The former last installment of
the Rocky Balboa film franchise.
Released in 1990 the film was a massive financial and critical failure.
It begins closely after the end of
Rocky IV.There were several reasons why the film failed:
1.
Rocky Balboa's son clearly ages significantly from the last film, this was due to
Stallone wanting to cast his son in the film who by 1990 was 14, 13 during filming, whereas
Rocky's son in the film is 8 in the previous film.
2. Rocky loses his money because of his crook accountant and has to move back to his
brother in law's house in downtown Philadelphia. Many fans saw this as a horrible twist in the underdog story that had dominated the series plot line.
3. Rocky is discovered to have suffered brain damage, forcing him to retire.
4. Rocky becomes a manager to a boxer who later betrays him, it is seen as lackluster because Rocky, the fighter has very little place in the film.
5. In the finale where Rocky actually fights his trained pupil, he takes serious blows, but wins and survives. In the original script, Rocky was intended to die after winning the fight, since this did not happen, coupled with his financial downfall many fans viewed the whole story to be pointless.
The film being ridiculed and classified as one of the worst films ever made period prompted Stallone to direct yet another sequel entitled
Rocky Balboa released in 2006, which more or less ignored Rocky V except
Balboa's financial loss. Since this new last installment was a critical and financial success, many fans and critics suggested forgetting about Rocky V entirely, much like Friday The 13th Part V, which was considered a horrible film in that franchise and was more or less remade in the subsequent sequel prompting fans to forget that film.