen told CBS Philadelphia in 2014 that the studio head said Rocky would not die, and that he felt the change hurt the film.
• The Measure of a Man by Elton John earned a Razzie nomination.
• Rocky V earned about $120 million worldwide, the lowest of the six Rocky films, according to Box Office Mojo. Its domestic gross of about $41 million is also the lowest of the six, and Rocky IV earned about two and a half times as much worldwide. See Rocky box office for every film.