Rocky (1976)
The seed of inspiration for Rocky was planted on March 24, 1975. Sylvester Stallone attended a closed-circuit Los Angeles movie theater presentation of Chuck Wepner fighting Muhammad Ali. Severe underdog Wepner wasn’t expected to last three rounds but shockingly lasted to the 15th and final round before losing on a TKO with 19 seconds left. Stallone observed how the theater crowd who began the fight cheering for Ali slowly began cheering for Wepner, especially when Ali fell in Round 9. Stallone felt that Wepner technically lost but seemed a winner for going the distance.
During the early 1970s, whenever Stallone’s acting offers dwindled, he concentrated on writing, something he’d done since screening 1969’s Easy Rider, a low-budget, socially conscious film he felt he had the talent to write. Inspired by Ernest Hemingway, Stallone’s early stories featured simple men encountering hard truths and tragic endings. He sold a few teleplays, but his screenplays went nowhere. He surmised that studios deemed them stale for following last year’s trend rather than something new. They were also pessimistic, pretentious, and wordy, with nihilistic themes portraying humankind as inherently bad.
In 1974, Stallone relocated to Hollywood after being cast in The Lords of Flatbush, for which he also performed dialogue revisions. Frustratingly, no additional acting opportunities developed beyond bit hoodlum parts. Continuing to write, Stallone shifted away from what he thought studios wanted and wrote only what he wanted to see on the screen. He preferred classic Hollywood cinema to the anti-establishment and anti-idealism permeating current films. In 1975, Stallone did get his first feature script sale. Stallone’s screenplay entitled Hell’s Kitchen (originally titled The Italian Stallion and eventually released into theaters in 1978 as Paradise Alley), about three brothers struggling to escape New York poverty during the 1940s, optioned for $2,000 to a fledgling production company called Force Ten. The sale was conditional that he star as Victor, the club boxer in the film.
Still trying to break into acting, Stallone’s agent, Larry Kubik, connected him to his producer friend, Gene Kirkwood, a project developer hoping to land his first studio work. Operating on Stallone’s behalf, Kirkwood sent a copy of The Lords of Flatbush to producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler to see his talent and find out if they had any roles for him. The producers felt Stallone resembled a young Brando, but they currently had no roles that fit that type. They met with Stallone to get a better feel. Before leaving the meeting, Stallone mentioned he wrote screenplays and asked if he could send one over.
Winkler and Chartoff found it had a lot of problems but it had the potential to become something wonderful with more work. They’d been trying to acquire the rights to a boxing movie called Body and Soul and they liked that the main character loses the fight in the climax. They decided to option it, and perhaps develop it as a Paul Newman vehicle. Stallone was pleased they liked the work but when he met with them again, he was very apologetic in telling them he’d just sold it because he needed to pay the rent. He said he might be able to get it back. Stallone called Force Ten out of desperation to see if they’d return the script because of this amazing opportunity. Force Ten wouldn’t release it, but they would contact the producers on Sly’s behalf to offer a collaboration possibility.
Force Ten pushed for Stallone to star but Chartoff and Winkler said they needed a box office draw to afford the production cost of a 1940s period piece. They would only consider Stallone if the story were set in the present day to save costs. After a series of negotiations, deemed them too inexperienced and overbearing to join forces with.
Fearing a missed opportunity, Stallone thought back to the Ali-Wepner fight he’s had in his mind for the last few months. He told them he had another concept for a script about a two-bit boxer who gets a chance at to fight Muhammad Ali. The producers told him to write the script on spec. Stallone said he’s do it for free on condition that they package it as a starring vehicle for him. Stallone met with Kirkwood over lunch and they discussed possibilities for a boxing draa. Stallone felt that it should have similar elements Hell’s Kitchen, namely, themes of personal redemption, trying to survive gritty urban streets, and mix in some gangster unperpinnings.
Stallone talked about potential ideas with Kirkwood over lunch. When Rocky referred to Rocky as more of a bum than a fighter, Kirkwood was reminded of On the Waterfront in which Marlon Brando plays Terry Malloy, lamenting,”I coulda been a contender, I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am’ but threw away a promising career by intentionally losing a boxing match at the request of a local mob boss. What if, Kirkwood mused, Stallone came up with Terry Malloy’s backstory that we never see in On the Waterfront?
