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
Mickey Goldmill, Rocky's trainer and Carl
Weathers as the champion, Apollo Creed.
The film, made for only US$1.2 million,[1] and shot relatively fast in 28 days, was a sleeper
hit; it made over US$117.2 million,[2] won three
Oscars, including Best Picture,
and garnered mostly positive reviews which helped to launch Stallone's career.[3] The film spawned five sequels: Rocky II, III, IV, V and Rocky Balboa.
Production
Stallone's original concept for Rocky, and the character Rocky Balboa, was inspired by his viewing of a fight between
Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner.[4] The idea of an underdog boxer going the distance and putting up a fierce fight against all odds appealed to Stallone. Stallone then
wrote the screenplay Paradise Alley. After reading that script, producers
Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff invited
Stallone to meet them. Stallone brought up his idea for Rocky, Chartoff was impressed with the concept and he and Winkler
agreed to support Stallone financially while he wrote the script, with the understanding they would get to see the script
first.[citation needed]
The studio liked the script, which was considered as a vehicle for established stars Burt
Reynolds or James Caan, among others. Stallone held out, demanding he be given a
chance to star in it. He later said that he would have never forgiven himself if the film become a success with someone else in
the lead. He also knew that Winkler and 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.[4]
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 handed the role of Apollo Creed but he pulled
out and it was ultimately given to Carl Weathers. Interestingly, Norton had three fights
with Muhammad Ali, who Creed was loosely based on. 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 character. After Talia Shire's ensuing audition along with Avildsen, Chartoff and
Winkler 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 even 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.[5]) The final fight scene was filmed in reverse order, with the
actors starting out in heavy make-up.[4]
During filming of Rocky, Sylvester Stallone and Carl Weathers suffered injuries due to filming the final fight with Stallone
suffering bruised ribs and Weathers suffering a damaged nose. As Stallone was injured the filming was put on hold for over 3
weeks for Stallone to recover. This happened as Stallone wanted the final fight to look believable and tried to make it real.
Plot
Rocky fighting Apollo Creed
Rocky Balboa is introduced as a small-time boxer and enforcer 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.
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 last 15 rounds against him (the typical scheduled length
of championship fights at the time).
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 Creed is announced the winner by split decision,
Adrian and Rocky embrace where they profess their love to one another.
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 plays a street corner singer, and his first wife, Sasha, was the 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 longest-running independent
film company Troma, appearing as a drunk. Long time 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 Duke, a role he would reprise in the entire Rocky series. Brad Leahy
played a hot dog vendor.
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 amongst the props department that they could not afford to
rectify, so Stallone ad-libbed the scene.
Critical reception
Reviews
Rocky received positive reviews when it was released in 1976. Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times gave Rocky 4 out of 4 stars,[7] and Box Office Magazine claimed that audiences would be "...touting
Sylvester (Sly) Stallone as a new star".[8][9] However, 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..."[10]
More than 30 years later, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives generally positive reviews;
Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 93% fresh rating.[11] Another positive online review came from the BBC
Films website, with both reviewer Almar Haflidason and BBC online users giving it 5/5 stars.[12] In Steven J. Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die,
Schneider says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz."[13]
In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Awards
Rocky received ten Academy Awards nominations in nine categories winning
three:[14]
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 by the Writers Guild of
America as the 78th best screenplay of all time.[20]
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.[21][22] The complete soundtrack
was re-released in 1988 by EMI on CD and cassette.[23] Bill Conti was also the composer for Rocky II,
III and V, and the sixth installment.[24]
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.[25]
U.S. Box Office
Rocky: US$117.2 million
The original Rocky was the most profitable entry of the series, with a budget of US$1.2 million.
Home video release history
- Early 1980s - CED Videodisc
- October 27, 1993 (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 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and
was also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set and the Blu-ray Disc was the first version
released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)
Influence
Rocky Steps
-
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."[26]
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.[26]
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.[27] In 2006 E! Entertainment Television named the
"Rocky Steps" scene number 13 in its 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment.[28]
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.[29]
Other films and media
In an effort to capitalize on the success of Rocky, the 1970 pornography film Party at Kitty and Stud's was
re-released under the title The Italian Stallion, a reference to Rocky's nickname.[30] The film stars a 24-year-old Sylvester Stallone as "Stud" in his film
debut,[31] and also features Henrietta Holm as
"Kitty".[32]
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.[33] 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 before 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,[34]
Rocky Balboa , released in 2006, has the 59 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 of 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.
References
- ^ Rocky Budget. Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
- ^ Rocky Movie Gross @ Screen Source. Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
- ^ Inside the
Actors Studio with Sylvester Stallone. Retrieved on 28 September 2006.
- ^ a b c
IMDB Trivia Page. Retrieved on 20
April 2007.
- ^ Steadicam 30th anniversary press release.
- ^ Cast and Crew bios for Rocky. Retrieved on 15 November,
2006.
- ^ Roger Ebert Rocky Review (January 1 1977). Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
- ^ Box Office
Magazine Rocky Review (November 22 1976). Retrieved on 23 September 2006.
- ^ Arizona
Daily Star Review. Retrieved on 14 November 2006..
- ^ Vincent Cabny Rock Review for New York Times (November 22, 1976). Retrieved on 23
September 2006.
- ^ Rocky @ Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 6 January 2007.
- ^ Rocky @ BBC Films. Retrieved on 14 November,
2006.
- ^ Schneider, Stephen Jay;
Garrett Chaffin-Quiray (review) (2005). 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die (Revised Edition). London, England: New
Burlington Books, 615.
- ^ IMDb Academy Awards 1977. Retrieved on 14 November,
2006.
- ^ AFI 100 Years (1998). Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
- ^ AFI 100 years (10th
anniversary edition0 (2007). Retrieved on 20 June 2007.
- ^ AFI 100 Cheers (June 14 2006). Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
- ^ AFI 100 Quotes (2005). Retrieved on 29 September,
2006.
- ^ AFI 100 Heroes and Villains. Retrieved on 11 October 2006.
- ^ 100 Best Screenplays by Writers
Guild. Retrieved on 24 August 2006.
- ^ Popculturemadness.com list of 1977 number ones, based on Billboards lists (July 2-July
8, 1977). Retrieved on 14 October 2006.
- ^ AFI 100 songs (June 22 2004). Retrieved on 14 October 2006.
- ^ Billboard.com - Rocky Soundtrack. Retrieved on 14
October, 2006.
- ^ Bill Conti @ IMDb. Retrieved on 14 October, 2006.
- ^ Liner notes of the Conquistador album
- ^ a b
- ^ I'm
Spelling as Fast as I Can @ TV.com. Retrieved on 25 September {{{accessyear}}}.
- ^ E! Channel's 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment. Retrieved on 23 September
2006.
- ^ Philly.com. Retrieved on 16 November, 2006.
- ^ The Italian Stallion at Urban Legends (9 June 1997). Retrieved on 14 November 2006.
- ^ Sylvester Stallone @ IMDb. Retrieved on 14 November, 2006.
- ^ Party at Kitty and Studs @ IMDb. Retrieved on 14 November 2006.
- ^ Business Data for Rocky II at the Internet Movie
Database
- ^ Official Rocky Balboa Movie Blog (November 10, 2006). Retrieved on 15
November, 2006.
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