Social Icons

Rocky (1976)



Rocky (1976)



8/10



Starring
Sylvester Stallone
Talia Shire
Carl Weathers
Burgess Meredith


Directed by John G. Avildsen

This film is written by Sylvester Stallone, who also stars in it as the titular character, Rocky Balboa. It tells the story of a rags-to-riches nobody fighter who gets an opportunity to shine when the world heavyweight boxing champion gives him a novelty fighting chance—and he almost takes out the champion.

Stallone got the idea for the movie from the careers of other boxers, and the name Rocky Balboa is taken from the boxer Rocky Marciano. The movie features the famous scene of Rocky Balboa (the Italian Stallion) running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A statue of him was later placed at the museum, and due to the success of the movie—and the great job Stallone did with the writing—he was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame.

The movie is exceptional, as the plot is different about an uneducated fighter who works for a loan shark and gets a chance to take on the top fighter—a chance he doesn’t take lightly. The subplot of Rocky’s romance with Adrian (Talia Shire, who plays Connie Corleone in The Godfather trilogy) is one that stands out in the movie.

I’ll always remember how the love story grows from Rocky to Rocky II. This movie showcases a wonderful screenplay and was a sleeper hit. It cost $1.1 million to make and went on to earn over $225 million at the box office.

While Rocky is an iconic film, it has its flaws, like the pacing can feel sluggish at times, especially in the buildup to the fight. Visually, the film has a gritty charm, but some cinematography feels unpolished, especially in slower moments.

But, the movie is grand, grand enough that it won the Best Picture award at the 1976 Academy Awards (it received ten Oscar nominations and took home three: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing). Director John G. Avildsen did a great job with the script Stallone wrote.

The movie went through many changes during filming, like changing Mickey from being a racist to just an annoying creep. Also, a fun fact is that both Stallone and Carl Weathers (Apollo Creed) suffered injuries during the final fight. The last fight was based on the boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner in 1975. Apollo Creed was loosely based on Ken Norton, who faced Muhammad Ali three times.

This movie is a classic among classics and stands as one of the best films Stallone ever made—my second favorite after First Blood (where he plays Rambo in 1982).

Go see and own this movie, there is something about the innocence of its production that makes it stand out.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Disclaimer

All images featured on this site are the property of their respective copyright owners. They are used solely for illustrative and commentary purposes under fair use principles. This site is a personal blog, unaffiliated with or endorsed by any copyright holders. If you are the copyright owner of an image featured here and wish to have it removed, please contact me directly, and I will address your request promptly.