Stallone imagined a story of a boxer with promise who throws away the chance to beat an aging champion by taking a dive . His story could be about club boxer with mob ties who finds himself on the cusp of winning a boxing title only to throw it away. Wanting to play the role, he patterned his protagonist after himself, an Italian-American who comes up from the streets of Philadelphia. The role model as a fighter would be Rocky Marciano, a very basic, down-to-earth guy who possessed a hard punch and a lot of guts. He would be good man mired in a world of sleaziness, struggling to find his way. Stallone says it was a morality drama like The Hustler put into an urban gangster milieu like Mean Streets.
The story featured a boxer with gangster ties, Robert “Rocky” Balboa, gets a miracle chance to fight the aging heavyweight champion, beats the champ to a pulp as his racist manager Mickey and the bloodthirsty crowd cheer him on to kill him and become the new champion. Rocky feels sorry for the champ who gave him a shot, and feeling like he proved he could win, he decides that self-respect is better than the title, taking a dive rather than give in to the depravity.
He furiously handwrote the script for 18 hours daily over three days, while Sasha typed it out.The sooner he finished, the sooner he might have money to pay the rent. Stallone wanted to get this to the producers before they moved on so after a third of it was done, he brought it to them. It read as hastily written as it had been, but they offered him some notes on things they though the script needed, the primary being that Rocky needed to be much more relatable so audiences would have someone to root for.
Stallone came away from the meeting thinking his script stunk and considered scrapping it. Sasha urged him to just fix what wasn’t working. She did confide that she came away hating Rocky as she was typing the script. He was cruel and a thug who beat people up to collect money. Stallone talked to Sasha about things that might soften him up and make him more likeable and relatable. What if, instead of breaking people’s bones for loan repayment, if Rocky felt sorry for them and let them slide? What if Rocky had a girlfriend? And a dog? What if, instead of an embittered fighter he’s a bum whno no one thought would amount to anything?
Stallone began from the beginning with a new draft that was better thought out, taking into account the producers’, Sasha’s, and Kirkwood’s suggestions. Rocky’s intellectual slickness and callousness was stripped away. The new Rocky was a simple but good man dealt bad hands in life. Rather than a jaded player, he became a boy in tough man’s body – naive, gentle, sentimental, and vulnerable, governed by emotions and sense of duty to persevere through all obstacles. Rocky’s gangster background was greatly reduced to reluctant debt collecting for a small-time loan shark, and one that doesn’t actually have the heart to beat up anyone not in a boxing ring.
In the new 89-page script, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed’s slated opponent cancels due to injury for the heavily promoted 4th of July Bicentennial bout in Philadelphia and no other ranked boxers will accept on short notice. They can maintain bicentennial hype by giving a Philly-local “snow-white nobody” a crack at the title. Rocky is selected because Creed likes his promotable nickname, “The Italian Stallion” (trivia: Stallone means ‘stallion’ in Italian, so he is literally “Italian Stallion”). Rocky loses the fight and then uses the loser’s share of the money to leave thise life behind to buy a pet shop for himself and his newfound love, Adrian Klein, a sheltered Jewish woman living with Rocky’s fried Paulie and her stifling mother who disappoves of Rocky’s occupation as a boxer and as a debt collector.
Six weeks later, Stallone brought the revision to the producers and it was better received. They viewed it as a very nice character-driven boxing tale with an unusual love story. They agreed to work with him on shaping it into something sellable, though they still offered no pay until it sold. They began bolstering Adrian’s story and her importance to Rocky’s arc, her love fueling his resolve to go the distance. Through Adrian, audiences would further sympathize and identify with Rocky and root for his success. They wanted to remove some of the elements that borrowed too heavily from On the Waterfront, such as Rocky’s older brother being the loan shark drew too closely to the Charley Malloy character, so he became an unrelated person, Mr. Gazzo.
Winkler and Chartoff took their polished script to Mike Medavoy, an executive in the Los Angeles branch of United Artists, with whom they had three-year first-look deal. When they heard about it, the UA execs at the main office in New York had mixed feelings. They hoped these newly contracted producers would continue to bring them substantial pictures like their slated upcoming feature, Martin Scorsese’s New York New York, and a low-budget melodrama from an unknown writer and star about a broken-down boxer falling in love with an ugly duckling and losing the big fight in the climax seemed something few people would care to see.
However, UA did like the script after reading it, outside of a few quibbles. For one, they felt that Apollo Creed seemed too much like Muhammad Ali, which might annoy boxing fans, and risked a lawsuit from Ali himself. Stallone’s made Creed Jamaican in his next revision but lost this aspect when they had trouble with casting. He also went from an aging fighter to more in his prime over subsequent revisions. Stallone would also later remove the disapproving mother and put some of her traits into Paulie, while also removing some of the harsher language in the script.
