Rocky

Released: November 21, 1976

Studio: United Artists

Genre: sports

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 117.24 Worldwide: ?

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 540.00 Worldwide: 946.70

Directing: John G. Avildsen

Screenwriting: Sylvester Stallone

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Burgess Meredith, Carl Weathers

Review:

Sylvester Stallone championed his own script, fighting to get the movie made on his terms. He “was an unbankable unknown at the time – an underdog actor/writer in the film industry (with 32 previously-rejected scripts).” ^FS The result is that “Rocky Balboa, the under-classed boxer from Philadelphia,” ^A98 has become “an American film icon” ^A98 “a character so convincing and emotionally absorbing” ^E18 that he spawned a series of sequels lasting more than four decades.

Stallone wrote the script for the “action-packed, feel-good crowd-pleasing story” in three days. ^FS It was filmed over 28 days, mostly on location in Philadelphia, with a mere million-dollar budget. It went on to gross more than $100 million. ^FS

Apollo Creed (Weathers), the world heavyweight champ, decides to pull a publicity stunt by giving an unknown boxer a shot at the championship belt. Rocky proves to be a more formidable match than Creed imagined in this “fairy-tale, Cinderella rags-to-riches story” ^FS in which Rocky “proves that winning isn’t the most important thing (you gotta go the distance).” ^E18 He’s aided by “his wily and irascible boxing coach” ^A98 Mickey (Meredith) and supported by Adrian (Shire), his new “shy, hesitant, loving girlfriend.” ^FS

Sources:

^A98 American Film Institute (1998). “AFI’s 100 Years, 100 Movies”
^E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies”
^FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists:

Dave’s Movie Database Lists:

Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:

Box Office:

Awards:

Oscars:

Wins: 3 – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Film Editing

Nominations: 10 – including Best Actor (Stallone), Best Actress (Shire), Best Supporting Actor (Young), Best Supporting Actor (Meredith), Best Original Screenplay, Best Song (“Gonna Fly Now”), Best Sound Editing