Rocky Saga, The: Going the Distance (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Entertaining documentary taking a look at the entire ROCKY franchise and how Sylvester Stallone was pretty much broke, desperate and on his last shot when he wrote the screenplay for the first, which would end up a massive hit and get ten Oscar-nominations. Stallone, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Lloyd Kaufman, Robert Chartoff, Irwin Winkler, Dolph Lundgren and Frank Stallone are just a few of the faces who show up to share their memories on the making of the series. If you're a die-hard ROCKY fans then it's a very safe bet that you've heard most of the stories here but if you're new to the series and wanting a quick guide behind their popularity then this is a great place to start. I'm sure fans who are already familiar with the story are still going to have fun going down memory lane as the cast give some behind-the-scenes stories. We get to hear how the studio didn't want Stallone to direct part 2, we hear how ROCKY III got off on a bad start and how Stallone ended up in the hospital after being punch by Lundgren in part four. The most interesting segment comes with part five as Stallone really opens up on what he was trying to do with the film and everyone talks about why they felt it bombed so badly with critics and fans. There's even talk of the original ending that almost made the picture. Also interesting is hearing how every studio turned down the sixth film in the series and Stallone talks about having to pretty much start from scratch just like he did with the first movie. Overall this is a very entertaining documentary full of great stories and it's always fun catching up with the cast members.
