''Rocky'' is a 1976 American
sports drama
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the sp ...
film directed by
John G. Avildsen
John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) was an American film director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''Rocky'' (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and the first three ''The Karate Kid'' fil ...
and written by and starring
Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the
''Rocky'' franchise and stars
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'', Shir ...
,
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 f ...
,
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 Ja ...
, 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 ...
. In the film,
Rocky Balboa (Stallone), an uneducated, small-time
club fighter
A club fighter (or clubfighter) is a professional boxer who usually fights locally and has a mediocre record. Club fighters generally are not nationally recognized and have not won any fights that show the ability to win a championship. The term ...
and debt collector gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship held by
Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
(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
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
eventually agreed to cast Stallone after he rejected a six figure deal for the
film rights
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in January 1976, with filming primarily held in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
; several locations featured in the film, such as the
Rocky Steps
The 72 stone steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have become known as the "Rocky Steps" as a result of a scene from the 1976 film ''Rocky''. Tourists often mimic Rocky's famous climb ...
, are now considered cultural landmarks.
With an estimated production budget of under $1 million, ''Rocky'' popularized the
rags to riches
Rags to riches refers to any situation in which a person rises from poverty to wealth, and in some cases from absolute obscurity to heights of fame, fortune and celebrity—sometimes instantly. This is a common archetype in literature and popul ...
and
American Dream themes of sports dramas which preceded the film.
''Rocky'' was premiered in New York City on November 21, 1976, and was theatrically released in the United States by United Artists on December 3. Rocky became the
highest-grossing film of 1976, earning approximately $225 million worldwide. The film received critical acclaim toward Stallone's writing, performance and the story; among other accolades, it received ten
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations and won three, including
Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
.
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 film ever made. ''Rocky'' and its theme song have become a
pop-cultural phenomenon and an important part of
1970s American popular culture spawning
a film series as well as a series of video games and merchandise.
In 2006, the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...
selected ''Rocky'' for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Plot
In 1975, the
heavyweight boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
world champion,
Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
, announces plans to hold a
title bout in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
during the upcoming
United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...
. However, he is informed five weeks from the fight date that his scheduled opponent Mac Lee Green is unable to compete due to an injured hand. With all other potential replacements booked up or otherwise unavailable, Creed decides to spice things up by giving a local contender a chance to challenge him.
Creed selects
Rocky Balboa, an Italian American
journeyman
A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...
southpaw boxer who fights primarily in small gyms and works as a collector for a loan shark. Rocky meets with
promoter George Jergens assuming that Creed is seeking local
sparring partners. 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
punching bag
A punching bag (or, British English, punchbag) is a sturdy bag designed to be repeatedly punched. A punching bag is usually cylindrical, and filled with various materials of suitable hardness.
History
Punching bags have been used in martial ar ...
s.
Rocky is later approached by Mickey Goldmill, a former
bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...
fighter who turned trainer and whose gym Rocky frequents, about further training. Rocky is not willing initially, as Mickey has not shown much interest in helping him before and sees him as a wasted talent, but eventually Rocky accepts the offer.
Rocky begins to build a romantic relationship with Adrian Pennino, who is working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish
pet shop. Adrian's brother and Rocky's best friend, Paulie, helps Rocky get a date with his sister and offers to work as a corner man with him for the fight. Paulie becomes jealous of Rocky's success, but Rocky placates him by agreeing to advertise the
meat packing business where Paulie works as part of the upcoming fight. The night before the fight, a sleepless Rocky visits the Philadelphia Spectrum and begins to lose confidence. He confesses to Adrian that he does not believe he can win, but strives to
go the distance
"Go the Distance" is a song from Disney's 1997 animated feature film, ''Hercules''. It was written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist David Zippel, and originally recorded by American actor Roger Bart in his film role as the singing voice of He ...
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
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
and then
Uncle Sam
Uncle Sam (which has the same initials as ''United States'') is a common national personification of the federal government of the United States or the country in general. Since the early 19th century, Uncle Sam has been a popular symbol of ...
