Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky starts out as a club fighter who later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. It also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed.

The film, made on a budget of less than $1 million^[2][3] and shot in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it made over $225 million^[1] the highest grossing film of 1976, and won three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star.^[4] It spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V and Rocky Balboa.

Plot[link]

On November 25, 1975, Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is introduced as a small-time boxer and collector for Anthony Gazzo (Joe Spinell), a loan shark, living in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. The World Heavyweight Championship bout is scheduled for New Year's Day 1976, the year of the United States Bicentennial. When the opponent of undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is injured, Creed comes up with the idea of giving a local underdog a shot at the title and, because he likes Rocky's nickname, "The Italian Stallion", he selects the relatively unknown fighter. He puts it in lights by proclaiming "Apollo Creed meets 'The Italian Stallion'". The fight promoter says the decision is "very American", but Creed adds it is also "very smart".

To prepare for the fight Rocky trains with a 1920s-era ex-bantamweight fighter and gym owner, Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith). Mickey always considered Rocky's potential to be better than his effort, and the two conflict over Mickey's motives for training Rocky for the big fight. Rocky's good friend Paulie (Burt Young), a meat-packing-plant worker, lets him practice his punches on the carcasses hanging in the freezers. During training Rocky dates Paulie's shy, quiet sister, Adrian (Talia Shire), who works as a clerk in a local pet store. The night before the fight Rocky confides to Adrian that he does not expect to beat Creed, and that all he wants is to go the distance with Creed (which no fighter had ever done), meaning that lasting 15 rounds (the typical scheduled length of championship fights at the time) against him would mean he "... wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood".

On New Year's Day the climactic boxing match begins. Apollo Creed does not initially take the fight seriously, and Rocky unexpectedly knocks him down in the first round, embarrassing Creed, and the match turns intense. The fight indeed lasts 15 rounds, with both fighters suffering many injuries; Rocky suffers his first broken nose, and Creed sustains brutal blows to his ribs. As the match progresses, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's apparently unlimited ability to absorb punishment, and his dogged refusal to go down. As the final round bell sounds, with both fighters locked in each other's arms, an exhausted Creed vows "Ain't gonna be no re-match," to which an equally spent Rocky replies "Don't want one." After the fight Rocky calls out for Adrian, who runs down to the ring. As the ring announcer declares the fight for Apollo Creed by virtue of a split decision (8:7, 7:8, 9:6), Adrian and Rocky embrace while they profess their love to one another, not caring about the result of the fight.

Cast[link]

• Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa, an enforcer for a loan shark by day and a semi-pro boxer by night. He is given the chance at the heavyweight title.
• Talia Shire as Adrian Pennino, Rocky's love interest; a quiet pet store clerk who falls in love with Rocky and supports him through his training.
• Burt Young as Paulie Pennino, Adrian's brother; a meat-packing plant worker by trade, Paulie permits Rocky to train in the freezer.
• Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, Rocky's opponent and heavyweight champion. The character was influenced by the outspoken, real-life boxing great Muhammad Ali.^[5]
• Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill: Rocky's manager and trainer, a former bantamweight fighter from the 1920s and the owner of the local boxing gym.
• Thayer David as George Jergens: the fight promoter who has "promoted fights all over the world".
• Joe Spinnell as Tony Gazzo, loan shark and Rocky's employer

Cameo appearances

Boxer Joe Frazier has a cameo appearance in the film. The character of Apollo Creed was influenced by outspoken boxer Muhammad Ali who fought Frazier three times. During the Academy Awards ceremony, Ali and Stallone staged a brief comic confrontation to show Ali was not offended by the film. Some of the plot's most memorable moments—Rocky's carcass-punching scenes and Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as part of his training regime—are taken from the real-life exploits of Joe Frazier, for which he received no credit.^[6]

Due to the film's low budget, members of Stallone's family played minor roles. His father rings the bell to signal the start and end of a round, his brother Frank plays a street corner singer, and his first wife, Sasha, was set photographer.^{[citation needed]} Other cameos include Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself, alongside radio and TV broadcaster Bill Baldwin and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the independent film company Troma, appearing as a drunk. Longtime Detroit Channel 7 Action News anchor Diana Lewis has a small scene as a TV news reporter. Tony Burton appeared as Apollo Creed's trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers, a role he would reprise in the entire Rocky series, though he is not given an official name until Rocky II. Though uncredited, Michael Dorn made his acting debut as Creed's bodyguard.^[7]

Production[link]

United Artists liked Stallone's script, and viewed it as a possible vehicle for a well-established star such as Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, or James Caan. Stallone appealed to the producers to be given a chance to star in the film. He later said that he would never have forgiven himself if the film became a success with someone else in the lead. He also knew that producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff's contract with the studio enabled them to "greenlight" a project if the budget was kept low enough.

