4-way tie at the next spot
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/6/61/ScaryMovie2.jpg/200px-ScaryMovie2.jpg)
Scary Movie 2
The only Scary Movie I've ever seen, and the only movie I ever hit the fast-forward button on
The sequel to Scary Movie begins with a parody of The Exorcist, in which Megan Voorhees (Natasha Lyonne), is possessed and two priests, Father McFeely (James Woods) and Father Harris (Andy Richter), must drive the demon out. The exorcism doesn't go as planned, and a chain of The Exorcist-like vomiting occurs. Megan insults McFeely's mother and he shoots her in the head.
One year later, Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans) and Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans) are at college, trying to live new lives, after the events in the previous movie. (Although all of them died in Scary Movie, in a deleted scene, Brenda says her death was a near death experience, and Cindy was never officially declared dead.) Cindy and Brenda get tagged by a dorky girl, Alex Monday (Tori Spelling); Ray, who is still confused by his sexuality, has two new friends, Tommy (James DeBello) and Buddy (Christopher Masterson); while Shorty is still the same stoner he was in the last movie.
The story begins when a college teacher, Professor Oldman (Tim Curry) and his wheelchair-bound assistant Dwight (David Cross) plan to study the paranormal activity at Hell House, with the clueless teens as bait and for Oldman to get action with the college girls. Newcomer Theo (Kathleen Robertson) also becomes part of the study group.
When Cindy arrives at the Hell House, she meets a talking Amazon parrot who is vulgar and slanderous, and the caretaker, Hanson (Chris Elliott), who has great people skills and a genetically malformed little hand. After some weird incidents on that night (Cindy being beaten up by a cat, a toy clown attacking Ray after he had sex with Brenda, Shorty getting attacked and smoked by a weed-monster, and Alex having sex with a ghost and it "humps" her (However, later the ghost attacks her after saying she gave him crabs.) The teens finally learn about the professor's plan and try to escape the mansion.
The professor gets killed by a female ghost with disfigured features as the ghost of Hell House's owner, Hugo Kane, seals all exits of the manor to prevent the surviving occupants from escaping. Realizing that killing the ghost is the only way out, the teens are equipped with several technological devices by Dwight that serve to harass and injure the spectral enemy. They are pursued all throughout the mansion. Cindy is chased by an undead skeleton and Brenda rips his head off. Shorty meets the ghost who killed the professor but puts a paper bag on her face and has sex with her. Hanson gets possessed, and Cindy, Brenda and Theo parody Charlie's Angels to get him, but end up beaten up. Eventually, they use Cindy as bait to lure the Kane ghost to a device that ultimately destroys him.
Two months later, taking care of the parrot though he despises her for talking too much, Cindy and Buddy are in a relationship and go out on a walk until Buddy disappears without notice as she looks up to see Hanson serving at the hot dog stand. She screams "No!" while Hanson screams "Yes!". Hanson is instantly hit by a car driven by Shorty, who is receiving oral sex by the female ghost...with a bag over her head to hide her facial deformities.
Parodies within the movie
Paulie - The talking parrot near the beginning of the film and near the end.
The Exorcist - The entire opening sequence.[1] Also the girl who is possessed is called Megan, while in The Exorcist the girl's name is Regan.
Harry Potter - When Buddy shows Cindy the book "Harry Pothead"
Nike Commercial - The dancing/basketball sequence
Hollow Man - Cindy and a badly injured Buddy being locked in the freezer and they must escape. The thermo-goggles and guns are an exact replica that the characters used in Hollow Man (Exception being that the guns shot darts instead of energy). In the deleted scenes, Cindy spreads blood on the floor to track the ghost's footprints. Also, Cindy makes a bulldozer out of packing tape, aluminum foil, etc, which is similar to the scene in Hollow Man where the main characters build an electromagnet in a freezer.
Godzilla - The scene when Cindy is fighting the cat when he moves in slow motion and roars like Godzilla.
The Shining - Scene locations. In the extras, the cat can be seen chopping the door and peeking in, as done in The Shining.
The Haunting - The character Theo; The main premise of a group unknowingly being used as a research group while staying in a haunted mansion. The ghost in "The Haunting" is Hugh Crain, where the ghost in this movie is Huey Kane.
