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Rocky is a 1976 American independent film sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a poor small-time club fighter and loanshark debt collector from Philadelphia, gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship held by Apollo Creed (Weathers).
Rocky entered development in March 1975, after Stallone wrote the screenplay in three days. It entered a complicated production process after Stallone refused to allow the film to be made without him in the lead role; United Artists eventually agreed to cast Stallone after he rejected a six figure deal for the film rights. Principal photography began in January 1976, with filming primarily held in Philadelphia; several locations featured in the film, such as the Rocky Steps, are now considered cultural landmarks. With an estimated production budget of under $1 million, Rocky popularized the rags to riches and American Dream themes of sports dramas which preceded the film.
Rocky had its premiere in New York City on November 20, 1976, and was released in the United States on December 3, 1976. Rocky became the highest-grossing film of 1976, earning approximately $225 million worldwide. The film received critical acclaim for Stallone's writing, as well as the film's performances, direction, musical score, cinematography and editing; among other accolades, it received ten Academy Awards nominations and won three, including Best Picture. It has been ranked by numerous publications as one of the greatest films of all time, as well as one of the most iconic sports films ever.
Rocky and its theme song have become a pop-cultural phenomenon and an important part of 1970s American popular culture. In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". The first sequel in the series, Rocky II, was released in 1979.
Creed selects Rocky Balboa, an Italian-American journeyman Southpaw stance boxer who clubfighter and works as a collector for a Mafia loan shark, on the basis of his nickname, "The Italian Stallion". Rocky fights in a local Philadelphia fight club, and he won his last fight with Spider Rico. He meets with promoter George Jergens, who tells him Creed has selected Rocky to fight him for the World Heavyweight Championship. Reluctant at first, Rocky eventually agrees to the fight, which will pay him $150,000. Rocky undergoes several weeks of unorthodox training, such as using sides of beef as .
Rocky is later approached by Mickey Goldmill, a former bantamweight fighter-turned-trainer whose gym Rocky frequents, about further training. Rocky is not willing initially, as Mickey has not shown much interest in helping him before and saw him as a wasted talent, but eventually Rocky accepts the offer.
Rocky begins to build a romantic relationship with Adrian Pennino, a shy woman who is working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet store. Adrian's brother and Rocky's best friend, Paulie, helps Rocky get a date with his sister and offers to work as a cornerman with him for the fight, an offer Rocky turns down. Paulie becomes jealous of Rocky's success, but Rocky placates him by agreeing to advertise the meat packing business where Paulie works for sponsorship as part of the upcoming fight, and both of them reconcile. Rocky trains extensively for the championship fight, while Apollo is unconcerned about the match and puts more effort into promotion than training. The night before the match, Rocky visits the Spectrum and begins to lose confidence. He confesses to Adrian that he does not believe he can win, but strives to go the distance against Creed, which no other fighter has done, to prove himself to everyone.
On New Year's Day, the fight is held with Creed making a dramatic entrance dressed as George Washington and then Uncle Sam. Taking advantage of his overconfidence, Rocky knocks him down in the first round—the first time that Creed has ever been knocked down. Humbled and worried, Creed takes Rocky more seriously for the rest of the fight, though his ego never fully fades. The fight goes on for the full fifteen rounds, with both combatants sustaining various injuries: Rocky, with hits to the head and swollen eyes, requires his right eyelid to be cut to restore his vision, while Apollo, with internal bleeding and a broken rib, struggles to breathe. As the fight concludes, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's apparently unlimited ability to absorb punches and his dogged refusal to go down. As the final bell sounds, both fighters promise each other there will be no rematch.
The fight is extremely well received by the sportscasters and the audience. Rocky calls out repeatedly for Adrian, who runs down as Paulie distracts security to help her get into the ring. As Jergens declares Creed the winner by virtue of a split decision, Rocky and Adrian embrace and profess their love for each other, not caring about the outcome of the fight.
Henry Winkler, Stallone's co-star in The Lords of Flatbush who then broke out as Arthur Fonzarelli on ABC's Happy Days, said he had taken the script to executives at the network. They expressed interest in turning it into a made-for-television movie and actually bought the script but insisted that someone else rewrite it. Upon hearing the news, Stallone begged Winkler not to let ABC change writers, so Winkler went back to the executives and offered to return the money in exchange for the rights. While ABC refused at first, Winkler said he was able to use his status as one of its biggest stars at the time to convince them to sell the rights back.
