Rocky (1976)

A small time boxer gets a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavyweight champ in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

Director:

John G. Avildsen

Writer:

Sylvester Stallone

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young

Top 250 #201 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sylvester Stallone	...	Rocky Balboa
Talia Shire	...	Adrian Pennino
Burt Young	...	Paulie Pennino
Carl Weathers	...	Apollo Creed
Burgess Meredith	...	Mickey Goldmill
Thayer David	...	George Jergens
Joe Spinell	...	Tony Gazzo
Jimmy Gambina	...	Mike
Bill Baldwin	...	Fight Announcer
Al Silvani	...	Cut Man (as Al Salvani)
George Memmoli	...	Ice Rink Attendant
Jodi Letizia	...	Marie
Diana Lewis	...	TV Commentator
George O'Hanlon	...	TV Commentator
Larry Carroll	...	TV Interviewer

Storyline

Rocky Balboa is a struggling boxer trying to make the big time, working as a debt collector for a pittance. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody". The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.

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Plot Keywords:

boxer | boxing | fight | training | philadelphia pennsylvania | 

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Taglines:

You have a ringside seat for the bloodiest bicentennial in history!

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Rocky Anthology Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 December 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rocky - Um Lutador

Filming Locations:

1818 East Tusculum Street, Kensington, North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,100,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$117,235,247 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Chartoff-Winkler Productions, United Artists

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Two scenes were written that do not appear in the final cut of the film: a scene where Rocky visits his gym with Apollo Creed as a photo op and Rocky beats up Dipper, the fighter who took his locker earlier in the story and a scene the night of the big fight in the locker room between Rocky and Adrian. The locker room scene was at least filmed because production stills from it exist.

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Goofs

Rocky (who is supposed to be left handed) uses right hand to write down info on collections he is supposed to make in two scenes and to turn dial on combination lock at beginning of movie. However, just because Rocky boxes Southpaw does not mean he is necessarily left-handed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Club fight attendee: Come on, Spider!

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Crazy Credits

Butkus the dog is credited as "Butkus Stallone".

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Connections

Referenced in Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Summer Madness"
(uncredited)
Performed by Kool & The Gang

User Reviews

A Tale of the Human Condition

In 1976, Sylvester Stallone was unknown in the acting world. He pleaded to MGM to let him play the lead character in a story he wrote himself over a period of 10 years. That same year, a handful of other timeless movies were released creating dominating competition for Rocky. Those being "All the Presidents Men", "Network" and "Taxi Driver" which are all excellent movies in their own respect.

The chances of Rocky beating those great movies to become Best Picture are direct parallels of how small of a chance the character of Rocky Balboa had to fight with the champ, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).

Not only does Rocky evoke inspired emotions from the viewers who have a heart and soul, but Rocky resembles many of us who feel like life is against us sometimes. This movie was made on a very low budget compared to the other Winkler-Chartoff masterpiece "Raging Bull" which had the typical Hollywood fund with Marty Scorcese as the director. Many argue that Raging Bull beats Rocky...It is all opinion. Personally, I can watch both movies and say "Wow, that was great" and share equal respect for the masterpiece they both share. They are both different movies. One is based on a true story, and the other has such a legacy that the name "Rocky Balboa" is an automatically recognized name in American culture.

This is my favorite movie of all-time because I feel better about myself after every viewing. I don't know about you, but that to me has to mean something.

The character that is "Rocky" has made a profound affect on many peoples lives and has proved that anyone who is anyone can over come a struggle in life no matter what the exact problem is.