Urban Legend - Cindy singing badly in the car, a parody of the first death in Urban Legend
Poltergeist - The clown underneath Ray's bed. The marijuana plant that comes in and captures Shorty and turns him into a giant joint and smokes him. The scene where Alex is having sex with the ghost on her bed and walls (also, her shirt read 69, when in Poltergeist, the shirt read 65). The clown sequence is both a parody of Poltergeist and Stephen King's It.
Poltergeist II: The Other Side - The caretaker, Hanson, is a parody of the character Reverend Henry Kane, the cult leader in "Poltergeist II". In addition, the name of the family home, Kane, also references "Poltergeist II". Hanson also sings "God is in his Holy Temple" the song that Kane sings in "Poltergeist II".
Hannibal - When Shorty is about to have his brain eaten.
The Changeling - The ball bouncing down the stairs.
The Legend of Hell House - The attack of the black cat.
Charlie's Angels - When Cindy, Brenda, and Theo go hand-to-hand combat with Hanson. Tori Spelling's character, Alex Monday, is a spoof of Lucy Liu's character in Charlie's Angels, Alex Munday.[1]
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon - During the "Charlie's Angels" scene.
What Lies Beneath - Scene with Cindy in the red dress, seducing the professor, then turning into Ray. Cindy confronts the Professor in the kitchen and tells him that she thinks his wife is starting to suspect something. In deleted scenes, Cindy is almost drowned in a bathtub.
Pet Sematary - The cat attack and the slow piano theme when the cat came in.
Bones - When Professor Oldman follows the lady ghost through the cave similar to the scene on Bones
The Amityville Horror - The scene where the priest is covered with flies during the exorcism.[2]
The Weakest Link - The parrot says "You are the weakest link, goodbye" after Alex falls unconscious.
Dude, Where's My Car? - The tattoo scene with instead of "Dude" and "Sweet", it's "Ray" and "f***ed me".[1]
Rocky - Cindy boxing the black cat in slow motion.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show - with Tim Curry (who portrayed Dr. Frank N. Furter) as the Professor, Hanson resembles Riff Raff, and Dwight is confined to a wheelchair (Dr. Scott)
Dirty Harry - The quote "Do you feel lucky punk?"
Save the Last Dance - Shorty shows Cindy how to be cool
Wild Wild West - When Hanson and Dwight exchange insults, in the form of puns, this parodies the exchanges between West and Loveless.
Stephen King's It - "It" is written in blood on the wall of the root cellar where Shorty is hiding. The professor played Pennywise The Dancing Clown in "It". A clown doll tries to attack Ray under his bed but Ray instead rapes the clown. The clown doll scene is both a parody of Poltergeist and Stephen King's It.
Mission: Impossible II - Dwight's wheelchair duel with the ghost mimics the motorcycle chase from M:I-2. During the duel, a flock of doves flies between the combatants, parodying John Woo's signature shown in many of his movies.
Beetlejuice
A Nightmare on Elm Street - When Alex is having sex with the ghost, she climbs up the walls and onto the ceiling, strongly resembling the first kill from a Nightmare on Elm Street.
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors- The skeleton that chased Cindy.
Little Shop of Horrors- When Shorty's plant cracks out of its pot.[2]
Friday the 13th - The map to get to the mansion shows Camp Crystal Lake; the character Megan Voorhees shares the same last name as Pamela, the killer from the first movie in the Friday the 13th series, and her son Jason, from the rest of the series.
Titanic - When Buddy and Cindy are locked in the freezer, Cindy said the same words that Jack said to Rose when they were in the cold water. "Don't say your goodbyes, you're not gonna die here. You're gonna die an old man but not here", "Coming to this house was the best thing that ever happened to me", and "I'll never let go." Another thing to mention is during this scene Titanic theme music is playing.
There's Something About Mary - The sign on the back of the bus which reads:How Am I Driving?
Call
1-800-Kiss My Ass
Clue - Tim Curry plays a mysterious man who gathered a group of people to a house under false pretenses, ending in deaths. The house in Clue was called "Hill House," versus "Hell House."
Alien Resurrection- When the marijuana plant gets sucked out the window, similar (though less gory) to the death of the "Newborn".
Thir13en Ghosts - The final sequence when Kane is using the machine, similar to the same machine used to collect the souls of the thriteen restless ghosts.
Twister - During the Charlie's Angels sequence, Cindy creates a twister and a cow flies around the room. This is similar to the waterspout sequence in Twister.