Reportedly, the story of how Stallone came to star in Rocky was partially concocted by UA’s marketing team for Stallone’s interview appearances. They felt it was good for Stallone to pattern his own story as an underdog. Stallone put his own embellishment on it, and it played well, so no one contradicted him and some even contributed to it in their own interviews. The producers said they nogotiated with Stallone behind their backs.
The story of legend was that UA began sending the script to leading men: Burt Reynolds, Steve McQueen, James Caan, Ryan O’Neal, Jon Voight, Gene Hackman, Al Pacino, and Robert Redford. John Boorman, who’d directed Point Blank and Leo the Last for the producers, was slotted to direct. However, Stallone declined to sell the script, stating that Rocky was a starring vehicle for himself. Offers escalated to $100,000 and 10% of the profits, then $200,000, $250,000, and $265,000. With Stallone having only $106 in the bank, a pregnant wife, and a looming eviction, his confidence wavered. Sasha wanted the money, but supported Sly’s desire not to cave, rationalizing that once they’d spent the money, he’d hate himself for the rest of his life seeing anyone else as Rocky.
The producers said they would back Stallone up as the star, but asked if he had second thoughts about the offer. Stallone said not even a million dollars could buy it, but he’d sell it for nothing if he starred. Stallone reasoned that because he’d never had that kind of money, he wouldn’t miss it. Feeling like things were headed toward an impasse, the producers felt they had the only surefire solution where Rocky would be made. They’d produce Rocky under their put-picture clause in their exclusive contract with UA financing any movie budgeted under $1.5 million and allowing the producers to make all casting decisions.
The producers asked for $1.2 million, but UA questioned that any film with as many characters, locales, and a title fight could be made for under $2 million. The producers said they could. In fact, they promised they’d make it for a million. If anything went over that they’d pay for it themselves. Still, UA wanted to see what they were buying into for a million so the producers set up a screening of The Lords of Flatbush. The execs said they liked what they saw, though mostly because UA chief Arthur Krim had mistakenly thought that hunky blonde-haired Perry King was Stallone and would make an excellent leading man. No one bothered to correct him and it wasn’t until UA saw a rough cut that they discovered their false assumption.
UA approved on condition that the producers obtain a completion bond (insurance for budget or schedule overages), that they cross profit shares from New York New York to cover losses, and that UA had the right to replace Stallone within the first 10 days of production if his acting or attitude weren’t to their liking. The producers put their homes up as collateral against the $50,000 completion bond, while Stallone’s salary was set scale for acting and 10% profit percentage for his acting.
Further revisions softened up some of the edges. The many f-bombs int he script were removed, as was most of Mickey’s racist comments. Boorman dropped out, not interested in directing an unknown actor in a cheap production. The producers knew they would need a streetwise, energetic director experienced with tight budgets and schedules. Gene Kirkwood sent the script to his friend, John Avildsen, who’d directed high-quality, low-budget efforts like Joe and Save the Tiger. Avildsen had just lobbied to reduce the budget of WW and the Dixie Dance Kings, a film Stallone was turned down for, claiming he didn’t need so much. He also was known by Chartoff and Winkler for doing three weeks of reshoots for their 1971 film, Believe in Me. Avildsen initially scoffed. He thought boxing was dumb and didn’t want to celebrate it but read the script as a favor to Kirkwood. Avildsen was surprisingly charmed. It wasn’t a boxing movie so much as a character study and love story. It was far more by its about love, honor, and respect than winning a fight. Avildsen accepted the gig for $50,000 and a profit percentage.
As casting began, Stallone wanted Harvey Keitel to play Adrian’s controlling older brother, Paulie, who he envisioned as a hot-tempered, disenfranchised, blue-collar guy. He thought of Bette Midler for Adrian. Unfortunately, Midler’s manager, Aaron Russo, declined it on her behalf as not right for her. Cher was sought, but she wanted a million dollars, which was the entire budget of the film. Susan Sarandon auditioned well, but was deemed too sexy. Oscar-nominated actress Carrie Snodgress became the top choice, with Stallone rewriting Adrian as Irish-American, but, without telling her, her agent insisted on $40,000 rather than the $8,000 she was offered. Stallone offered to give Snodgress his salary too, but it wasn’t enough, so Stallone dropped Snodgress, and when she found out about it later, Snodgress dropped her agent.
