ROCKY (1976) – Nominated for 10 Academy Awards®, this 1976 Best Picture Winner inspired a nation. A struggling Philadelphia club fighter (Sylvester Stallone) gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for love, glory and self-respect. Featuring a legendary musical score and thrilling fight sequences, this rousing crowd-pleaser scores a knockout!
ROCKY II (1979) – After club fighter Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) goes the distance with the world heavyweight champion, boxing fans clamor for a rematch. But Rocky, having sustained massive injuries announces his retirement. Though he tries to make a new life for himself, Rocky realizes that he can’t escape his true calling. The ring beckons once more, and the “Italian Stallion” must prepare for the fight of his life.
ROCKY III (1982) – As Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) fights his way into the hearts of millions, life couldn’t be better. But when Clubber Lang (Mr. T) KOs Rocky in a humiliating defeat, it becomes apparent that the “Italian Stallion” has lost his edge. Considering hanging up his gloves, Rocky receives encouragement from an unlikely ally: his old nemesis, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). With Creed’s help, Rocky strives to regain the “eye of the tiger” before confronting Lang in a grueling rematch!
ROCKY IV (1985) – Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) holds the world heavyweight boxing championship but faces a new challenger: Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a 6’4″, 261-pound fighter who has the backing of the Soviet Union. Rocky prepares for a powerfully charged fight, in which he must defend not only himself but the honor of his country!
Also included is Rocky IV: Rocky vs. Drago. Stallone masterfully reshapes Rocky IV in the ultimate director’s cut!
For thoughts on Rocky: The Knockout Collection, please check out part one of our discussion on The Video Attic here.
For thoughts on Rocky: The Knockout Collection, please check out part two of our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
The first four films in the Rocky franchise are included in Rocky: The Knockout Collection, including both the theatrical cut and the new-to-home-entertainment “Rocky vs. Drago: Ultimate Director’s Cut” of Rocky IV, for a grand total of five films. There is a singular 4K UHD disc for each of the first three films, and the two cuts of Rocky IV share a disc. There are no accompanying Blu-Rays outside of a bonus disc with the majority of the special features.
Rocky was previously given a 4K remaster which was released on Blu-Ray in 2014, while the remaining films have not been given a new master in some time. This means the size of the improvement will be seen more in the sequels over the already-great original film. This collection has many moments of greatness, but it is not quite as strong as it should be in terms of consistency. These new releases arrive with a 2160p Dolby Vision/HDR transfer that lands the occasional body blow. In an effort to not duplicate descriptions, I will largely attempt to group the films together while pointing out noticeable differences.
As the series progresses, the video quality shifts with the changing cinematography, but the initial installment offers a surprisingly robust transfer given the use of zoom lenses and inconsistent control of lighting. The first film is the most inherently grain heavy, and thankfully most of it remains intact without any unsightly digital scrubbing of the picture. The first film keeps the presentation very faithful to its original intention with no shifts in color grading or digital manipulation. The encode could be a little tighter, but there are more egregious examples even within this set.
Things improve even further as the franchise gets a larger budget to work with, allowing these films to wow at every turn. The filmic quality is preserved for all the movies in the set with natural grain that yields an eye-popping amount of detail. Outside of Rocky Vs. Drago, there does not appear to be too much in the way of artificial sharpening with detailed textures coming through in all of the expected places such as costumes and the production design. Skin tones also look nice and natural throughout with an impressive amount of detail on display on the performers faces. Where this set lets you down is when it comes to compression, as you start to see certain scenes turn into a blocky mess, especially against bright skies. The films are not unwatchable, but a little more care would have done wonders.
The Dolby Vision/HDR provides colors that pop off the screen with an impressive vibrancy that make this set a real visual treat, especially after you get past the more reserved first film. Black levels are improved with the Dolby Vision layer, but there are still moments where fine detail gets eaten up a bit in some sequences. Likewise, the white levels do occasionally become a bit too unwieldy with blooming and clipped highlights. The issues with this set are not so much baked-in, but the result of some lacking care with the encode process. Although, Rocky IV has a brief disappearance of the 1.85 mattes which IS a baked-in issue that will hopefully get fixed at some point. Overall, the core masters allow these films to look the best they ever have, but the process of putting those on the discs lessened some of their amazing qualities. Not quite the care the classic series deserves, but not a complete disaster on the video side.
