Rocky (1976)

Tagline: His whole life was a million-to-one shot.

Rocky movie storyline. The phenomenally successful, uplifting, “sleeper” film that was filmed in a record twenty-eight days with a paltry budget of about $1 million, and ultimately grossed well over $100 million. (This low-budget film was positioned between two early “blockbusters” – Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) and Lucas’ Star Wars (1977).) Its screenwriter and major star, Sylvester Stallone, was an unbankable unknown at the time – an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts) similar to the boxing ‘bum’ in the film. Stallone supposedly wrote the script for the sports comeback film over a three-day period.

The action-packed, ‘feel-good’ crowd-pleasing story, shot mostly on location, tells of the rise of a small-time, has-been, underdog Philadelphia boxer against insurmountable odds in a big-time bout with Apollo Creed (Weathers), with the emotional support of a shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend named Adrian (Shire) and wily fight manager Mickey (Meredith).

The low-key film was a combination of On the Waterfront (1954), Marty (1955), and a fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story. The original Rocky film, from Oscar-winning director John G. Avildsen, packed movie houses, and beat out formidable competition for Best Picture: All the President’s Men, Bound For Glory, Network, and Taxi Driver. It was followed by four inferior sequels: Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990) and another entry titled Rocky Balboa (2006).

Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and both written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.[2] It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted working class Italian-American boxer working as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia. Rocky starts out as a small-time club fighter, and later gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film also stars 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.

Directed by: John G. Avildsen
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Thayer David, Joe Spinell, Jimmy Gambina, Jodi Letizia, Diana Lewis, George O’Hanlon, Larry Carroll, Stan Shaw
Screenplay by: Sylvester Stallone
Production Design by: Carl Weathers
Cinematography by: James Crabe
Film Editing by: Scott Conrad, Richard Halsey
Set Decoration by: Ray Molyneaux
Art Direction by: James H. Spencer
Makeup Department: Michael Westmore
Music by: Bill Conti
Distributed by: United Artists
Release Date: December 3, 1976