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== Reviews ==
== Reviews ==


After its release in 1976 Rocky recieved mostly positive reviews{{fact}}. With it being very well recived by the directors guild of America <ref name = "Ali"/>. It is has continued to be well reviewed today, the movie website IMDb giving it 7.8/10<ref>{{cite web|title = Rocky @ IMDb|url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/|accessdate = 17th September 2006}}</ref>
After its release in 1976 Rocky recieved mostly positive reviews{{fact}}. With it being very well recived by the directors guild of America <ref name = "Ali"/>. It is has continued to be well reviewed today, the movie website IMDb giving it 7.8/10<ref>{{cite web|title = Rocky @ IMDb|url = http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075148/|accessdate = 17 September|accessyear = 2006}}</ref>


In [[Steven J. Schneider]]'s ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' it says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz," <ref>{{cite book|last =Schneider| first = Stephen Jay |authorlink = | coauthors = Garrett Chaffin-Quiray (review)| title = 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Revised Additon) |publisher = New Burlington Books| date = 2005 |location = London, England| pages = 615 | url = | doi =| id = }}</ref> while [[Rolling Stone]]'s [[Peter Travers]] called it "corny as hell"{{fact}}.
In [[Steven J. Schneider]]'s ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'' it says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz," <ref>{{cite book|last =Schneider| first = Stephen Jay |authorlink = | coauthors = Garrett Chaffin-Quiray (review)| title = 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Revised Additon) |publisher = New Burlington Books| date = 2005 |location = London, England| pages = 615 | url = | doi =| id = }}</ref> while [[Rolling Stone]]'s [[Peter Travers]] called it "corny as hell"{{fact}}.
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Revision as of 17:55, 17 September 2006

For other uses, see Rocky (disambiguation).
Rocky
Directed byJohn G. Avildsen
Written bySylvester Stallone
Produced byRobert Chartoff/Irwin Winkler
StarringSylvester Stallone
Talia Shire
Burt Young
Carl Weathers
Burgess Meredith
Music byBill Conti
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release dates
November 21, 1976
Running time
119 min.
Budget$1,100,000 USD

Rocky (1976) is a motion picture written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as an underdog boxer. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Italian-American "Rocky Balboa", a slightly dull-witted but good-hearted "collection agent" for a loan shark in Philadelphia with a penchant for boxing, who gets a shot at the world heavyweight title. It was directed by John G. Avildsen who won an Oscar for his direction. The fighting scene in the movie was inspired by a real-life fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner.[1] The film was an unexpected sleeper hit, garnering rave reviews, which helped to launch Stallone's career.

Made for a budget of only $1.1 million dollars and shot in a record 28 days [2], the film went on to make over US $117.3 million at the box office and spawn four sequels. Production of a sixth installment in the series, to be titled Rocky Balboa, and again starring and directed by Stallone, was announced by MGM/Sony in October 2005 and is expected to be released on December 22, 2006. [3]

Production

The original concept for Rocky was envisioned by Sylvester Stallone after he witnessed a fight between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner [1]; the idea of one man going the distance and putting up a fierce fight against all odds appealed to Stallone and he began writing the script for Rocky. One day while at a casting call for Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, Stallone brought up his idea for Rocky[1]; Winkler was impressed with this concept and asked Stallone to come back with the script. Although Winkler and Chartoff liked the script, they were initially reluctant to allow Stallone to play the part of "Rocky Balboa," considering instead other big name actors such as James Caan, Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds.[1] Stallone accepted this fact at first, but once the payment for the part exeeded US$350,000, Stallone decided that he would audition.[1]

However, the producers had trouble casting other key characters in the story. Both Talia Shire and Carl Weathers were cast very late by production standards, although they both were cast on the same day.[1] Shire's audition impressed both the producers and Stallone; her appearance, acting and even voice were seen to fit the part of "Adrian" perfectly. The character of "Apollo Creed" was initially going to be played by Ken Norton[1], but when he pulled out, Carl Weathers auditioned. Impressed with Weathers's attitude, body, and voice, Stallone insisted that he play the part.[1]

Certain elements of Rocky's original script were changed prior to its release. The film was originally meant to have a much darker tone.[1] Mickey, for examples, was originally portrayed as a very racist man[1], and the ending of Rocky, as originally written, had Rocky throw the fight after realizing he didn't want to be part of the professional boxing world.[1]

Garrett Brown's Steadicam, a camera attached to a weighted system of pulleys so that it would not shake while its operator ran, was used for the first time in this movie, during Rocky's training run up the flights of stairs.[4].The final fight scene was fought in reverse order, with the actors starting out in heavy make-up, which eventually wore off as the scenes were shot.[5]

Plot

Template:Spoiler Rocky Balboa is a dead-end, "bottom of the barrel" Italian-American from south Philadelphia who is going nowhere in life. He works days as an enforcer for a loan shark and as a boxer at night. With the nation's bicentennial approaching, and scheduled contender Mac Lee Green injured, the undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) searches for a new opponent for the match on the nation's birthday. With all the deserving competitors unavailable for one reason or another, Creed comes up with the perfect bout: he will fight the local underdog "Italian Stallion" Rocky, and by doing so give him a chance at the world title.

Creed sees the whole thing as a joke and a spectacle rather than a fight. At first, his attitude seems justified. In the time leading up to the fight, Rocky trains with crusty, 1920s-era bantamweight fighter Mickey Goldmill, played by Burgess Meredith, but Rocky initially shows little in the way of either ability or true desire.