At the time, Film Artists Management Enterprises (FAME), a joint venture between Hollywood talent agents Craig T. Rumar and Larry Kubik, represented Stallone. He submitted his script to Rumar and Kubik, who immediately saw the potential for it to be made into a motion picture. They shopped the script to various producers and studios in Hollywood but were repeatedly rejected because Stallone insisted that he be cast in the lead role. Eventually, they secured a meeting with Winkler-Chartoff productions (no relation to Henry Winkler). After repeated negotiations with Rumar and Kubik, Winkler-Chartoff agreed to a contract for Stallone to be the writer and also star in the lead role for Rocky. Stallone offered the script to Ralph Bakshi to direct, because he loved Bakshi's 1973 film Heavy Traffic, but Bakshi turned it down because he didn't want to leave animation, and John G. Avildsen signed on to direct instead.
United Artists liked Stallone's script and viewed it as a vehicle for a well-established star like Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, or
/ref> Stallone's agents insisted that Stallone portray the title character, to the point of issuing an ultimatum. Stallone later said that he would never have forgiven himself had the film become a success with somebody else in the lead. He also knew that producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff's contract with the studio enabled them to "greenlight" a project if the budget was kept low enough. The producers also collateralized any possible losses with their big-budget entry, New York, New York (whose eventual losses were covered by Rocky success).Neal Gabler, ReelThirteen, from WNET , February 22, 2014. The film's production budget ended up being $1,075,000, with a further $100,000 spent on producers' fees and $4.2 million on advertising costs.
Philadelphia-based boxer Joe Frazier has a cameo appearance in the film. Outspoken boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought Frazier three times, influenced the character of Apollo Creed. During the 49th Academy Awards ceremony in 1977, Ali and Stallone staged a brief comic confrontation to show the film did not offend Ali. Frazier has claimed that some of the plot's most memorable moments—Rocky's carcass-punching scenes and Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of his training regimen—are taken without credit from his own real-life exploits.
Because of the film's comparatively 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 Frank Stallone plays a street corner singer, and his first wife, Sasha, was stills photographer. Other cameos include former Philadelphia and then Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself, alongside radio and TV broadcaster Bill Baldwin; and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the independent film company Troma, appearing as a drunk. Diana Lewis, then a news anchor in Los Angeles and later in Detroit, has a minor scene as a TV news reporter. Tony Burton appears as Apollo Creed's trainer, Tony "Duke" Evers, a role he would reprise throughout the entire Rocky series, though the character is not named until Rocky II. Michael Dorn, who would later gain fame as the Klingon Worf in and , made his acting debut, albeit uncredited, as Creed's bodyguard.
Certain elements of the story were altered during filming. The original script had a darker tone: Mickey was portrayed as Racism, 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.
Both Stallone and Weathers suffered injuries during the shooting of the final fight; Stallone suffered bruised ribs and Weathers suffered a damaged nose, the opposite injuries of what their characters had.
The first date between Rocky and Adrian, in which Rocky bribes a janitor to allow them to skate after closing hours on a deserted ice skating rink, was shot that way due to budgetary the scene was originally scheduled to be shot in a public skating rink during regular business hours, but the producers decided they could not afford the hundreds of extras that would have been required.
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, promoter George Jergens tells him that it "doesn't really matter, does it?". Avildsen said this was an actual mistake made by the props department that they could not afford to rectify, so the brief scene was written to ensure the audience did not see it as a goof. Conversely, Stallone has said he was indeed supposed to wear red shorts with a white stripe as Rocky, but changed to the opposite colors "at the last moment". Similarly, when Rocky's robe arrived far too baggy on the day it was needed for filming, Stallone wrote in dialogue where Rocky points this out.
The main Theme music, "Gonna Fly Now", made it to number one on Billboard magazine's 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. United Artists Records released the soundtrack album on November 12, 1976. EMI re-released the album on CD and Compact Cassette.
Frank Stallone's song "Take You Back" is also on the soundtrack, and he also sings the song in the movie with other friends around a trash can fire.