Certain elements of the story were altered during filming. The original script had a darker tone: Mickey was portrayed as racist and the script ended with Rocky throwing the fight after realizing he did not want to be part of the professional boxing world after all.^[8]

Although Chartoff and Winkler were enthusiastic about the script and the idea of Stallone playing the lead character, they were hesitant about having an unknown headline the film. The producers also had trouble casting other major characters in the story, with Adrian and Apollo Creed cast unusually late by production standards (both were ultimately cast on the same day). Real-life boxer Ken Norton was initially sought for the role of Apollo Creed, but he pulled out and the role was ultimately given to Carl Weathers. Norton had had three fights with Muhammad Ali, upon whom Creed was loosely based. According to The Rocky Scrapbook, Carrie Snodgress was originally chosen to play Adrian, but a money dispute forced the producers to look elsewhere. Susan Sarandon auditioned for the role but was deemed too pretty for the character. After Talia Shire's ensuing audition, Chartoff and Winkler, along with Avildsen, insisted that she play the part.^{[citation needed]}

Garrett Brown's Steadicam was used to accomplish a smooth shot running alongside Rocky during his training run up the flight of stairs. It was also used for some of the shots in the fight scenes and can be openly seen at the ringside during some wide shots of the final fight. (Rocky is often erroneously cited as the first film to use the Steadicam, although the distinction actually goes to Bound for Glory.^[9])

While filming Rocky, both Stallone and Weathers suffered injuries during the shooting of the final fight; Stallone suffered bruised ribs and Weathers suffered a damaged nose, the opposite injuries of what their characters had.^{[citation needed]}

The poster seen above the ring before Rocky fights Apollo Creed shows Rocky wearing red shorts with a white stripe when he actually wears white shorts with a red stripe. When Rocky points this out he is told that "it doesn't really matter does it?". According to director Avildsen's DVD commentary, this was an actual mistake made by the props department that they could not afford to rectify, so Stallone wrote the brief scene to ensure the audience didn't see it as a goof. Avildsen said that the same situation arose with Rocky's robe. When it came back from the costume department, it was far too baggy for Stallone. And because the robe arrived on the day of filming the scene and there was no chance of replacing or altering it, instead of ignoring this and risk the audience laughing at it, Stallone wrote the dialogue where Rocky himself points out the robe is too big.

The first date between Rocky and Adrian, in which Rocky bribes a janitor to allow them to skate after closing hours in a deserted ice skating rink, was shot that way only because of budgetary pressures. This scene was originally scheduled to be shot in a skating rink during regular business hours. However, the producers ultimately decided that they couldn't afford to hire the hundreds of extras that would have been necessary for that scene.

Rocky has the 7th highest return of investment of any film ever made.^[10] With a production budget of less than 1 million dollars,^[2][3] it eventually earned worldwide box-office receipts exceeding $225 million.^[1]

Stallone's inspiration[link]

Stallone was inspired to create the film by Rocky Marciano and the famous fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio on March 24, 1975. Wepner had been TKO'd in the 15th round by Ali, but nobody ever expected him to last as long as he did. Wepner recalls in a January 2000 interview, "Sly (Stallone) called me about two weeks after the Ali fight and told me he was gonna make the movie."^{[citation needed]}

Rocky Steps[link]

Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The statue, situated just northeast of the steps.

The famous scene of Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art has become a cultural icon. In 1982, a statue of Rocky, commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III, was placed at the top of the Rocky Steps. City Commerce Director Dick Doran claimed that Stallone and Rocky had done more for the city's image than "anyone since Ben Franklin."^[11]

Differing opinions of the statue and its placement led to a relocation to the sidewalk outside the Philadelphia Spectrum Arena, although the statue was temporarily returned to the top of the steps in 1990 for Rocky V, and again in 2006 for the 30th anniversary of the original Rocky (although this time it was placed at the bottom of the steps). Later that year, it was permanently moved to a spot next to the steps.^[11]

The scene is frequently parodied in the media. In The Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", Lisa Simpson runs up a flight of stairs wearing a tracksuit similar to the one worn by Rocky.^[12] In You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Zohan's nemesis, Phantom, goes through a parodied training sequence finishing with him running up a desert dune and raising his hands in victory. In the fourth season's finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as the credits roll at the end of the episode, Will is seen running up the same steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art; however, as he celebrates after finishing his climb, he passes out in exhaustion, and while he lies unconscious on the ground, a pickpocket steals his wallet and his wool hat. Also in The Nutty Professor, there is a scene where Eddie Murphy is running up the stairs and throwing punches at the top.

In 2006, E! named the "Rocky Steps" scene #13 in its 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment.^[13]

During the 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay, Philadelphia native Dawn Staley was chosen to run up the museum steps. In 2004, Presidential candidate John Kerry ended his pre-convention campaign at the foot of the steps before going to Boston to accept his party's nomination for President.^[14]

Critical reception[link]

Rocky received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, however, gave Rocky 4 out of 4 stars and said that Stallone reminded him of "the young Marlon Brando.^[15] " Box Office Magazine claimed that audiences would be "touting Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone as a new star".^[16][17] The film, however, did not escape criticism. Vincent Canby, of the New York Times, called it "pure '30s make believe" and dismissed both Stallone's acting and Avildsen's directing, calling the latter "none too decisive".^[18] Frank Rich liked the film, calling it "almost 100 per cent schmaltz," but favoring it over the cynicism that was prevalent in movies at that time, although he referred to the plot as "gimmicky" and the script "heavy-handed". He attributed all of the film's weaknesses to Avildsen, describing him as responsible for some of the "most tawdry movies of recent years", and who "has an instinct for making serious emotions look tawdry" and said of Rocky, "He'll go for a cheap touch whenever he can" and "tries to falsify material that was suspect from the beginning. ... Even by the standards of fairy tales, it strains logic." Rich also criticised the film's "stupid song with couplets like 'feeling strong now/won't be long now.'"^[19]

Several reviews, including Richard Eder's (as well as Canby's negative review), compared the work to that of Frank Capra. Andrew Sarris found the Capra comparisons disingenuous: "Capra's movies projected more despair deep down than a movie like Rocky could envisage, and most previous ring movies have been much more cynical about the fight scene," and, commenting on Rocky's work as a loan shark, says that the film "teeters on the edge of sentimentalizing gangsters." Sarris also found Meredith "oddly cast in the kind of part the late James Gleason used to pick his teeth." Sarris also took issue with Avildsen's direction, which he described as having been done with "an insidious smirk" with "condescension toward everything and everybody," specifically finding fault, for example, with Avildsen's multiple shots of a chintzy lamp in Rocky's apartment. Sarris also found Stallone's acting style "a bit mystifying" and his character "all rough" as opposed to "a diamond in the rough" like Terry Malloy.^[20]

More than 30 years later, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews; Rocky holds a 91% "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.^[21] Another positive online review came from the BBC Films website, with both reviewer Almar Haflidason and BBC online users giving it 5/5 stars.^[22] In Steven J. Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Schneider says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz."^[23]

In 2006, Rocky was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".^[24][25]

In June 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten top Ten"—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Rocky was acknowledged as the second-best film in the sports genre, after Raging Bull.^[26][27]

In 2008, Rocky was chosen by Empire magazine as one of The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time.^[28]

Academy Awards – 1976[link]

Rocky received ten Academy Awards nominations in nine categories, winning three:^[29]

Rocky has also appeared on several of the American Film Institute's 100 Years lists.

• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) - #78.^[30]
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Thrills (2001) - #52
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions (2002) - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains (2003)
  • Rocky Balboa - #7 Hero.^[31]
• AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs (2004)
  • "Gonna Fly Now" - #58
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes (2005)
  • "Yo, Adrian!" - #80.^[32]
• AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores (2005) - Nominated
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers (2006) - #4.^[33]
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) (2007) - #57
• AFI's 10 Top 10 (2008) - #2 Sports Film

The Directors Guild of America awarded Rocky its annual award for best film of the year in 1976, and in 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for Rocky was selected for the Writers Guild of America Award as the 78th best screenplay of all time.^[34]

Home video release history[link]

• 1982 – CED Videodisc and VHS; VHS release is rental only; 20th Century Fox Video release
• October 27, 1990 (VHS and laserdisc)
• April 16, 1996 (VHS and laserdisc)
• March 24, 1997 (DVD)
• April 24, 2001 (DVD, also packed with the Five-Disc Boxed Set)
• December 14, 2004 (DVD, also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set)
• February 8, 2005 (DVD, also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set)
• December 5, 2006 (DVD and Blu-ray Disc – 2-Disc Collector's Edition, the DVD was the first version released by Fox and was also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set and the Blu-ray was the first version released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
• December 4, 2007 (DVD box set – Rocky The Complete Saga. This new set contains the new Rocky Balboa, but does not include the recent 2 disc Rocky. There are still no special features for Rocky II through Rocky V, although Rocky Balboa's DVD special features are all intact.)
• November 3, 2009 (Blu-ray box set - Rocky The Undisputed Collection. This release included six films in a box set. Previously, only the first film and Rocky Balboa were available on the format. Those two discs are identical to their individual releases, and the set also contains a disc of bonus material, new and old alike.^[35])

Other media[link]

Soundtrack[link]

All music by Bill Conti.

1. "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from Rocky)" (vocals: DeEtta Little/Nelson Pigford) – 2:48
2. "Philadelphia Morning" – 2:22
3. "Going the Distance" – 2:39
4. "Reflections" – 3:19
5. "Marines' Hymn/Yankee Doodle" – 1:44
6. "Take You Back (Street Corner Song from Rocky)" (vocals: Valentine) – 1:49
7. "First Date" – 1:53
8. "You Take My Heart Away" (vocals: DeEtta Little/Nelson Pigford) – 4:46
9. "Fanfare for Rocky" – 2:35
10. "Butkus" – 2:12
11. "Alone in the Ring" – 1:10
12. "The Final Bell" – 1:56
13. "Rocky's Reward" – 2:02

Rocky's soundtrack was composed by Bill Conti. The main theme song, "Gonna Fly Now", made it to number one on the Billboard magazine's Hot 100 list for one week (from July 2 to July 8, 1977) and the American Film Institute placed it 58th on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs.^[36][37] The complete soundtrack was re-released in 1988 by EMI on CD and cassette.^[38] Conti was also the composer for Rockys: II, III, V, and Rocky Balboa.^[39]

The version of "Gonna Fly Now" used in the film is different from the versions released on later CDs and records. The vocals and guitars are much more emphasized than the versions released. The "movie version" has yet to be released.^{[citation needed]}

Although the Conti version of "Gonna Fly Now" is the most recognizable arrangement, a cover of the song performed by legendary trumpeter Maynard Ferguson on his Conquistador album prior to the release of the motion picture soundtrack actually outsold the soundtrack itself.^[40]

Novelization[link]

A paperback novelization of the screenplay was written by Rosalyn Drexler and published by Ballantine Books in 1976^[41]

Video games[link]

Several video games have been made based on the film. The first Rocky video game was released by Coleco for ColecoVision in August 1983 titled Rocky Super Action Boxing; the principal designer was Coleco staffer B. Dennis Sustare. Another was released in 1987 for the Sega Master System. More recently, a Rocky video game was released in 2002 for the Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, and a sequel, Rocky Legends, was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In 2007, a video game called Rocky Balboa was released for PSP. In 1985, Dinamic Software released a boxing game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum (also advertised for and/or published on the Sega Master System, Amstrad CPC and MSX) called Rocky. Due to copyright reasons it was quickly renamed "Rocco".^[42]

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Rocky

• Official anthology site
• Rocky at the Internet Movie Database
• Rocky at the TCM Movie Database
• Rocky at AllRovi
• Rocky at Box Office Mojo
• Rocky at Rotten Tomatoes
• Rocky @ at the Sports Movie Guide
• ESPN.com Page2 Articles:
  • Reel Life Rocky by Jeff Merron
  • The Making of Rocky by Sylvester Stallone
  • A Movie of Blood, Spit and Tears by Royce Webb
  • Six Little Known Truths about Rocky by Ralph Wiley
  • Which Rocky is the real champ? by Bill Simmons