House on Haunte Hill (1999) - The idea of hunting the ghost with the advanced camera's, and the high tech lab resemble some of the scenes from House on Haunted Hill.
In the U.S., the film grossed $71,308,997. Worldwide, it grossed $141,220,678. Although being a hit, out of the four Scary Movie films, this is the least successful to date.[3]
Despite its box office success, it was not as well received by critics achieving a rotten 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes[4] and a generally negative score of 29% on Metacritic.[5]
Tori Spelling was originally cast as a Lead Character. In the directors cut of the film, she was featured in almost every scene. However, a dispute between Spelling's representatives and Miramax over a nude scene that Spelling didn't wish to do caused Miramax to cut a considerable amount of Tori Spelling's scenes out of the final finished film. So much, in fact, that it causes errors in the film. In a scene where all the cast is present standing in a line with Spelling on the end, suddenly Spelling is unexplainedly absent. This caused speculation that Miramax was angry with Spelling over the nudity dispute and reduced her role to a cameo.
I believe next is the first remake on the list
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/44/Psycho98.jpg/200px-Psycho98.jpg)
the 1998 version of Psycho
Psycho is a 1998 film produced and directed by Gus Van Sant for Universal Pictures, a remake of the 1960 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Both films are adapted from the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch, which were in turn inspired by the crimes of Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein.
Although this version is in color, features a different cast, and has been set in a contemporary timeframe, it is closer to a shot-for-shot remake than most remakes, often copying Hitchcock's camera movements and editing. Bernard Hermann's musical score is reused as well, though with a new arrangement by Danny Elfman and recorded in stereo. Some changes are introduced to account for advancements in technology since the original film and to make the content more explicit. Murder sequences are also intercut with surreal dream images.
Vince Vaughn portrays Norman Bates, with Anne Heche playing Marion Crane, William H. Macy as Milton Arbogast, Viggo Mortensen as Sam Loomis, and Julianne Moore as Lila Crane. Small roles go to Robert Forster as Dr. Fred Simon, Philip Baker Hall as Sheriff Al Chambers, Anne Haney as Mrs. Eliza Chambers, Rita Wilson as Caroline, and Michael Balzary (aka Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers) as Bob Summerfield.
Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates
Anne Heche as Marion Crane
Julianne Moore as Lila Crane
Viggo Mortensen as Samuel "Sam" Loomis
William H. Macy as Milton Arbogast
Robert Forster as Dr. Fred Simon
Philip Baker Hall as Sheriff Al Chambers
Anne Haney as Eliza Chambers
Rita Wilson as Caroline
James Remar as Patrolman
James LeGros as Charlie
Flea as Bob Summerfield
Director Gus Van Sant, emulating Hitchcock's practice of making cameo appearances in his films, appears as "Man talking to man in cowboy hat" at the same point in his film when Hitchcock made his appearance in the original. According to the DVD commentary track that featured Van Sant, Vaughn, and Heche, Van Sant's character is being scolded by Hitchcock in the scene.
There are numerous, often small, differences between the film and the 1960 original:
The credits remain nearly the same with alternative cast and crew mentioned. The lined sequence devised by Saul Bass appear on screen in lime green.
The establishing shot of the city appears as one continuous shot, starting with an aerial shot of the Phoenix, Arizona skyline and eventually zooming towards a hotel exterior and through a window into the hotel room where Marion Crane and Sam Loomis are in bed.[1]
In the original, there is no nudity in the opening scene. In the remake, the character of Sam Loomis displays his buttocks to the camera. There is also heavy breathing from another couple in the next hotel room.
In the original, Marion Crane steals $40,000 in cash tendered as payment for a deal at the real estate office where she works, before she leaves for California. In the remake, she steals $400,000 in cash instead.[2]
In the original, Marion stops off at home and changes before setting out for California. This scene also occurs in the remake, but unlike the original, Marion is seen changing in front of a window, behind which is a tree on which several birds alight.
In the original, Marion Crane pays $700 in cash for a used car to trade with her car while a suspicious lawman watches her. In the remake, she pays $4000 in cash instead, but the license numbers on the two cars are the same as in the original: ANL 709 on her first car, and NFB 418 on the new one. However, her 1956 Ford Mainline is now a 1993 Ford Taurus, while her 1957 Ford Custom 300 is now a 1989 Volvo 740.
