Written by Sylvester Stallone
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young and Carl Weathers
Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the heavy-weight champion, Apollo Creed, in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Yes, I have never seen the original "Rocky" until today. Shut up about it!
As resident of the Philadelphia area, I have no idea how I have never seen this movie. I've seen "Rocky IV", but none of the others. It's one of those movies that just slipped through the cracks, I guess. After watching it nearly 40 years later, I find that it still holds water. It is still an inspirational underdog story that paved the way for similar films after.
In 1977, this film won Best Picture at the Academy Awards. I haven't seen all of the nominees from that year, but I have seen "Taxi Driver" and "Network", both of which I believe could have beat out this film if the award was given out today. It has withstood the test of time, but in my opinion, as a whole it is not up to par with those other two great films.
It is without a doubt some of Sylvester Stallone's best acting and even writing. Granted, I feel that it was either a fluke or he just decided to make crazy action movies following this one. Either way, I don't think he regrets anything in his career. It is a storied one that is somewhat reflected in the screenplay for "Rocky". Rags to riches. Nobody to somebody. A true underdog story.
My Rating: 7/10
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