With Snodgress out, United Artists’ Arthur Krim pushed to cast Burt Young instead of Keitel. Young had performed well in their picture The Killer Elite. Chartoff and Winkler had worked with Young in their film, The Gambler, and wholeheartedly agreed and he was signed, which mean Adrian’s ethnicity would likely be Italian. Young was the only prominent actor besides Stallone that didn’t need to audition.
Stallone wrote the Mickey Goldmill part with Lee J. Cobb in mind. Cobb met with them but he refused to audition or read lines and Avildsen wouldn’t make an exception. UA wanted Lee Strasberg, Oscar nominee from The Godfather Part II. Strasberg auditioned well, but was only sporadically available and also wanted too much money. Others auditioned, including Lew Ayres, Broderick Crawford, and Victor Jory, but it was Burgess Meredith who performed best, channeling boxing manager Howie Steindler for his portrayal.
Stallone began an all-protein diet and a regimen of weights, running, jumprope, and shadow-boxing. Stallone hung a full-sized punching bag in his living room, which Sasha detested. Stallone felt like a professional boxer until he sparred with Joe Frazier, who was under consideration for Apollo Creed. Within seconds, Frazier headbutted Stallone hard enough to draw blood. Stallone began retaliating in anger but received a punch so hard that left him barely able to get out of bed the next day. They concluded that Frazier was too much boxer and not enough actor for Creed.
Of the professional boxers that auditioned, many had brain damage, poor memory, and slurred speech, while others suffered stage fright. They opted to go with a professional actor, Roger E. Mosley (later known as T.C. on “Magnum PI”) for Creed but soon parted ways when he began criticizing the script. Others came and went before locking in top-ranked boxer Ken Norton, though he left shortly before production to compete on the sports competition TV show, “The Superstars”.
Former NFL linebacker Carl Weathers came recommended by his talent agency. Weathers came in seemingly in a bad mood, but with ample confidence. He fibbed in claiming prior boxing experience in Canada. Weathers was introduced to Stallone as the writer before reading lines together. When Weathers felt an awkwardness in the room after the reads, he thought he was blowing it. He defensively remarked that he’d perform better if they gave him a real actor to read with. After Weathers was told Stallone was the star, he retorted, “Well…maybe he’ll get better.” Stallone then asked to see him box. Weathers removed his shirt, revealing an incredible physique, then danced around jabbing Stallone on the forehead. Stallone didn’t reciprocate, fearing escalation, but he concluded Weathers had everything, including overwhelming arrogance, to be Creed.
For their Italian-American Adrian, Stallone suggested Talia Shire, Oscar nominee for The Godfather. When Shire walked in, Stallone saw his Adrian – she was every bit that shy, awkward beauty he was looking for. Shire masterfully commanded the character through line reads and improvisation, leaving Stallone so exuberant about hiring Shire that the producers relented without argument. Shire accepted a meager $7500 salary, determined to prove she belonged in movies for her acting, not for being Francis Ford Coppola’s sister.
For five months prior to the beginning of production, Stallone trained with actor and boxing enthusiast Jimmy Gambina, who plays Mickey’s righthand man, and watched classic boxing matches. Avildsen, who’d been appalled at the fake-looking boxing action in prior Hollywood boxing films, didn’t like Stallone performing the standard Hollywood boxing choreography from the stuntmen, who didn’t take the film or Stallone seriously and subsequently resigned due to these creative disagreements. Weathers flew in from Oakland often to work Stallone on what they wanted to do during the fight. Sensing the actors had little game plan, Avildsen encouraged them to choreograph every movement so it was exactly the same every time, or it was going to be difficult to maintain continuity in editing. Stallone commentated the entire fight into a tape recorder for a production assistant to type out. The 32-page transcript became their rehearsal blueprint.
Avildsen filmed these rehearsals to plot camera angles, and improve speed and movements for realistic results. Avildsen and co-editor Richard Halsey edited the footage into montages set to temp music using rock songs like Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze”. However, Stallone later felt that he would prefer an orchestral score and suggested using classical pieces. Avildsen switched to pieces from Beethoven for temp music, then handed the footage to composer Bill Conti to provide original orchestrations, stating that Rocky is like a fairy tale, so there should be a fantasy feel to it. Conti took that but since it was an urban movie, he combined the classical sounds with modern rhythms of the street, and because boxing was a modern form of gladiatoral combat, so he added horns akin to the old movies about Roman gladiators. Conti came recommended by the film’s editor after they struggled to find a composer they could afford. He was given a $25,000 package deal; he was paid not only to compose the score but to pay for the recording of it, the musicians, the instruments, the studio, the recording equipment, etc. What he didn’t spend he could keep.