In the original, Marion Crane has a long talk with Norman Bates in his parlor, which causes her to change her mind and return the money. In the remake, Marion seems to understand that Norman is crazy, and seems terrified of him. But when she announces that she is going to return the money, the sense of their shared understanding is gone.
In the remake, Norman Bates masturbates while watching Marion Crane undress through the eye hole, as there is heavy breathing and Norman's body twitches and he refastens the buckle on his belt at the end of the scene. In the original, there is no indication that Norman did anything other than simply watch in this scene.
In the original, there is little nudity in the infamous shower scene. In the remake, there is a brief shot of Marion's breasts from the side. When she collapses to death after the stabbings, her buttocks and some stab wounds on her back can be seen. Anne Heche revealed on the DVD commentary that she did not know that the computer-generated wounds had been added to the final film.
In the remake, Gus van Sant has added a few new shots throughout the shower scene. These very brief shots show the image of a violent storm.
In the original, Marion Crane's sister Lila wears a coat when she enters at the hardware store. In the remake, she listens to a Walkman instead.
When Lila and Sam are leaving the hardware store in the original movie, Lila says "All right, let me get my coat", and in the remake, she says "Let me get my Walkman".
In the original, while searching for Marion Crane, her sister Lila apologizes to Sam Loomis for breaking down in tears, just until Milton Arbogast enters the hardware store. In the remake, Lila apologizes to Sam for yelling at him instead.
In the original, when Lila Crane and Sam Loomis check into the Bates Motel to investigate their suspicions of Norman Bates and his mother, Norman and Lila smile at each other. In the remake, Norman and Lila wink at each other instead.
As in his version of the stairway scene, Gus van Sant added new short shots when Arbogast is stabbed by dressed up Norman. The first shot shows the image of a masked reclining woman, the second shot shows a calf in the middle of a road. Arbogast also has more slash marks on his face as well as a scream when he falls down the stairs in this version.
In the original, Norman Bates knocks Sam Loomis unconscious with a vase in his parlor during a heated argument which escalates into a struggle then flees to the house to find Lila Crane. In the remake, he knocks Sam unconscious with a golf club and the heated argument never escalates into a struggle.
When Lila Crane discovers the body of Norman Bates' mother, several white doves suddenly fly up. As birds are a recurring motif in the movie, with Norman's hobby of stuffing dead birds, the sudden unexpected appearance of live birds here may symbolize the approaching end of Norman's presence in the motel.
In the original, Lila Crane watches in disbelief as Sam Loomis wrestles the butcher's knife away from Norman Bates and rescues her. In the remake, she kicks Norman in the face in anger instead.
In the original, there is no neon motel sign on the roof of the motel; in the remake there is.
In the original, when Marion and Sam discuss seeing each other respectably, Marion says, "We can see each other, but respectably. In my house, with my mother's picture on the mantel, and my sister helping me broil a steak for three," to which, Sam adds, "And after the steak, we send sister off to the movies, turn your mother's picture around...". In the remake, Sam reply changes to, "You know, I kinda like to meet your sister. She anything like you?"
In the original, the ending shows only a few seconds of the car being pulled from the swamp; the remake extends this scene for several minutes at a gradually increasing wide angle, depicting the car being towed out and away, with the police present, against the closing credits.
In the original, the wig is white. In the remake, it is blonde and messy.
The film earned $37.2 million in box office, $15.7 million of which came from North America.[3] Estimates of the production budget range from $20 million[4] to $60 million[3]; while promoting his 2002 film Gerry, Van Sant said he thought the producers "broke even" financially.[5]
This version of Psycho received mostly negative reviews; it was awarded two Golden Raspberry Awards, for Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Director for Gus Van Sant, while Anne Heche was nominated as Worst Actress.
A number of critics and writers viewed Van Sant's version more as an actual experiment in shot-for-shot remakes. Many people refer to this film as more of a duplicate of the 1960 film rather than a remake. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the film "demonstrates that a shot-by-shot remake is pointless; genius apparently resides between or beneath the shots, or in chemistry that cannot be timed or counted."[6] Screenwriter Joseph Stefano, who worked on the 1960 version, thought that although she spoke the same lines, Anne Heche portrays Marion Crane as an entirely different character.[7] Even Van Sant admitted that it was an experiment that proved that no one can really copy a film exactly the same way as the original.[8]
One positive review came from Janet Maslin, who called the film an "artful, good-looking remake (a modest term, but it beats plagiarism) that shrewdly revitalizes the aspects of the real Psycho (1960) that it follows most faithfully but seldom diverges seriously or successfully from one of the cinema's most brilliant blueprints"; she noted that the "absence of anything like Anthony Perkins's sensational performance with that vitally birdlike presence and sneaky way with a double-entendre ("A boy's best friend is his mother") is the new film's greatest weakness."[9]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/92/Alone_in_the_Dark_movie.jpg/200px-Alone_in_the_Dark_movie.jpg)
I've seen three Uwe Boll movies: this, BloodRayne and Dungeon Siege. BloodRayne sucks but it's not a candidate for worst movie ever and Dungeon Siege is actually mediocre. Alone in the Dark earns its horrific reputation where stuff is boring, nothing makes sense, there's a gratuitous sex scene that has NO nudity and Tara Reid is some sort of scientist, I forgot which but it has to do with being unable to act. That guy who said that other horrible filmmakers can feel better themselves cause they didn't make Alone in the Dark was right!
Alone in the Dark is a 2005 Brightlight Pictures comedy/horror film very loosely based on Infogrames' popular video game series of the same name. It is directed by Uwe Boll, and stars Christian Slater as supernatural detective Edward Carnby. The film's tagline is Evil Awakens.
Upon its release, Alone in the Dark received extremely negative reviews from critics and video game devotees alike, however it has gained a small cult following.[citation needed] It grossed $2,834,421 in its opening weekend, but was significantly more successful on DVD.
The game version of Alone in the Dark features an ending that takes place on the morning after and is open-ended, showing a mysterious cab driver pick up Edward Carnby or Emily Hartwood and whose destination is unknown. The film version also offers an ending which takes place in the morning when something mysteriously startles Edward Carnby and Aline Cedrac.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare mentions Edward Carnby as part of a paranormal agency known as Bureau 713. The film version goes into greater detail as this is part of the focus of the film.
Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare features creatures that thrive in the darkness, have invisibility and can be harmed by light and electricity. The film version features creatures known as Xenos that can be invisible and can be harmed by light and electricity.
The film version features a storyline with elements found in the games. The kidnapping of the orphaned children in the film is similar to the kidnapping of Grace Saunders from Alone in the Dark II. The disappearance of the orphans is similar to the disappearance of Detective Ted Striker from Alone in the Dark II. The closing of the gateway of darkness storyline from the film is similar to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare which requires the protagonists to close a gateway of darkness. The film version also features a scientist doing experiments on people which is similar to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare.
Blair Erickson came up with the first drafts of the script for Alone in the Dark. According to Erickson, Uwe Boll changed the script to be more action packed than a thriller. Erickson stated his disgust and his working relationship towards Boll on Somethingawful.com.
The original script took the Alone In the Dark premise and depicted it as if it were actually based on a true story of a private investigator in the northeastern U.S. whose missing persons cases begin to uncover a disturbing paranormal secret. It was told through the eyes of a writer following Edward Carnby and his co-worker for a novel, and depicted them as real-life blue-collar folks who never expected to find hideous beings waiting for them in the dark. We tried to stick close to the H. P. Lovecraft style and the low-tech nature of the original game, always keeping the horror in the shadows so you never saw what was coming for them.
Thankfully Dr. Boll was able to hire his loyal team of hacks to crank out something much better than our crappy story and add in all sorts of terrifying horror movie essentials like opening gateways to alternate dimensions, bimbo blonde archaeologists, sex scenes, mad scientists, slimy dog monsters, special army forces designed to battle slimy CG dog monsters, Tara Reid, "Matrix" slow-motion gun battles, and car chases. Oh yeah, and a ten-minute opening back story scroll read aloud to the illiterate audience, the only people able to successfully miss all the negative reviews. I mean hell, Boll knows that's where the real scares lie.[1]
An Unrated Director's Cut was released in Germany, France and Australia and was #1 on the German DVD market for three weeks.[2] This version of the movie, contains about eight to ten additional minutes of footage[3], and it was released on DVD in North America on 25 September 2007.[4] In the newest version of the film, virtually all of the scenes with Tara Reid in them have been removed by Boll himself.[5]
Originally, the film version of Alone in the Dark was to be released with Alone in the Dark 5, the fifth title in the series; however, the creators of Alone in the Dark, Eden Games, delayed the game and reworked it entirely from scratch. This appears to be one of the causes for the public backlash from gamers on how the film version of Alone in the Dark appeared to deviate from the Alone in the Dark game franchise save for the fact that the film was in some ways a sequel to Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare. Uwe Boll stated his disappointment on the region 1 DVD commentary but also said that Atari had face shots of Christian Slater for the newest game - Alone in the Dark 5, which was released on June 26 2008.