Audio Quality
The audio portion of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray set offers up a litany of issues that should make Warner Bros. implement a replacement program if they want to do right by the fans. For starters, the “original” DTS-HD mono mix for Rocky is not actually the original version of the track – it is a fold down of the DTS-HD 5.1 remix which has some environmental flourishes that do not track with what audiences should be hearing if they are going for audio purity. The audio for the first film actually does not sound bad, but the studio should deliver what they promise if they say they are delivering the original track.
Rocky II is the true garbage fire of the collection, as all of the tracks on the release are incorrectly pitched too low by a small amount. This is simply unacceptable, as this impacts all aspects of the track including the score, the dialogue, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Rocky III experiences the same fate, but the lower pitch is confined to only some of the included dub tracks which means more people will be willing to overlook the issue. The only title that does not appear to have any major issues is Rocky IV, which is given the depth and nuance that the rest of the films should have. With so many issues, it feels disingenuous to do a full evaluation of the audio experience as a whole. We urge Warner Bros. Home Entertainment to get a replacement program running if they care about their consumers.
Special Features
Rocky
- Audio Commentary #1: Director John Avildsen; producers Irvin Winkler and Robert Chartoff; actors Talia Shire, Carl Weathers and Burt Young; and Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown.
- Audio Commentary #2: Boxing trainer Lou Duva and sports historian Bert Sugar.
- Audio Commentary #3: Writer/star Sylvester Stallone.
Bonus Disc
- 8MM Home Movies of Rocky: An eight-minute assortment of footage is provided here in rough quality which shows some behind-the-scenes moments with some clips thrown in for good measure. Nothing groundbreaking, but there are some interesting tidbits within this from the creative team.
- 3 Rounds with Lou Duva: A nearly five-minute piece in which the legendary trainer shares some insights into the world of boxing and training regimens.
- Steadicam – Then and Now with Garrett Brown: A nearly 18-minute look at the technological advancements brought about by the steadicam and how it was used within the original Rocky.
- Make-Up! The Art and Form with Michael Westmore: A 15-minute exploration of the makeup work in Rocky and the ways in which they made things look believable.
- Staccato – A Composer’s Notebook with Bill Conti: A 12-minute featurette which takes a closer look at the iconic Rocky score and how it played with the themes of the film.
- The Ring of Truth: A ten-minute interview with set designer James Spencer who talks about creating the lived-in and authentic world of Rocky.
- A Tribute to Burgess Meredith: An eight-minute remembrance of the beloved performer who passed away in 1997.
- Stallone Meets Rocky: A three-minute skit is provided here using split-screen in which Rocky gets to express his appreciation to Stallone for being created.
- The Making of Rocky vs. Drago – Keep Punching: A nearly 59-minute behind-the-scenes documentary featuring Stallone dissecting the creative process of revisiting Rocky IV for this new director’s cut. This is by far the most in-depth piece in this collection, and in an ideal world each film would get such consideration.
- Trailers: All four original films, plus Rocky vs. Drago, are provided with trailers on this release.
Final Thoughts
Rocky: The Knockout Collection contains some of the most rousing sports films that have ever been put to screen. Sylvester Stallone puts his heart and soul into the character, and his work with the various directors throughout allows each film to stand out. Some of the widely mocked elements of the sequels are admittedly a bit ridiculous, but not so much as to ruin the overall journey. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray set that features a flawed A/V presentation and a few great supplement features. There are ways this set could have been improved, and hopefully Warner Bros. is fast at work to get a replacement program rolling. If you are a less discerning viewer, you may find this set to be exactly what you want it to be.
Rocky: The Knockout Collection is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this set free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
