Sylvester Stallone, or known to many of you as Sly, is certainly not one of my favorite actors. His films in the past decade, among them The Specialist and Judge Dredd were among some of my least favorite films of the 1990s (if you want to read the rest of my list, click here). Despite making some films that are beyond mediocrity, it is almost impossible to say that Stallone hit any wrong notes with Rocky (only the first film and NOT any of the appalling following 4 sequels). Stallone's creation, Rocky Balboa, became an overnight success and quickly became a favorite among film watchers.

As many of you probably know, the film chronicles the rise of an amateur boxer from Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone). Despite having the heart and the talent to become a boxer, Balboa is reduced to being a thug for big-time loan shark Gazzo (Joe Spinell) in order to make ends meet. Rocky still boxes, but his trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) has basically lost faith in his boxer. Rocky also makes frequent trips to a local pet store (he has a fish and a couple of turtles), where the love of his life, Adrian (Talia Shire), works. Coincidentally, Adrian is the sister of his best friend, Paulie (Burt Young), who tells him that "she is a loser" and is not worth her time, which causes Rocky to lose confidence in having her. Essentially, the film illustrates that Rocky is lost in his life and is basically down and out.

However, Rocky is given the chance of a lifetime when he is given the opportunity to fight Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the world boxing champion. After a boxer Creed plans to fight gets injured in the last minute, it is up to Creed and the rest of his management to look for a challenger. After looking at a few successors, Creed believes that Balboa is a perfect successor (after looking at his nickname, "The Italian Stallion", which Balboa claims he created during a meal). Creed and the rest of his team use this fight as a publicity stunt and Creed is sure that he can beat Balboa in three rounds.

Rocky does not know that this is a publicity stunt and believes that is a real fight. Believing that this is a fight, Rocky takes this opportunity to train himself up for the big event. While this happens, Rocky's relationship with Adrian grows and the two start becoming romantically involved and Mickey is willing to train Rocky for the big event. The big fight comes around and Creed is still being arrogant, thinking he can take down Rocky in three. However, he is in for a big surprise when he starts to fight Rocky.

The film can basically be summed up in the Official PGA Tour slogan that "anything's possible". Rocky is given the opportunity of a lifetime to fight against the world champion and have the chance to win the championship against him. To Rocky, this is his lifelong dream. Because this is Rocky's lifelong dream, this opportunity is seen as a breath of fresh air into Rocky's monotonous, aimless life, which leads onto another of the film's themes: second chances. Like in real life, second chances come as a result of pure luck and luck certainly plays a part in Rocky's story. Also, second chances should be seized and Rocky certainly seizes this opportunity to "go the distance" and earn the self-respect that has been alluding him throughout his life.

Although these themes are brilliantly portrayed in this film, it is the characters that make the film very memorable. What makes the characters memorable is that the audience can empathize with them. Rocky is certainly not the most affable person in the world. At times, he acts crudely and he is not what one could define as a gentleman (even towards Adrian). But despite his seemingly raw personality, we can all feel the pressure placed on Rocky to perform at the highest level. Also, when we see how hard Rocky trains for this final showdown and see him reach the top of the stairs to the Art Museum, we can feel the sense of triumph that Rocky feels, because there have been many situations in life where people try so hard to achieve a goal that seems impossible to reach. When we do finally achieve this goal, it is impossible to hide the feeling of triumph from getting past this obstacle and the audience feel the same way when Rocky overcomes this obstacle in the film. Adrian may be written as a very shy person throughout the film, but the audience quickly understand that she is constantly tormented by her alcoholic brother, Paulie. Because of this, the audience also quickly empathize with Adrian as well and as the audience, we cannot help but be touched when she stands up to her brother's abusive nature, which is also portrays the same concept of triumph that Rocky shows. This idea could show that because of the fact that both Adrian and Rocky are down and out, they find solace in each other and understand the feeling of being treated as a nobody.

This all comes from Stallone's brilliant screenplay. Stallone was inspired to write the film's screenplay after watching Mohammad Ali fight against Chuck Wepner in March 1975, in which Wepner went the distance with arguably the world's best boxer. From here, Stallone built up the film's screenplay. The screenplay, written in just 86 hours, portrays its themes clearly, develops full, realistic characters and relationships blossom throughout the film. Also, the fact that we can empathize with the film's two main characters (Rocky and Adrian) adds a sense of realism to the film that has never been captured by any other film. People may complain of its "Cinderella storyline" structure and its soppiness, but being a 'feel-good' movie, it is meant to be somewhat predictable and melodramatic.

The film is also technically solid, despite the fact the film's final cost was $1.1 million. While the cinematography is solid, it is the editing that is particularly brilliant throughout the film. The editing scenes during the bout between Rocky and Apollo Creed are memorable, as are the montage of shots where Rocky is training to that trumpet fanfare. Speaking of trumpet fanfares, the musical score is also memorable. The trumpet fanfare during the training montage is drilled into my head, as is the swelling of violin music at the ending of the film. It somewhat surprises me that this film did not even garner a nomination for Best Musical Score, since the score was very solid and catchy.

As for the acting, this is probably one of the best aspects of the film. Stallone portrays Rocky brilliantly. He shows a full range of emotions and the 'underdog' image of Stallone is portrayed brilliantly from the start to the finish of the film. Talia Shire also does a brilliant job as Adrian, portraying her as a shy, mousy character. Her scenes with Stallone really light up the screen. Burgess Meredith is perfect as the harsh but encouraging boxing coach Mickey. Burt Young is also perfect as Paulie, ranging from being a good friend to being abusive to being pathetic and desperate. As for Carl Weathers, he excellently depicts the arrogant, loud-mouthed Apollo Creed. His character essentially mirrors the personality of Mohammad Ali, and I think Weathers' Creed is a mirror image of Mohammad Ali. All in all, the acting performances were realistic and although actors could have easily fallen into portraying stereotypical characters, they do not, which is good.

Although this film is essentially Stallone's film, many people forget that this film is directed by John G. Avildsen of Karate Kid fame. Avildsen paces this film perfectly and lets the screenplay control a lot of the scenes. Essentially, the film is a screenplay-driven film and all Avildsen needed to do was portray the themes Stallone tried to portray through his screenplay. Avildsen managed to portray these themes and did it well.

The Region 4-DVD of this film only contains subtitles in English and the original trailer of the film.

After being nominated for 9 awards and winning 3 of them (Best Picture, Best Director and Best Film Editing), Stallone has not been able to come up with anything that is remotely as good as the first film of the Rocky series (some may dispute that Rambo is just as good or even better). Despite that, Rocky is definitely a must-see if you have not already seen it (who hasn't seen it?). It is a sentimental favorite among many film watchers and it is one of the best feel-good movies ever made.

Thanks for reading the review.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD