[JLB1987]

My lovely girlfriend bought me the entire Rocky box set whilst she was cavorting around the shops the other day. I kept on going on about Rocky 4 to her after catching it on television a couple of weeks back ("and then there was a montage, and then there was a Survivor song that isn't Eye Of The Tiger, and then Stallone got punched by a cool russian dude...") Very pleasantly surprised at how good the series is- watched the first four over the last few evenings. Guess what I'm trying to say is I completely understand why the first couple tend to be held in such high regard.

Controversial sequel preference time- I love the fourth one the most. It's not as subtle as the earlier films (indeed, it's everything I expected a Rocky film to be), but what it lacks in narration and character development, it makes up with sheer bombast. I think James Brown's appearance in 4 could be my favourite moment in film ever. I nearly watched it again tonight, but I don't wanna wash the magic away. I'll give it a week.

Not looking forward to number 5- it's one of the ones I vaguely remember watching in my early teens (along with the second), and will be lowering my expectations accordingly. I was easily impressed at that age, too, which isn't a good sign for things to come...