However, Rocky soon falls in love with his best friend's sister, Adrian (Talia Shire), and a new-found focus and determination is sparked within him. After rededicating himself to intense training, Rocky is ready to take his million-to-one shot at the title. Nonetheless, the night before the match, Rocky admits to Adrian that he knows he cannot actually win.

File:Rocky screenshot.jpg
Rocky fighting Apollo Creed

Creed arrives at the stadium, dressed as George Washington. He then removes this outfit to reveal an Uncle Sam costume, to which the crowd and commentators react with surprise. In the first round, Creed treats the match as a joke until Rocky catches him with a left hook that throws Creed on his back and knocks him down. In his entire professional boxing career, no one had ever knocked Creed down, let alone in the first minute. From that point on, Creed takes the match seriously, and the fighters beat each other bloody. Neither man will back down, even when Rocky's eyes have swelled shut, he manages to break Creed's ribs going into the 15th round. Creed hits as hard as he can, knocking Rocky down more than once, but Rocky refuses to stay down and ultimately does fight Creed for all fifteen rounds. As the fight ends, Creed, disbelieving but respectful of what Rocky has done, embraces Rocky and says to him in exhaustion, "Ain't gonna be no rematch." Rocky, having accomplished his mission, answers back, "Don't want one."

At the conclusion of the fight, Rocky has proved himself to all those who had doubted him before, including both his trainer, Mickey, and himself. True to his word about what his goal for the fight was, he shows no concern whatsoever over the judges' forthcoming decision. As reporters try to interview Rocky, he seeks only to find and embrace Adrian. Adrian finally fights her way through the crowd and into the ring and, as Creed is being announced the winner by a split decision, Rocky takes her in his arms and the two celebrate their love for one another; Rocky having demonstrated that one man can stand in the face of overwhelming odds, and in so doing, having shown himself to be a true champion. Template:Endspoiler

Cast

Main Cast

  • Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa: Rocky is a failed boxer turned debt collector, who is given a second chance when Apollo Creed gives him an opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title. While training for the bout, he falls in love with Adrian.
  • Talia Shire as Adrian: Adrian is a quiet pet store attendant whom Rocky falls for. Initially she doesn't reciprocate Rocky's feelings, but eventually she too falls in love.
  • Burt Young as Paulie: Paulie is Adrian's loud and boorish brother, who works in a meat freezer. He assists Rocky by letting him practice his punches by pounding carcasses in the storehouse.
  • Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed: Rocky's opponent. Once his original opponent for the heavyweight fight pulls out, Apollo comes up with the idea of giving a nobody a chance at the title. His larger-than-life character was heavily influenced by Muhammed Ali.[1]
  • Burgess Meredith as Mickey : Owner of a local boxing gym, he insists on assisting Rocky to win the title, even though he gave up on Rocky earlier.

Cameo appearances

Given the inevitable comparison between the outspoken Apollo Creed and the real-life outspoken Muhammad Ali, one interesting detail is the cameo appearance of Joe Frazier, a former world heavyweight champion who fought Ali three times, as himself. Frazier accuses Creed of "dodging him" prior to the start of the match with Rocky. Stallone invited all boxing heavyweight champions to participate in the cameo, with Joe Frazier being the only one who accepted the invitation. In that year's Academy Awards, Ali had a little comic scene of confronting Stallone onstage which ended amiably to make it clear that he was not offended by the film.

Due to the film's low budget, members of Sylvester Stallone's family were used to play certain minor parts; his father appears as a bell ringer, his brother was used as a street corner singer and Stallone's first wife was the set photographer.[1] Other cameos included Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the longest running independent film company Troma, makes an appearance as a drunk.

Awards

Rocky won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Stallone a nomination for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. John G. Avildsen also won the award for Best Director, and Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad won the Academy Award for Film Editing. Talia Shire was nominated for Best Actress while Burt Young and Burgess Meredith were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor respectively.

The American Film Institute placed Rocky at number 78 of its "100 Greatest Movies of All Time" list [6], and #4 at AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.[7]

In 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for Rocky was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 78th best screenplay of all time. [8]

Reviews

After its release in 1976 Rocky recieved mostly positive reviews[citation needed]. With it being very well recived by the directors guild of America [1]. It is has continued to be well reviewed today, the movie website IMDb giving it 7.8/10[9]

In Steven J. Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die it says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz," [10] while Rolling Stone's Peter Travers called it "corny as hell"[citation needed].

Video Games

The film has also been made into multiple video games; the first Rocky video game was released by Coleco for Colecovision in 1983. [11] Another was released in 1987 for the Sega Master System. More recently, a Rocky video game was released in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, and Microsoft Xbox, and a sequel released in 2004 for the Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Sylvester Stallone (2000). Rocky Gold Edition Video Commentary (DVD). Australia: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
  2. ^ "Rocky Buget". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ "Rocky Balboa Release Date". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ ""Stedicam"". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ ""Rocky Trivia"". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "AFI 100 Years". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "AFI 100 Cheers". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "100 Best Screenplays by Writers Guild". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Rocky @ IMDb". Retrieved 17 September. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Schneider, Stephen Jay (2005). 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Revised Additon). London, England: New Burlington Books. p. 615. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Game Companies : Coleco". Retrieved 24 August. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
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