Rocky (1976)

• Year: 1976
• Released: 03 Dec 1976
• Country: United States
• Adwords: Won 3 Oscars. 20 wins & 22 nominations total
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Rocky
• Metacritics: https://www.metacritic.com/movie/rocky
• Available in: 720p, 1080p, 2160p
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: PG
• Genre: Drama, Sport
• Runtime: 120 min
• Writer: Sylvester Stallone
• Director: John G. Avildsen
• Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young
• Keywords: sports, fight, love of one’s life, boxing, boxer,

	8.1/10
	70/100

Rocky Storyline

Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer failing to make it big time. Despite his true talent and his inability to admit defeat, his friends and his coach, Micky, never give him the time of day. When Apollo Creed, the Heavyweight Champion of the World visits Rocky’s home town asking for a lesser man to fight, Apollo chooses him based on his nickname, ‘The Italian Stallion’. With his shot at glory in front of him, Rocky trains harder than he thought was possible in order to earn his own self-respect and go the distance.

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Yo!

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a struggling Italian/American boxer who also earns cash collecting debts for shady Philadelphian ‘businessman’ Gazzo (Joe Spinell). When heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) finds himself without an opponent for his upcoming match, he offers the unknown fighter a chance at the title as a gimmick, but doesn’t count on Rocky’s determination to go the distance.

I watched Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull not that long ago, an excellent film, but something of a downer—a gritty study of a not very nice character whose horrible personality and poor choices see him winding up losing everything. Rocky, on the other hand, is a real feel-good film about a guy on the skids who is given a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to make something of himself. It’s an uplifting Cinderella story, a classic underdog tale that leaves the viewer with a big smile on their face, which is why I prefer it slightly over Scorsese’s film.

Rocky also has a great story behind the making of the film which mirrors that of its main character: star Stallone went from an almost broke struggling actor to Hollywood mega-star by not only writing the script for Rocky, but also insisting that he play the title role. The rest, as they say, is history.

Those only familiar with Stallone’s later action hero work will be surprised at how good an actor he is in his breakthrough role, tackling the drama just as well as the boxing: Rocky’s burgeoning romance with shy pet store clerk Adrian (Talia Shire), his friendship with her brother Paulie (Burt Young), and his strained relationship with trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) are all handled superbly.

Director John G. Avildsen also manages all aspects of his film with aplomb, with the final fight between Rocky and Apollo being the absolute showstopper, a gruelling battle of wills, both combatants pushed to their limits. Add a rousing score from Bill Conti and what you have is an unmissable, uplifting classic of the ’70s.

9.5 out of 10, rounded up to 10 for IMDb.

The film cost a million and grossed over 100,000,000 domestically…..’nuff said.

I am not a huge boxing film fan. Well, that’s not exactly true. I am not a fan of films that glamorize boxing. Movies like “The Harder They Fall”, “Requiem For a Heavyweight” and “Champion” and “The Set-Up” are all wonderful films about the brutality and vicious nature of the ‘sport’ and are great indictments about what a terrible thing boxing is–and I heartily recommend them. However, “Rocky” is a rare film that glamorizes boxing (for the most part) and manages to deliver a film that you can’t help but admire. Think about it. It was a small film, costing only about a million, and earned TONS of money and won the Best Picture Oscar!! No matter what you think of the later Rocky Films (as they got progressively worse) or the other films of Sylvester Stallone, you cannot take anything away from this tremendous achievement. It is a great film and it’s amazing that it was made by folks who no one really heard about up until then. Plus, when you read about how quickly Stallone penned the script, you can’t help but admire it. A terrific film.

The Cinderella Film

Sylvester Stallone had a dream and it was to get this film made about an enduring character he created, one of the most enduring in the history of cinema. In true Cinderella Man style Rocky guaranteed him a career and screen immortality. A whole lot like the protagonist ROcky Balboa in the film.

There was an Irish equivalent of Rocky during the early Sixties in real life, a boxer named Tom McNeeley from South Boston, just as Rocky Balboa is from South Philadelphia. McNeeley was a barely ranked contender, ranked in fact at all just to give him some kind of credence as an opponent for Floyd Patterson. McNeeley fought Patterson in Boston for the local gate attraction. Needless to say his showing against Floyd wasn’t quite as good as what Rocky did against Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, showboating heavyweight champion in the style of Muhammed Ali.

And that’s what happens to Rocky. Stallone is a local club fighter who also works as a part time enforcer for the loan sharks, but his heart isn’t really into it. His heart is torn actually between boxing and his love for Talia Shire, the plain Jane sister of his friend Burt Young.

When opportunity comes you have to take it. For some reason a scheduled match between Weathers and another contender for the championship falls through. Several other name contenders aren’t available, so it comes down to Rocky Balboa being given a once in lifetime chance in a bout to be held in his native Philadelphia like McNeeley’s was in real life.

Rocky was the Cinderella story of the Oscars that year, it won for Best Picture, Best Director for John G. Avildsen, and Best Film Editing. Sly Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Original Screenplay. He lost however to Peter Finch for Network. Burgess Meredith as Rocky’s cornerman and gym owner and Carl Weathers were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but both lost to Jason Robards, Jr. for All the President’s Men.

My favorite in the film was Talia Shire, she is really touching as the Thirty something unmarried plain girl who grabs a last chance for love with Rocky. The role is so different from Connie Corleone in any of the three Godfather films. Sadly Talia lost to Beatrice Straight as William Holden’s wife in Network.

John Avildsen winning for Best Director is great though I think the film is so much Stallone’s own creation, he should have won for Original Screenplay. Avildsen never directed anything as good as Rocky before or since. In fact he directed seven years later one of my all time favorite trash films, A Night In Heaven.

Rocky is the great Cinderella movie of all time, the creation of its leading character who put enough of his heart into this film and gained a career for himself. None of the succeeding Rocky films came anywhere near this one for quality. And the story itself was pure Cinderella. How paradoxical and how great.