Avildsen loved Conti’s music so much, he continued asking for more to expand his montages, including, for the training montage, to craft a real song with lyrics and vocals. Avildsen had liked the temp song Stallone had suggested for the sequence, “Grounds for Separation” by Philadelphia’s own Hall & Oates (John Oates was a friend of Sylvester Stallone’s musician brother, Frank (they had been in a band together in Philly called Valentine), who appears in the film as a doo-wop group in Rocky’s neighborhood. They hoped to actually use it in the finished film but they no longer could get the rights. Avildsen like how “Grounds for Separation” ended with the lyrics, “Gonna Fly, Gonna Fly Away” because it captures how Rocky was feeling at the time he reached the top of the museum steps. Conti scored the training montage by shadowing the tempo of “Grounds for Separation”, and, by Avildsen’s suggestion, added the “Gonna Fly Now” lyrics with its choir vocal.
UA wanted the film shot entirely in Los Angeles because bringing a union crew to Philadelphia was too expensive. Avildsen thought a Philadelphia shoot was critical for authenticity, so he brought a non-union crew from New York to shoot footage guerrila style while driving around in a van with Stallone to capture him running at picturesque locations. Stallone ran 30 miles over two days, leaving him in agony from shin splints. Avildsen filmed Stallone’s pain, proclaiming it brought authenticity.
On the first day of the Philly pre-production shoot, Stallone got “imposter syndrome” jitters. He was in 90% of the scenes. If he failed, the movie would flop and he’d never get another break. Stallone told himself that he wasn’t there, Rocky was, and this was his world. He began recording “positive thinking” tapes to maintain self-esteem regarding his acting, showing imagination, and taking control.
Avildsen hired Steadicam inventor and Philadelphia resident Garrett Brown after seeing a demo reel showcasing his invention and what it could to. One of the demoes was the camera following Brown’s girlfriend going up and down the Philadelphia Art Museum steps, something Avildsen thought would be great to cap off the training montage for Rocky. Stallone was going to carry Butkus while running up the steps but he got winded after fifteen steps.
Many mishaps miraculously enhanced the film:
There wasn’t a suitable boxing gym in Philadelphia, but they found a converted church gym in East Los Angeles. Its remnant stained glass portrait of Jesus became the movie’s opening shot.
When the actor hired to play Gazzo was no longer available, Stallone brought in friend Joe Spinell, who he’d worked with on Farewell My Lovely. When Spinell experienced bad asthma attacks on the docks, Stallone suggested use his inhaler if necessary. Avildsen kept in Spinell’s inhaler use as an authentic character touch.
Rocky’s first date with Adrian was originally scripted to take place in diner. Avildsen deemed several minutes of table conversation too boring. He wanted the characters moving around, suggesting bowling or ice skating. Stallone didn’t know much about ice skating so he wrote the scene to take place in a bowling alley after a brief stop at a pizza parlor. Adrian is very good bowler but he is terrible. However, they found bowling alleys too noisy to shoot in and too expensive to rent out.
Later, upon discovering Philadelphia’s outdoor ice skating rink they could use off-hours, Stallone a crowded Christmas date there where an obnoxious skate instructor grows upset with their terrible skating, to which Rocky defends her honor before they leave and converse off ice. The scene was postponed to the Los Angeles shoot after the Teamsters discovered they’d employed a non-union crew and they were fined. However, once in Los Angeles, they had no budget for union extras or ice skates to fit them with. Rather than return to the restaurant idea, Avildsen suggested an empty rink closed early for Thanksgiving. Stallone rewrote the scene as Rocky paying the rink attendant to let them in for a few minutes. When Stallone, who didn’t ice skate, found out it’s not easy, they contemplated changing venues to a roller skating rink. However, Stallone found he could safely walk on the ice, so Rocky jogs alongside Adrian for their conversation.
For their first kiss, Shire avoiding kissing Stallone directly. Stallone thought this was a great character touch. Shire later revealed she was avoiding kissing because she had the flu. Stallone did get ill, but persevered through it to do rigorous gym training scenes. Stallone fumed at mistakes from art and wardrobe departments. Rocky’s boxing robe was too large and the giant poster depicting Rocky reversed his shorts colors. Stallone and Avildsen concocted additional dialogue scenes to advantageously used these mistakes to amplify that Rocky was merely a pawn and not important to the money men.
