The Rocky saga can maybe serve as an analogy for America itself: it starts off with a masterwork, follows it up with a few hiccups but stays on a pretty solid course, and then starts to veer away to the point where it’s just trying to live up to its initial greatness once more. And to continue the analogy, maybe the starting point wasn’t perfect to begin with, but I maintain that the original Rocky is a pretty beautifully told story of resilience and redemption. The second film does a good job following up and capping off the original, then the third one tries to recreate the first two films condensed into one, and then it flies off the rails.
There were elements of hardcore patriotism in the first 3 movies, the third one ramping it up higher than ever, but Rocky IV takes it to another dimension, serving essentially as a pure Cold War propaganda film. The anti-Soviet, pro-US sentiment is layered on so thick that it comes off as completely comical to contemporary viewers. The efforts of Rocky V and then Rocky Balboa are actually quite noble, but the brand was already sullied by the story’s detour into Cold War politics. Despite this, the first two films, particularly the original, are wonderful.
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