The film did not escape criticism. Vincent Canby, of The New York Times, called it "pure '30s make believe" and dismissed both Stallone's acting and Avildsen's directing, calling the latter "none too decisive". Andrew Sarris found the Capra comparisons disingenuous: "Capra's movies projected more despair deep down than a movie like Rocky could envisage, and most previous ring movies have been much more cynical about the fight scene"; commenting on Rocky's work for a loan shark, Sarris says the film "teeters on the edge of sentimentalizing gangsters". He found Meredith "oddly cast in the kind of part the late James Gleason used to pick his teeth". The Village Voice November 22, 1976, p.61
The film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives nearly universal praise. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 93% approval rating based on 75 reviews, with an average rating of 8.4/10. The site's critics consensus states: "This story of a down-on-his-luck boxer is thoroughly predictable, but Sylvester Stallone's script and stunning performance in the title role brush aside complaints."
| Academy Awards | Best Picture | Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler | ||
| Best Director | John G. Avildsen | |||
| Best Actor | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Best Actress | Talia Shire | |||
| Best Supporting Actor | Burgess Meredith | |||
| Burt Young | ||||
| Best Original Screenplay | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Best Film Editing | Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad | |||
| Best Original Song | "Gonna Fly Now" Music by Bill Conti; Lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins | |||
| Best Sound | Harry Warren Tetrick, William McCaughey, Lyle J. Burbridge, and Bud Alper | |||
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Film | John G. Avildsen | ||
| Best Direction | ||||
| Best Actor in a Leading Role | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Best Screenplay | ||||
| Best Editing | Richard Halsey | |||
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture – Drama | |||
| Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama | Talia Shire | |||
| Best Director | John G. Avildsen | |||
| Best Screenplay | Sylvester Stallone | |||
| Best Original Score | Bill Conti | |||
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The 80 Best-Directed Films Directors Guild of America via Internet Archive. Retrieved April 12, 2024. and in 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for the film was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 78th best screenplay of all time. The 101 Best Screenplays Writers Guild of America West. Retrieved October 11, 2024. In a 2012 survey of members of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, Rocky was voted as one of the 75 best-edited films in all of cinema.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The 75 Best Edited Films Editors Guild Magazine (Vol. 1, Issue 3) via Internet Archive. Published May 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2024.
In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".
In 1998, the American Film Institute (AFI) ranked Rocky as the 78th best film in American cinema. The film's ranking rose to #57 on AFI's 10th anniversary edition of the list in 2007. The 100 Greatest American Films — 10th Anniversary Edition American Film Institute. Retrieved September 2, 2024. Additionally, in June 2008, AFI revealed its 10 Top 10—the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Rocky was acknowledged as the second-best film in the sports genre, after Raging Bull.
Film scholar Steven J. Schneider included Rocky in his book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, writing that the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz".
Filmsite, a subsidiary of American Movie Classics, included the film on their list of the 300 greatest films of all time. The Third 100 Greatest Films AMC's Filmsite. Retrieved July 13, 2024. Additionally, Films101.com ranked the film as the 228th best of all time.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> The Best Movies of All Time (10,267 Most Notable) Films101.com via Internet Archive. Retrieved July 13, 2024.
In 2006, British film magazine Total Film ranked Rocky at #71 on their list of the 100 greatest films of all time. Total Film: Top 100 Movies Total Film. Retrieved September 1, 2024. Based on their 2020 readers' poll, the film ranked #60 on Rolling Stone Australia's "100 Greatest Movies of All Time". 100 Greatest Movies of All Time Rolling Stone Australia. Retrieved September 1, 2024. Additionally, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Rocky at #2 on their list of the 30 greatest sports films. 30 Best Sports Movies of All Time Rolling Stone. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
In 2022, Esquire included the film on their list of "The 100 Best Movies of All Time". The 100 Best Movies of All Time Esquire. Retrieved September 1, 2024. Esquire also included both Rocky and its spinoff sequel Creed on their list of "The 30 Best Sports Movies of All Time". The Best Sports Movies of All Time Esquire. Retrieved September 1, 2024. In 2023, Slashfilm included Rocky on their list of the "Top 100 Movies of All Time", as voted by a selection of their writers and editors. /Film's Top 100 Movies of All Time /Film. Retrieved August 31, 2024. In 2024, entertainment news site Comic Book Resources ranked the film #23 on their list of the "55 Best Movies of All Time", The 55 Best Movies of All Time, Ranked Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 16, 2024. while Parade magazine ranked the film #45 on their list of the "100 Best Movies of All Time". The 100 Best Movies of All Time Parade. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
In 2014, Rocky was ranked #95 by British film magazine Empire on their list of "The 301 Greatest Movies of All Time", It was ranked #370 on their previous list of the 500 greatest films in 2008. Conversely, in a 2005 poll by Empire, Rocky was No. 9 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".
