Rocky

Rocky

Original movie poster
Directed by John G. Avildsen
Produced by Robert Chartoff
Irwin Winkler
Written by Sylvester Stallone
Starring Sylvester Stallone
Talia Shire
Burt Young
Carl Weathers
Burgess Meredith
Tony Burton
Music by Bill Conti
Cinematography James Crabe
Editing by Richard Halsey
Scott Conrad
Distributed by Flag of the United States United Artists
Release date(s) November 21, 1976
Running time 120 min.
Country Flag of the United States.svg United States
Language English
Budget $1.1 million
Gross revenue $117.2 million
Followed by Rocky II

Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but good-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in Philadelphia. Balboa is also a club fighter who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the scheduled contender breaks his hand. Also starring in Rocky are 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 for only $1.1 million,[1] and shot relatively fast in 28 days, was a sleeper hit; it made over US$117.2 million,[2] and won three Oscars, including Best Picture. The film received many positive reviews and turned Stallone into a major star.[3] It spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V, and Rocky Balboa.

Contents

Plot

Rocky Balboa is introduced as a small-time boxer and collector for a loan shark. 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 is injured, Creed comes up with the idea of fighting a local Philadelphia underdog and, because he likes Rocky's nickname, "The Italian Stallion," he selects the unknown fighter. He puts it in light by proclaiming "Apollo Creed meets 'The Italian Stallion.' Sounds like a damn monster movie."

To prepare for the fight, Rocky trains with 1920s-era ex-bantamweight fighter Mickey Goldmill, while Rocky's best friend, Paulie, a meat-packing plant worker, lets him practice his punches on the carcasses hanging in the freezers. During training, Rocky dates Paulie's quiet sister, Adrian. The night before the fight, Rocky confides in Adrian that he does not expect to beat Creed, and that all he wants is to go the distance with Creed, 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."

Creed does not initially take the fight seriously, but Rocky unexpectedly knocks him down in the first round and the match turns intense. The fight indeed lasts 15 rounds with each fighter suffering many injuries. 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, Adrian and Rocky embrace while they profess their love to one another, not caring about the results of the fight.

Cast

Main cast

Cameo appearances

With the character of outspoken Apollo Creed influenced by Muhammad Ali, one interesting detail is the cameo appearance of Joe Frazier, another real-life former world heavyweight champion who fought Ali three times. During the Academy Awards ceremony, Ali and Stallone staged a brief comic confrontation to show Ali was not offended by the film.

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 the set photographer. Other cameos include Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself, alongside radio and TV broadcaster Bill Baldwin and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the longest-running 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. Brad Leahy played a hot dog vendor.

Production

The studio liked the 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 held out, demanding he 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.[5]

Although Winkler and Chartoff were enthusiastic about the script, they were at first somewhat hesitant to allow Stallone to play the main character. 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. Interestingly, 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.

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 as the first production to use it. Marathon Man also has a claim, as it premiered prior to either film.[6])

While filming Rocky, both Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers suffered injuries during the shooting of the final fight; Stallone suffered bruised ribs and Weathers suffered a damaged nose.

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?". 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. The same situation arose with Rocky's robe. When it came back from the costume department, it was far too baggy for Stallone, so rather than ignore this and risk the audience laughing at it, Stallone wrote the dialogue where Rocky himself points out the robe is too big.

Stallone's inspiration

Sylvester Stallone was inspired to create the film by the famous fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. 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."

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 heavyweight boxing champion, Joe Frazier, for which he received no credit. [7]

"But he never paid me for none of my past. I only got paid for a walk-on part. Rocky is a sad story for me."

Rocky Steps

Main article: Rocky Steps
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."[8]

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 movie (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.[8]

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.[9] In the movie 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 2006, E! Entertainment Television named the "Rocky Steps" scene number 13 in its 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment.[10]

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.[11]

Critical reception

Reviews

Rocky received many positive reviews when it was released in 1976. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Rocky 4 out of 4 stars,[12] and Box Office Magazine claimed that audiences would be "...touting Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone as a new star".[13][14] The film received positive reviews from such critics as Pauline Kael, Richard Eder, Katie Kelly, Lita Eliscu, Ben Nolan, and David Sterritt.