The producers wanted to remove a scene of Rocky lecturing a wayward teenage street girl, but Avildsen fought for it because it showed Rocky’s noblest qualities. Frank Capra called this Rocky‘s best scene because audiences begin falling in love with Rocky because he’s nice to kids, animals, and ladies in distress.
The prize fight took place in the Los Angeles Sports Arena with 2000 extras as spectators given free meals from KFC for attendance. Many who showed up were unruly derelicts, fighting with each other and the crew, and a sizable portion of them left after they finished their KFC for a better lunch being handed out next door at the Coliseum where they were shooting Two Minute Warning. For day two, they abandoned free meals, opting for a much smaller group of assisted-living residents, students off from school, and walk-ins that they would move around the arena to be in the background for certain angles. An abundance of snacks and drawings for TVs and other prizes were held to keep them seated. Some of them dozed in their seats, which made editing the fight a chore, especially when it’s supposed to be an exciting moment. When the extras budget ran out, Avildsen darkened the stands and kept the Steadicam in the ring with the actors. Stock footage from Madison Square Garden also supplemented crowd shots
The original ending had Creed carried out of the ring by his fans, then Rocky gets carried out toward Adrian at the end of the aisle, where they kiss, he pulls her up, and she gets carried out too. However, they didn’t have enough extras for both actors. When the crowd grew unruly and unpredictable, they opted to keep Creed’s celebration in the ring. They shot Stallone’s suggestion of Rocky walking out alone to an emptying arena find Adrian waiting near the locker room, then they walk out together holding hands back into their smaller lives. Avildsen had a folk song playing for the final moments.
During editing, Scott Conrad felt that Rocky’s solitary walk away from the ring seemed anticlimactic after all he’d been through. Rocky should immediately connect with Adrian who rushes to the ring. Avildsen liked it but there was neither time nor money for additional shooting. Conrad brought it up to the producers who loved it. However, UA said that they had no problems with the ending as-is and if the producers wanted a different ending, they’d have to pay for it themselves. They did this by taking equipment from their other movie New York, New York to the Grand Olympic Auditorium to reshoot ending with a quarter-ring with themselves and friends as extras. Adrian enters the arena to watch the final rounds, then fights through the crowd to unite with Rocky in the ring.
When test screenings elicited enthusiastic reactions, the producers wanted to get it into theaters in December for Oscar contention, but UA said they had already slotted Bound for Glory for Oscar attention, and there weren’t going to be theater screens available. UA furthermore asserted that although the put picture clause meant they had to finance the picture, they were under no obligation to distribute it, and could very well release it to television if they desired. However, previews screenings for theater chain owners assured demand for it, though it played in only New York and Los Angeles with no advertising push behind it, relying on word of mouth and cast interviews. When Rocky did begin to gain traction, finally ballooned the publicity budget, spotlighting both Rocky’s and Stallone’s uplifting cinderella stories.
Though heralded as the quintessential sports underdog movie, Rocky is as much a romance as a boxing film. It builds beautifully toward its final half hour, when the fight with Creed takes center stage, punctuated by Bill Conti’s Oscar-nominated song, “Gonna Fly Now”, and a truly emotionally impactful ending. However, these scenes would lumber without excellent character development and believable performances by the impeccable cast, delivering a monumental payoff.
Few movies that choke me up every time like Rocky. It’s an inspirational story about a throwaway life finding redemption on the grandest of stages. It’s impossible not to root for Rocky during the exciting championship match. Shrewdly edited, but gentle and compassionate to its characters, Avildsen’s direction envelops you into Rocky’s world, including the seedier aspects, with all characters flawed yet not despicable. There are no villains, with even Apollo Creed coming off likable.
It’s astonishing what was accomplished with did with so little, including a convincing heavyweight bout. Its underdog story closely paralleled Stallone’s overnight rise from unknown to superstar. Stallone claims that earning $225 million internationally on a $1 million budget represented the biggest profit ratio in history at the time.
Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, winner of 3 (Best Editing, Director, and Picture), this little film was an unlikely candidate for accolades, but like Rocky, overcame all obstacles with heart, determination, and abiding spirit. Stallone’s finest hour.
MPAA Rated: PG for some violence and language
Running Time: 119 min.
Qwipster’s rating A+
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Director: John G. Avildsen
Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone