Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Across the century-plus of motion picture history, few characters can be considered as iconic as Rocky Balboa, the everyman boxer who rises from humble beginnings, works hard to become the best version of himself while staying true to his nature and (spoiler alert) eventually comes out on top. With a career-defining script by Sylvester Stallone the writer, penned as a vehicle for Stallone the actor, Rocky was a phenomenon, netting big awards and big box office and yielding six movies before his universe expanded to include the recent Creed spinoff franchise.

The first four Rocky movies—universally acknowledged to be the best of the bunch—can now be had in Warner’s “Knockout Collection.”

The 1976 debut introduces us to the lovable southpaw, who is given a million-to-one shot at the heavyweight title, taking us all along on his incredible ride from skid row to the spotlight. In Rocky II, the subtlety of the original gives way to a greater emphasis on the David and Goliath theme, but it’s a favorite of mine for its clear-cut archetypal beats. Rocky III retains much of the magic, as Rock finds out what it feels like to lose his crown, but erstwhile nemesis Apollo Creed teaches him how to recapture “the eye of the tiger.” And then there was Rocky IV, the unholy spawn of MTV and the Cold War. (What a year for Stallone, who gave us this and Rambo mere months apart.)

In the decades since, he’s grown increasingly dissatisfied with his four-quel, so he spent his time during the COVID lockdown reimagining it as Rocky Vs. Drago The Ultimate Director’s Cut. Through the rearrangement of scenes, the addition of new footage, plus substantial cuts and alternate takes, character motivations are now clearer and the drama is more engaging, although multiple montages remain.

All were shot on 35mm film, with Rocky somehow squeaking by on a sub-$1M budget, unavoidably imparting real and welcome grit to the North Philly streets. Not only the 4K resolution but the Dolby Vision HDR brings an exciting new life to the image here, in the gleam across sweaty torsos and the distinctive glow of Rocky's dawn workouts. Colors sometimes surprise, like the visually interesting wares lining the shelves of the pet shop where would-be girlfriend Adrian works.

The text on old boxing posters is not razor-sharp, but greatly improved, and graffiti is beautifully ugly. II is prettier and cleaner as a whole, benefiting from the studio’s deeper sequel pockets, yet still with a naturalistic charm. Textures and fine lines are pleasing despite some instances of video noise, although from this point onward in the series, the appreciable improvements in video quality are marginal. Grain and black crush vary quite a bit, not only movie-to-movie but from scene-to-scene within each. Both versions of IV are located on the same disc, which definitely cannot be achieved through seamless branching for the simple fact that the new Vs. Drago is in a wider 2.35:1 aspect ratio. But compression is a non-issue.

Each of the movies includes a “remastered” DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack, with surrounds that start out timid--just Bill Conti’s magnificently inspirational music in the rears--becoming bolder and more aggressive as the saga continues, with an increasing presence of cheering crowds behind us. Certain anomalies compromise the Rocky II experience, and the audio overall is simply not at the same level as the Ultra HD video for these films.

The only extras on the movies themselves are the three different legacy audio commentaries ported onto Rocky, including a solo Stallone track. This is a five-disc set, with the fifth platter being an HD Blu-ray of bonus content: previously released featurettes, each focusing on a specific behind-the-scenes aspect, plus a one-hour cutdown of the online documentary about reshaping Drago, with remarkably candid insights from generous raconteur Sly about the creation of his entire magnum opus.