In June 2014, The Hollywood Reporter compiled a list of the 100 best movies ever made, polling film industry insiders on their favorite films of all time. Hollywood’s 100 Favorite Films The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved September 1, 2024. Rocky ranked #91. The following year The Hollywood Reporter polled hundreds of Academy members, asking them to re-vote on past controversial decisions. Academy members indicated that, given a second chance, they would award the 1977 Oscar for Best Picture to All the President's Men instead.
Time Out ranked Rocky #1 on their list of the "50 Best Sports Movies of All Time". The Best Sports Movies of All Time, from 'Field of Dreams' to 'Creed' Time Out. Retrieved September 1, 2024. On their list of "The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time", entertainment news website Vulture ranked Rocky at #3. The 50 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time Vulture. Retrieved September 1, 2024. In 2015, Thrillist compiled a list of "The 1001 Best Movies of All Time" by weighing ratings from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and Letterboxd. Rocky ranked #589. The Definitive Ranking of the 1,001 Best Movies Ever Thrillist. Retrieved October 22, 2024. 2015 Edition: Top10ner's 1001 'Greatest' Movies of All Time IMDb. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
In 2021, the film ranked 2nd on ESPN's "Top 20 Sports Movies of All-Time". Top 20 Sports Movies of All-Time ESPN. Retrieved September 1, 2024. In 2024, Forbes magazine ranked Rocky #1 on their list of "The 42 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time". The 42 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time Forbes. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
British film site CinemaBlend ranked Rocky and Creed #1 and #17 respectively on their list of "The 25 Best Sports Movies". The 25 Best Sports Movies Future plc. Retrieved September 1, 2024. On their list of "100 Best Movies of All Time", entertainment news website Collider ranked Rocky #94, Collider's 100 Best Movies of All Time, Ranked — 100 Through 81 Collider. Retrieved November 12, 2024. and on their list of "The 30 Greatest Sports Movies of All Time", Collider ranked the film #2. The 30 Best Sports Movies of All Time, Ranked Collider. Retrieved September 1, 2024. On their list of the "Top 25 Sports Movies of All Time", entertainment Online newspaper MovieWeb ranked Rocky #4. Top 25 Sports Movies of All Time, Ranked MovieWeb. Retrieved September 1, 2024. MovieWeb also ranked the film #3 on their list of the "20 Movies That Represent American Culture". 20 Movies That Represent American Culture MovieWeb. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
On their list of "The 150 Best Sports Movies of All Time", Rotten Tomatoes ranked Rocky #17 and Creed #2. 150 Best Sports Movies of All Time Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 1, 2024. Men's Health included Rocky on their list of the "50 of the Absolute Best Sports Movies Ever Made". 50 of the Absolute Best Sports Movies Ever Made Men's Health. Retrieved September 1, 2024. British GQ ranked the film #1 on their list of "The 22 Best Sports Movies". The 22 Best Sports Movies, Ranked British GQ. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
Differing opinions of the statue and its placement led to a relocation to the sidewalk outside the 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 (although this time it was placed at the bottom of the steps). Later that year, it was moved permanently to a spot next to the steps.
The scene is frequently parodied in other media. In the 2008 movie You Don't Mess with the Zohan, Zohan's nemesis, Phantom, goes through a parody training sequence finishing with him running up a desert dune and raising his hands in victory. In the fourth-season finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as the credits roll at the end of the episode, Will is seen running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; however, as he celebrates after finishing his climb, he passes out in exhaustion, and while he lies unconscious on the ground, a pickpocket steals his wallet and his wool hat. In The Nutty Professor, there is a scene where Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) struggles to, and eventually succeeds at, running up a lengthy flight of steps on his college campus, victoriously throwing punches at the top.
In 2006, E! named the "Rocky Steps" scene number 13 on its 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment list.
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.
Stallone later hand-picked Johnson to direct and produce a Documentary film on the making of the original Rocky, entitled , which was released in 2020. The documentary features Stallone narrating behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the film.Drown, Michelle. "John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs Director Derek Wayne Johnson" , The Santa Barbara Independent, Santa Barbara, CA, January 26, 2017. Retrieved on February 16, 2017.
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