The film received quite a share of negative reviews, as well. Vincent Canby of the New York Times called it "pure '30s make believe" and slammed both Stallone's acting and Avildsen's directing, calling the latter "...none too decisive..."[15] Frank Rich liked the film, calling it "almost 100 per cent schmaltz," but favoring it over current movie cynicism, though he also referred to the plot as "gimmicky," the script "heavy-handed," and described Avildsen, to whom he attributed all of the film's weaknesses, as the director of "among the most tawdry movies of recent years" (Joe and Save the Tiger), who "has an instinct for making serious emotions look tawdry" and said that with 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 noted the film's "stupid song with couplets like 'feeling strong now/won't be long now.'"[16] Janet Maslin pointed out the film's "underlying banality" that is built around a "stock character."[17] In The Observer, Russell Davies says Stallone "shambles and mumbles through this astonishingly corny item" playing Rocky with "mountainous goofiness", "jumps to a conclusion impossibly undeserved", and provides "laugh-lines for connoisseurs of corn, and excuses for the overwhelming unlikeliness of the plot". The film, Davies says, is "a self-parodying confession, 'Yes, I'm a beast', a triumph of Barnumism, if nothing else."[18]

Many positive 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 comparsions 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 mystifiying" and his character "all rough" as opposed to "a diamond in the rough" like Terry Malloy.[19] Davies objected to the Malloy comparison of other critics, finding Stallone more comparable to Boris Karloff in Frankenstein.[20]

Richard Corliss, in Time, found the film "Preposterous. One can really not deal with such a howler and at the same time interest oneself fully with Rocky's quest for a moral victory" and that the film's preposterousness is predicated on the fact that "an entire film devoted to so dreary a fellow would be intolerable." He lamented that a film such as this had been the small-budget independent to break through to mainstream commercial success.[21]

More than 30 years later, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives positive reviews; Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 93% fresh rating.[22] Another positive online review came from the BBC Films website, with both reviewer Almar Haflidason and BBC online users giving it 5/5 stars.[23] In Steven J. Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Schneider says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz."[24]

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".

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.[25][26]

In a review published in October 2008, film critic David Thomson finds the film "excruciating" and harshly criticizes its poor acting, writing, and production values.[27] In an interview, Thomson said of his review, "Now, I think Sylvester Stallone is absurd, in every thought and movement. But he is a vital, vitally absurd part of the movies... the trashiness in movies will never die."[28]

Awards

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.

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.[35]

Music

Rocky's soundtrack was composed by Bill Conti. The main theme song "Gonna Fly Now" made it to number one on the Billboard Magazines 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] Bill Conti was also the composer for Rocky 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.

Although the Bill 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]

Home video release history

Other films and media

To date Rocky has generated five sequels. The first, Rocky II (1979) sees Rocky reluctantly called back for a rematch with Apollo Creed. Rocky II reunited the entire cast of the original Rocky, and was just as successful, grossing $200 million worldwide.[41] A new character appears in 1982's Rocky III, Clubber Lang (played by Mr. T), an outspoken young fighter insisting on a fight with Rocky. Rocky loses this bout, with Mickey suffering a fatal heart attack after the fight (he dies thinking Rocky won, Rocky doesn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.) Rocky accepts an offer from his rival-turned-friend Apollo Creed for help in regaining the title. Rocky IV (1985) introduces Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren), a strong Soviet fighter who is convinced he can defeat any American fighter. A retired Apollo takes up the challenge and is killed in the ring by Drago. After Apollo's death, Rocky decides to fight against Drago, despite his wife Adrian urging him not to, and travels to the Soviet Union to train for the fight. Rocky defeats Drago but has to give up his official heavyweight title as the boxing commission did not sanction the fight. Released in 1990, Rocky V was a departure from the rest of the series, as Rocky no longer fights professionally, due to brain injuries, but instead trains younger fighters, including Tommy Gunn (played by real life boxer Tommy Morrison). It becomes apparent that Gunn is merely using Rocky's fame for his own ends, and the film ends with Rocky defeating Gunn in a fight in the street. The movie also is the first to introduce Rocky's son, Robert, as a major character. The final addition to the Rocky series,[42] Rocky Balboa , released in 2006, has the 60 year old Rocky fighting against a real-life boxer again, in this case former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver playing Mason "The Line" Dixon. Rocky Balboa was the most critically well received Rocky film of the entire series since the original, 30 years earlier.

Video games

Several video games have been made based on the film. The first Rocky video game was released by Coleco for ColecoVision in August 1983; 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, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Sony PlayStation 2, and Microsoft 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".[43]

References

  1. ↑ "Rocky Budget". Retrieved on 5 October 2008.
  2. ↑ "Rocky Movie Gross @ Screen Source". Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  3. ↑ "Inside the Actors Studio with Sylvester Stallone". Retrieved on 28 September 2006.
  4. ↑ "Cast and Crew bios for Rocky". Retrieved on 15 November, 2006.
  5. ↑ ""Rocky Trivia"". Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
  6. ↑ "Steadicam 30th anniversary press release".
  7. ↑ "Borrowing From Frazier". Retrieved on 11 November 2008.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Rocky Statue". Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  9. ↑ "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can @ TV.com". Retrieved on 25 September.
  10. ↑ "E! Channel's 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment". Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  11. ↑ "Philly.com". Retrieved on 16 November, 2006.
  12. ↑ "Roger Ebert Rocky Review" (January 1, 1977). Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  13. ↑ "Box Office Magazine Rocky Review" (November 22, 1976). Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  14. ↑ "Arizona Daily Star Review". Retrieved on 14 November 2006..
  15. ↑ "Vincent Canby Rocky Review for New York Times" (November 22, 1976). Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
  16. ↑ Frank Rich. The New York Post November 22, 1976. p. 18
  17. ↑ Janet Maslin. Newsweek November 29, 1976.
  18. ↑ Russell Davies. The Observer. April 24, 1977.
  19. ↑ The Village Voice November 22, 1976, p.61
  20. ↑ Russell Davies. The Observer. April 24, 1977.
  21. ↑ Richard Corliss. Time. December 13, 1976.
  22. ↑ "Rocky @ Rotten Tomatoes". Retrieved on 6 January 2007.
  23. ↑ "Rocky @ BBC Films". Retrieved on 14 November, 2006.
  24. ↑ Schneider, Stephen Jay; Garrett Chaffin-Quiray (review) (2005). 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Revised Edition). London, England: New Burlington Books. pp. 615. 
  25. ↑ American Film Institute (2008-06-17). "AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres", ComingSoon.net. Retrieved on 2008-06-18. 
  26. ↑ "Top 10 Sports". American Film Institute. Retrieved on 2008-06-18.
  27. ↑ David Thomson. "Have You Seen...?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films. Knopf, 2008.
  28. ↑ http://www.sf360.org/features/david-thomson-rounds-up-1000-unusual-suspects
  29. ↑ "IMDb Academy Awards 1977". Retrieved on 14 November, 2006.
  30. ↑ "AFI 100 Years" (1998). Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
  31. ↑ "AFI 100 years (10th anniversary edition0" (2007). Retrieved on 20 June 2007.
  32. ↑ "AFI 100 Cheers" (June 14, 2006). Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
  33. ↑ "AFI 100 Quotes" (2005). Retrieved on 29 September, 2006.
  34. ↑ "AFI 100 Heroes and Villains". Retrieved on 11 October 2006.
  35. ↑ "100 Best Screenplays by Writers Guild of America, west". Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
  36. ↑ "Popculturemadness.com list of 1977 number ones, based on Billboards lists" (July 2-July 8, 1977). Retrieved on 14 October 2006.
  37. ↑ "AFI 100 songs" (June 22, 2004). Retrieved on 14 October 2006.
  38. ↑ "Billboard.com — Rocky Soundtrack". Retrieved on 14 October, 2006.
  39. ↑ "Bill Conti @ IMDb". Retrieved on 14 October, 2006.
  40. ↑ Liner notes of the Conquistador album
  41. ↑ Business Data for Rocky II at the Internet Movie Database
  42. ↑ "Official Rocky Balboa Movie Blog" (November 10, 2006). Retrieved on 15 November, 2006.
  43. ↑ Rocky at World of Spectrum

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest		 Academy Award for Best Picture
1976		 Succeeded by
Annie Hall
Preceded by
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest		 Golden Globe for Best Picture - Drama
1976		 Succeeded by
The Turning Point
Preceded by
The Rocky Horror Picture Show		 Top Grossing films
1976		 Succeeded by
Star Wars
Rocky series
Films
Rocky · II · III · IV · V · Rocky Balboa
Characters
Rocky Balboa · Mickey Goldmill · Apollo Creed · Clubber Lang · Ivan Drago · Tommy Gunn · Mason Dixon · Tony "Duke" Evers
Cast
Sylvester Stallone · Talia Shire · Burt Young · Carl Weathers · Burgess Meredith · Mr. T · Dolph Lundgren · Tommy Morrison · Antonio Tarver · Tony Burton
Video games
Rocky Super Action Boxing · Rocky (1987 video game) · Rocky · Rocky Legends · Rocky Balboa
Related articles
Rocky music · Rocky Steps · Rocky VI · Ricky I
Related articles (Boxing)
The distance · Chuck Wepner · Southpaw · World Heavyweight Championship
Films directed by John G. Avildsen

Joe (1970) · Cry Uncle! (1971) · Okay Bill (1972) · Save the Tiger (1973) · The Stoolie (1974) · Fore Play (1975) · Rocky (1976) · Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978) · The Formula (1980) · Neighbors (1981) · Traveling Hopefully (1982) · A Night in Heaven (1983) · The Karate Kid (1984) · The Karate Kid, Part II (1986) · For Keeps (1988) · Lean on Me (1989) · The Karate Kid, Part III (1989) · Rocky V (1990) · The Power of One (1992) · 8 Seconds (1994)
Academy Award for Best Picture

West Side Story (1961) · Lawrence of Arabia (1962) · Tom Jones (1963) · My Fair Lady (1964) · The Sound of Music (1965) · A Man for All Seasons (1966) · In the Heat of the Night (1967) · Oliver! (1968) · Midnight Cowboy (1969) · Patton (1970) · The French Connection (1971) · The Godfather (1972) · The Sting (1973) · The Godfather Part II (1974) · One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) · Rocky (1976) · Annie Hall (1977) · The Deer Hunter (1978) · Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) · Ordinary People (1980)

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