Possibly due to this reason, when Ben Croshaw reviewed Alone in the Dark 5, he complained that "I knew Atari were idiots when they let Uwe Boll make a god-awful action movie out of the franchise, but I never thought they were big enough idiots to use that film as inspiration."
Alone in the Dark was panned by nearly every film critic. Rottentomatoes.com ranked the film a score of 1% as of January 2009 and lists it as the 2nd worst reviewed movie of all time. At Metacritic, it was a score of 9%. Reviews frequently blamed the film's violent content on its videogame origins,[6] but those aware of the game series were less forgiving of Boll's change of tone.[7]
Alone in the Dark was given several accolades highlighting this poor reception:
Alone in the Dark won three 2005 Stinkers Awards:
Worst Picture
Worst Director (Uwe Boll)
Worst Special Effects
It also won one Calvin Award:
Worst Picture
Alone in the Dark received two 2005 Golden Raspberry Awards nominations:
Worst Director (Dr. Uwe Boll)
Worst Actress (Tara Reid)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a5/Rocky_v_poster.jpg/200px-Rocky_v_poster.jpg)
Rocky 5 7 Rocky 5 Rocky vs Tommy Gunn is a street fight is the big payoff in a movie about a boxer who..you know BOXES!
Rocky V is a 1990 fifth film in the Rocky series. It was released on November 16, 1990. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Stallone's real life son Sage Stallone and real life boxer Tommy Morrison as boxer Tommy Gunn, a talented yet raw boxer, who only uses Rocky for his connections and to try to win the World Heavyweight title. Sage Stallone played Rocky Jr., whose relationship with his famous father is explored. After Stallone directed the second through fourth films in the series, Rocky V saw the return of director John G. Avildsen, whose direction of the first film won him an Academy Award for Best Director. The film earned $14 million on its opening weekend and $40 million in total U.S. box-office sales, about one-third of its predecessor's take. It was both a critical and financial bomb, and it wasn't until 2006 that Stallone decided to close the series out with Rocky Balboa.
Rocky V begins with Rocky and his trainer Tony "Duke" Evers in their dressing room after the Drago fight. Tony praises Rocky for his victory, but Rocky, seen to be in some form of physical discomfort, asks Tony to summon his wife, Adrian. His hands are shaking, and he can't make them stop. In addition to that, he keeps calling Adrian "Mick", the name of his deceased former trainer.
Rocky returns home from the Soviet Union and is greeted by his son, Robert. At the following press conference, a crooked promoter named George Washington Duke (a parody of boxing promoter Don King) tries to goad Rocky into fighting the new #1 contender to his championship, Union Cane, in Tokyo. With Adrian insisting on her husband's retirement, Rocky decides, at least for the time being, not to take the fight with Cane.
Rocky, Adrian, and Adrian's brother Paulie return to their lavish Philadelphia home to find out that Paulie had signed 'power of attorney' over to Balboa's accountant, who had, in turn, squandered most of his money on real estate flipping. Now bankrupt, Rocky immediately decides to take the fight against Cane. However, years of fighting have taken their toll on him, especially the last one with Drago, and after a physical evaluation, it is determined that Rocky has suffered significant brain damage, and that he can no longer fight without further risking his health. Rocky is forced to vacate the championship and move back into his old Philadelphia neighborhood, where he and the family must try to start their lives over again.
Things start to look up for them when Rocky meets a hungry young fighter from Oklahoma named Tommy Gunn and takes him under his wing. Training the young fighter gives Rocky a sense of purpose, and he slowly helps Tommy fight his way up the ladder to become a top contender. Meanwhile, the new friendship results in Rocky paying little attention to Robert, who becomes withdrawn and angry. He eventually falls in with the wrong crowd at school, and as a result he begins acting out at home.
Tommy's rapid rise through the ranks catches the eye of Duke, who uses the promise of a title shot and Tommy's own resentment at being compared to his trainer to lure him away from Rocky. Duke pulls up outside the Balboa house with Tommy in tow, who has now been brainwashed into thinking that Rocky doesn't have his best interests in mind. When Rocky tries to convince his friend otherwise, an ungrateful Tommy drives off in a huff, leaving Rocky for good.
