MovieChat Forums > Rocky Balboa (2006) Discussion > Rocky's health plot hole

Rocky's health plot hole

posted 8 years ago by A-zone
7 replies | jump to latest

In Rocky V it was made very clear that Rocky had suffered severe brain trauma. It was evident in the brain scans that the doctors took of him at the beginning of the movie. They also said that the damage is permanent, it would never heal.

Yet in this movie, Rocky is given a clean bill of health by the medical team. Was the medical team THAT incompetent???!?!?!

In fact Rocky's health has been a plot hole in most of the movies. After Rocky's first fight with Apollo, his right eye is severely damaged. The doctors forbid him from fighting unless he wants to go blind. Yet he fights Apollo in Rocky 2, Clubber Lang (twice) and 10 other contenders in Rocky 3, Ivan Drago in Rocky 4, Tommy Gunn in Rocky 5, Mason Dixon in Rocky 6. And yet his eye is completely fine.

"If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving is not for you!"

[–] thotuknew 8 years ago

Passing a test and a clean bill of health are two different things. He was insistent on getting back in the ring and they caved and let him. As for the eye that was always his call, his risk to take getting hit because he couldn't see clearly out of that eye.

faith begins at the end of your comfort zone.

[–] ThresholdDweller 8 years ago

The series is riddled with inconsistencies and the bad eye and brain damage are definitely among them. As for the eye, I think we are supposed to assume that Rocky paid big money to get his eye fixed (as Sugar Ray Leonard did with his detached retina back in the early 80s, after which he continued to fight). And the doctors in Rocky V were mistaken; he should have gotten a second opinion. Clearly, they were wrong - he traded blows with Tommy minus gloves and came out okay.

[–] jsl_99 8 years ago

I love the Rocky series but agree that it's loaded with inconsistencies. I could buy into Rocky having some type of operation to help his bad eye. As for the brain damage I would guess not dying after the street fight with Tommy Gunn kind of proved the doctors wrong. Stallone's rationale about Rocky fighting again in Rocky Balboa is that brain injuries can heal. But they did say the affects were irreversible in Rocky V.

[–] ThresholdDweller 8 years ago

Then there was the outtake from Rocky V where Adrian pays the doctors $50 to tell Rocky he can't fight anymore. Just kidding. :)

[–] arkayenether 7 years ago

The type of brain injury he sustained in V wasn't actually nearly as dangerous as it was made out to be in the movie. So much so that the injury is actually a plot hole, not the fact that he comes back from it. You can find an explanation in the trivia section for Rocky V, and then study up on that type of injury from there.

As far as the eye, yeah that's a bit of a stretch, but not so much that it's unbelievable. Course I don't remember exactly what said eye problem was. Detached retina?

I thought I could paint it red, but I couldn't find enough goats.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

I'm more concerned with all the turtleneck sweaters I saw in Rocky V. It seems like every character wore a turtleneck at some point in that movie. Makes me wonder if somebody designed their own line of turtlenecks and tried to get the cast of Rocky V to model them.

[–] ModernDayWarrior (114) 5 years ago

For the brain damage part that never really bothered me it being tossed away. 1990 had real primitive tech for examining that stuff you could see that on the computer lol. I find it logical that they may have done it wrong, he coulda just had an epic concussion or something in the least when they tested him. They shoulda got a 2nd opinion or waited a few months and went back.

As for the eye I'm not exactly certain what he did but I know for sure they cut his eye badly to keep it open I'm sure that took a lot of stiching and time to fix.