''40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic'', also known as ''Becoming Rocky: The Birth of a Classic'', is a 2020 American short

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

directed by

Derek Wayne Johnson Derek Wayne Johnson (born February 23, 1983) is an American film director, screenwriter, editor and producer. Early life and education Born and raised in Carthage, Texas, Johnson began making short films at an early age, winning several award ...

about the making of the original ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American 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 stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

''.

Story

The film tells the story of

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

and the creation of the first Rocky film when he was an unknown actor. It is narrated by Sylvester Stallone as he takes the audience through rare and never-before-seen home movies, rehearsal footage and behind the scenes footage, giving insight into how the low budget fan-favorite film was made.

Cast

The film is narrated by Stallone with archive footage starring the Rocky cast, including

Talia Shire Talia Rose Shire (née Coppola; born April 25, 1946) is an American actress who played roles as Connie Corleone in ''The Godfather'' films and Adrian Balboa in the ''Rocky'' series. For her work in ''The Godfather Part II'' and ''Rocky'', Shire ...

Burt Young Gerald Tommaso DeLouise (born April 30, 1940), known professionally as Burt Young, is an American actor, author and painter. He played Rocky Balboa's brother-in-law and best friend Paulie Pennino in the ''Rocky'' film series. He was nominated for ...

Carl Weathers Carl Weathers (born January 14, 1948) is an American actor and former professional football player. He is known for his roles as boxer Apollo Creed in the first four ''Rocky'' films (1976–85), George Dillon in ''Predator'' (1987), Action Jac ...

and

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

Production

Talking about the making of the film, Johnson describes how the series of events conspired that meant he was hand picked by Stallone to create this documentary.

Distribution

''40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic'' was originally acquired by MGM for their streaming platform Epix, but has also been subsequently released on Transactional Video on Demand platforms Amazon and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

in the US and Canada by Virgil Films and as ''Becoming Rocky: The Birth of a Classic'' internationally by Branded Studios.

Reception

References

External links

* * {{Rocky 2020 films 2020 short documentary films American short documentary films Documentary films about films Rocky (film series) mass media Documentary films about boxing 2020s English-language films 2020s American films