As he watches Tommy’s car speed off into the night, his head suddenly pounds with nightmarish flashbacks of his fight with Drago. When Adrian attempts to comfort him, Rocky's frustrations finally boil over. He confesses that his life had meaning again when he was able to live vicariously through Tommy’s success. She reasons with him, telling him that Tommy never had his heart and spirit – that it was something he could never learn. When this realization hits him, an emotional Rocky embraces his wife and they begin to pick up the pieces. After finding Robert hanging out on a street corner, Rocky apologizes to his son, and they mend their broken relationship.
Under Duke, Tommy does indeed win the heavyweight title by knocking out Union Cane in the first round. However, it is an empty victory for Tommy as the angry crowd chants Rocky's name instead, much to Tommy's bemusement. Afterward, the press tells Tommy that Cane was nothing more than a "second-rate fighter" and that even as champion, he could never live up to Balboa's great legacy. Duke himself later admits to Tommy that the public will never consider him the real champion because he never fought Balboa.
Tommy decides to settle the matter once and for all by going to Rocky's neighborhood and challenging him to a fight in the ring. Accompanied by a small camera crew, Tommy and Duke lay down their challenge, which Rocky declines. Tommy follows him into the bar and the two argue, Rocky telling him Duke was only using him to get what he wants. Tommy then proceeds to taunt Rocky, leading Paulie to step in and berate Tommy for betraying his former mentor. Tommy loses his temper and punches Paulie in the face. Finally, Rocky decides he has seen enough and challenges Tommy to a street fight. Despite Duke's protests, Tommy accepts and the fight is on.
Despite gaining the upper hand early in the fight, Rocky is eventually beaten down by Tommy and is seemingly out for the count. His head once again pounds with hellish visions of the fight with Drago, and with visions of Mickey’s burial. It is then that he hears his old mentor’s voice urging him to go one last round. Remarkably, Rocky finds the strength to get back up for "one more round" with Tommy. With Robert, Adrian, Paulie, and the whole neighborhood cheering him on, Rocky utilizes his vast street smarts to defeat Tommy, knocking his former protege into the grill of a bus with his final blow. After the fight, Duke commends Rocky and tries to appeal to him, but Rocky has heard enough. Duke threatens to sue him if Rocky touches him, but after a brief hesitation, Rocky punches him in the gut, knocking him onto the hood of a car. The crowd cheers as the bankrupt Rocky shrugs and asks, "Sue me for what?"
Rocky and Robert meet up the next day at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Rocky gives Robert the cuff-link given to him as a gift from Mickey. They make their way to the museum, and the film ends with a shot of Rocky's statue looking out over Philadelphia.
In addition to its disappointing numbers at the box office, this segment in the Rocky series left a sour taste in some fans' mouths as it left the hero back where he started, arguably with nothing to show for it, Rotten Tomatoes gives Rocky V a 21% "rotten" rating on their site. The film departed from the standard Rocky formula on display in the previous four films and that made it extremely unpopular with the audience that was drawn to sequels. Sylvester Stallone himself had gone on record in saying he wasn't satisfied with the finished product, saying "I wanted to finish the series on a high and emotional note and Rocky V didn't do that."[1] However, Sylvester Stallone was praised for his performance and the film, oddly enough, received some positive feedback from some fans, similar to the second and third Rambo installments.
ESPN's Bill Simmons, a noted fan of the Rocky movies, has said on record that he does not consider Rocky V a true part of the series and that as far as he is concerned, it "never happened.[2]"
As a result of, and in response to, Rocky V's poor box office performance (and the general dissatisfaction with the end of the franchise), Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in Rocky Balboa, the sixth and final chapter to the saga released 16 years after this movie, in an attempt to redeem the character for a final chance to come back as a hero again, and do the story justice by bringing it full circle. It succeeded by grossing over $70 million at the U.S. box office as well and $85 million abroad and getting largely positive reviews from both fans and critics.
On February 15, 2008 in an interview with Jonathan Ross on the BBC, Stallone was asked by Ross what marks out of ten he would give each of the Rocky films. When he came to Rocky V, Stallone instantly replied that he would give the film zero, and reiterated that this was part of his motivation in making Rocky Balboa.