[School of Movies 2026]

This trio of double-bills are arranged across three distinct stages of Rocky's life. As a thirty-year-old Boy he was fighting to prove he could go the distance. Now, as the Man of the hour he has ascended way beyond all of us mere mortals to World Champion Superhero for two helpings of 1980s American excess that are quite differently flavoured from their humble 70s roots.

In III he meets Hulk Hogan and Mr T, loses his beloved mentor and has to find that role anew in his former opponent Apollo Creed. But then in IV the Cold War comes calling and while Creed battles in vain to prove America is better than The Soviet Union, it ultimately falls to Rocky to finish the fight and end historical global conflict by boxing really well.

For IV however, after Creed II was released and during Lockdown Stallone went back to new transfers sourced from the original negatives to reconstruct it as a more serious and focused effort that would fit better with the new movies as well as the older ones, giving Sharon and I a lot to talk about regarding how her original favourite changed, both for better and worse.

Still to come, the consequences of getting hit in the head over and over again, and a surprise favourite for the original six.

This week's After School Club: Shakespeare in Love (With an Upstart Crow)

Next week: Rocky V + Rocky Balboa