7 quotes
Conflict Over the Kid's Future
Adrian
Come on. It's not worth it.
Rocky
Adrian, it is worth it. The kid's confused.
Adrian
You don't see what's happening.
Rocky
Yeah, I do see! He's twisted around by Duke.
Adrian
Come on, it's you. It's not him. You can't live backwards or turn back the clocks. We live now. We live here.
Rocky
Hey, I know where we live! Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not as dumb as you think I am! I look. You don't think I can smell it? I see where we are! I don't want this no more! I want something good for the family, not this! I don't want this! Did I come back here and get my brains beat out for guys to say: "There goes Balboa, just another bum in the neighborhood"? I didn't want this!
Adrian
No! Come on, nobody says that.
Rocky
I'm sayin it, Adrian. I'm sayin this! I'm sayin this. When that kid was in the ring, you know what I was doin'? I was winnin'.
Adrian
You were winning?
Rocky
Yeah, it was. It was my last chance at gettin some respect for us.
Adrian
Come on. I respect you!
Rocky
You can't respect me.
Adrian
Yes, I do.
Rocky
No, you can't!
Adrian
I do! All those beatings you took in the ring, I took them with you! I know how you feel. I know when somebody like Tommy comes along, you feel alive, but he's not you, he doesn't have your heart! All those fighters you beat, you beat em with heart, not muscle. That's what Mickey knew. That's why you and Mickey were special. But Mickey's dead! If there's something you wanna pass on, pass it on to your son! For God's sakes, your son is lost! He needs you! I know Tommy makes you feel great. He makes you feel like you're winning again, but you're losing us! Rocky, you're losing your family!
Rocky
I'm sorry. You know, it was always you and me. It was always you and me. I'm sorry, Adrian.
[embraces Adrian]
Rocky on Seriousness Over Competition
Barfly
Hey Rock, need some help?
Rocky
Come on guys. This ain't no pie-eatin contest.
Facing the Shadow of a Champion
Tommy Gunn
What the hell happened in there? I won the damn title and they think I'm a bum! Why didn't you back me up?
Merlin Sheets
When the press is right, they're right.
Tommy Gunn
I'm as good as Balboa ever was and I'm tired of being called a damn robot!
Merlin Sheets
Listen, Tommy. You can't fight the press. I can't fight them. As long as they got Balboa on the brain, he's champ. He fought wars in the ring. Tommy, face facts. You're in his shadow.
Tommy Gunn
This is your own man talking!
[to George while pointing to Merlin]
George Washington Duke
Listen to me. There is a way to get the respect you deserve. Challenge Balboa to fight.
Merlin Sheets
George could set it up in just weeks. It'd be the greatest fight ever.
George Washington Duke
Teacher against student, old lion against young lion. That's the only way you ever gonna get peace of mind. That press will hound you with that man's legend for as long as you wear gloves. You gotta get him into that ring, Tommy, or you'll keep hearing questions like that. Then you'll start to ask yourself, "Could I take him? Am I good enough? Do people really think I'm a carbon copy, or a second-rate pretender who only got a shot because of my skin tone?" You've got to challenge that man to a fight, Tommy Gunn. And if he refuses, you gotta insult him, you gotta dog him, you gotta humiliate him! You gotta do whatever you got to do to get him into that ring, but that's what you got to do!
The Dual Nature of Fear in Fighting
Rocky
You see, fear is a fighter's best friend. You know, but it ain't nothing to be ashamed of. See, fear keeps you sharp, it keeps you awake, you know, it makes you want to survive. You know what I mean? But the thing is, you gotta learn how to control it. All right? Cause fear is like this fire, all right? And it's burning deep inside. Now, if you control it, Tommy, it's gonna make you hot. But, you see, if this thing here, it controls you, it's gonna burn you and everything else around you up. That's right, you know?
Confrontation Outside the Ring
Rocky
Now you knocked him down, why don't you try knocking me down?
George Washington Duke
No, no! In the ring, in the ring! Tommy Gunn only fights in the ring! Let's get outta here!
Rocky
My ring's outside.
Confrontation and Legal Threats in Rocky V
George Washington Duke
Touch me and I'll sue. C'mon pug, touch me and I'll sue.
[taunts further]
Rocky
Sue me for what?
[leaves to a cheering crowd]
Father Carmine
Hey Rocky! That's my boy a!
Rocky
Hey yo Father.
Father Carmine
Veni, vidi, vici.
[as he gives Rocky with the sign of the cross]
Rocky
I love it when he does that.
[to Adrian]
Training and Motivation in Rocky V
Mickey Goldmill
Slip the jab will ya, Slip the jab, That's right, That's it, Hey I didn't hear no bell!
[Flashback]
Rocky Balboa
Ok.
Mickey
Alright that's right slip the jab, That's it mentalize, See that bum in front of you, You see yourself doing right and you'll do right. That's very pretty, it's very pretty. TIME! Ah, come here Rock. My God, you're ready ain't ya? That Apollo won't know what hit him. You're gonna roll over him like a bulldozer, an Italian bulldozer! You know kid, I know how you feel about this fight that's comin up because I was young once, too. And I'll tell you somethin'. Well, if you wasn't here, I probably wouldn't be alive today. The fact that you're here and doin as well as you're doin gives me-what do you call it-motivization? Huh? To stay alive, cause I think that people die sometimes when they don't wanna live no more.
[comes up to Rocky]
Rocky
Nature's smarter than people think...
[Present day, remembering]
Mickey
And nature is smarter than people think. Little by little we lose our friends, we lose everything. We keep losin and losin till we say you know, Oh what the hell am I livin around here for? I got no reason to go on. But with you kid, boy, I got a reason to go on. And I'm gonna stay alive and I will watch you make good...
Rocky
And I'll never leave you.
Mickey
...and I'll never leave you until that happens, cause when I leave you you'll not only know how to fight, you'll be able to take care of yourself outside the ring too, is that okay?
Rocky
It's okay.
Mickey
Okay. Now I got a little gift for you.
Rocky
Ah, Mick you don't have to.
[in flashback]
Mickey
No, wait a minute, now, wait a minute. Hey look at that. See that? This is the favorite thing that I have on this Earth. And Rocky Marciano give me that. You know what it was? His cufflink. Huh? And now I'm givin it to you and it, it's gotta be like a, like an angel on your shoulder see? If you ever get hurt and you feel that you're goin down, this little angel is gonna whisper in your ear. It's gonna say, GET UP, YOU SON OF A BITCH, cause Mickey loves you'. Okay?
[Takes off his golden glove necklace; Rocky accepts]
Rocky Balboa
Thanks Mick. I love you too.
[Flashback; Hugs him]
Mickey
Go after him kid, go after him.
[Flashback]
Rocky
Thanks Mick. You were the angel...
[Flashback; in present day]
Mickey
There it is.
Rocky
What happened to that other cufflink?
[in flashback, to Mick]
Mickey
I dunno, he only give me one. He gave it to some bum!