Re-Scripting Rocky V With Apollo Creed Still Alive
Rocky Balboa is one of the most iconic characters in cinematic history and there are so many things from the Rocky series that are a part of pop culture. Many fans of the movies considering Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago to be one of the greatest fights in cinematic history. That brings me to Rocky IV and the recently released Ultimate Directors Cut that Slyvester Stallone came out with. He completely changed the story with more in-depth character work of Apollo Creed and his motivations to fight Drago. In one of the extras, Stallone stated that he would have kept Creed alive and confined him to a wheelchair. He would have become Rocky’s manager and Rocky still would have defeated Drago. Stallone stated had it gone that way, there might not have been a Rocky V, Rocky Balboa, or the Creed movies. However, let’s imagine Apollo Creed stayed alive and there would have been a Rocky V.
While watching Rocky V there were somethings I liked, but a lot I didn’t care for that brought the movie down. First, Rocky wouldn’t have had brain damage. He would have had injuries where doctors told him that continuing to fight could severely impair his health. The Boxing Commission would have suspended Rocky’s license for a year so he could heal from the beating he took from Ivan Drago. Rocky, Apollo and Tony (Apollo’s trainer) would have invested in Mickey’s Gym and cleaned it up. George Washington Duke would have come around and tried to goat Rocky into a match against one of his clients. Rocky is tempted but has flashbacks of all the times Adrian worried about him fighting. It wouldn’t have been Adrian standing up to Duke, it would have been Rocky forcefully making it known that he had no intentions of fight again.
In comes Tommy Gunn off the streets looking for Rocky and Apollo to train him. Rocky and Apollo agree to manage and train him and ends up fighting his way up like he did in the original Rocky V. Eventually, Duke sees the money in trying to get Gunn as one of his clients and starts filling his head with ideas of money, fame, and the championship that Rocky forfeited to fight Ivan Drago. Tommy eventually becomes a client of Duke and in a shocking twist, Tony joins him realizing there’s no money to be made anymore if Rocky and Apollo aren’t fighting. Rocky and Apollo are down and feeling betrayed, but still care about Tommy Gunn. Shortly after, Rocky and Apollo are at Rocky’s house with Adrian, Paulie and Robert watching Tommy Gunn fight for the championship. Gunn wins the championship and during his post-fight interview, he thanks Duke for all his success and does not acknowledge Rocky or Apollo. These actions further hurt Rocky and Apollo and Paulie suggests they go out to the bar to get some drinks.
At the bar, Rocky, Apollo and Paulie are enjoying each other’s company until Tommy, Duke, and Tony come in. Tommy is still not satisfied with being champion because he keeps being compared to Balboa and Creed due to the media labeling him a paper champion and saying that he’s living their shadow. Apollo begins to yell at Gunn, which leads to Gunn pushing Apollo out of the wheelchair. Tony is furious because at the end of the day Apollo is still family to him. Tony tries to intervene and gets knocked out for his trouble. At this point, Rocky steps up and tells Tommy that if he wants to fight then to let’s take it to the streets. Duke advises Tommy against it, but they begin to brawl anyway. During the fight, Paulie runs to get Adrian who then watches the fight in the streets with the rest of the crowd. Tommy starts getting the best of Rocky and when that happens, Rocky has flashbacks of all his fights and Mickey telling him, “Get up you son of a bitch, because Mickey loves you.” He would then see Apollo back in his wheelchair seeing that he was and would come back to finish off Tommy in the fight. Duke would attempt to approach Rocky, but Rocky would knock him out like he did in the original movie.
In Rocky V, Balboa would not have been bankrupt and end up losing everything. He would not have had the conflict with his son that he did in the fifth movie. I believe those two aspects are what really hurt the reputation of the Rocky character and franchise. I view it like many Fast and Furious fans view Tokyo Drift. The only difference is they finally made it, so Tokyo Drift makes sense with the rest of the franchise. The final scene of Rocky V would have been Apollo, Mary (Apollo’s Wife), and Adrian on top of the steps watching Rocky, Robert and Apollo’s kids running up the steps. The film would fade out with both families looking out at the city of Philadelphia. That’s how the legacy of Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed would have ended.
I don’t know if Stallone would have filmed Rocky V if Apollo had still been alive. He would have avenged Apollo anyways while Apollo was still alive. There might not have been any thing left to do with the franchise after that, which means know Rocky V, Rocky Balboa or Creed. They may have made those movies, but the stories would have been completely different had Apollo not been killed off. I did enjoy the Tommy Gunn character and the street fight at the end, but the story leading up to it was awful. I think a Rocky V movie with Apollo Creed still alive would have been much more entertaining and successful.