. 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. 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, with both fighters embracing each other, they promise each other there will be no rematch.
After the fight, the sportscasters and the audience go wild. Jergens announces over the loudspeaker that the fight was "the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring", and Rocky calls out repeatedly for Adrian, who runs down and comes 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.
Cast
![Sylvester_Stallone_-_1977](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Sylvester_Stallone_-_1977.jpg)
*
Sylvester Stallone as
Robert "Rocky" Balboa
*
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'', Shir ...
as
Adriana "Adrian" Pennino
*
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 f ...
as
Paulie Pennino
This is a list of characters from the ''Rocky'' film series, consisting of ''Rocky'' (1976), ''Rocky II'' (1979), ''Rocky III'' (1982), ''Rocky IV'' (1985), '' Rocky V'' (1990), ''Rocky Balboa'' (2006), ''Creed'' (2015), ''Creed II'' (2018) and ...
*
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 Ja ...
as
Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
*
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 ...
as
Michael "Mickey" Goldmill
*
Thayer David
Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey; March 4, 1927 – July 17, 1978) was an American film, stage, and television actor. He was best known for his work on the ABC serial ''Dark Shadows'' (1966–1971), and as the fight promoter Miles ...
as
George "Miles" Jergens
*
Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell (born Joseph Spagnuolo; October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American character actor who appeared in films in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as various stage productions on and off Broadway. He played supporting roles in ''The ...
as
Tony Gazzo
*
Tony Burton
Anthony Mabron Burton (March 23, 1937 – February 25, 2016) was an American actor and boxer. He was known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' films.
Early life
Burton was born in Flint, Michigan. He had a y ...
as
Tony "Duke" Evers
This is a list of characters from the ''Rocky'' film series, consisting of ''Rocky'' (1976), '' Rocky II'' (1979), ''Rocky III'' (1982), ''Rocky IV'' (1985), ''Rocky V'' (1990), '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), '' Creed'' (2015), ''Creed II'' (2018) a ...
*
Pedro Lovell as
Spider Rico
*
Stan Shaw as "Big Dipper" Brown
*
Joe Frazier as Himself
Production
Development and writing
Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for ''Rocky'' in three and a half days, shortly after watching the championship match between
Muhammad Ali and
Chuck Wepner
Charles Wepner (born February 26, 1939) is an American former professional boxer. He fell just nineteen seconds short of a full fifteen rounds against world heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in a 1975 championship fight. Wepner also scored notab ...
that took place at
Richfield Coliseum
Richfield Coliseum, also known as the Coliseum at Richfield, was an indoor arena located in Richfield Township, Summit County, Ohio, Richfield Township, between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio. It opened in 1974 as a replacement for the Cleveland Arena ...
in
Richfield, Ohio
Richfield is a village in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,648 at the 2010 census. The village and the adjacent Richfield Township are approximately equidistant between the downtown areas of Akron and Cleveland. It is ...
, on March 24, 1975. Wepner was
TKO'd in the 15th round of the match by Ali, with few expecting him to last as long as he did. Despite the match motivating Stallone to begin work on ''Rocky'', he has denied Wepner provided any inspiration for the script.
Other inspiration for the film may have included characteristics of real-life boxers
Rocky Marciano
Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), better known as Rocky Marciano (, ), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the onl ...
and
Joe Frazier, as well as
Rocky Graziano
Thomas Rocco Barbella (January 1, 1919 – May 22, 1990), better known as Rocky Graziano, was an American professional boxer and actor who held the World Middleweight title. Graziano is considered one of the greatest knockout artists in boxing hi ...
's autobiography ''Somebody Up There Likes Me'' and
the movie of the same name. Wepner sued Stallone, and eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.
Henry Winkler, Stallone's co-star in ''
The Lords of Flatbush
''The Lords of Flatbush'' (stylized on-screen as ''The Lord's of Flatbush'') is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Davidson and Stephen F. Verona. The film stars Perry King, Sylvester Stallone, Paul Mace and Henry Winkler. Stallone ...
'' who then broke out as
Arthur Fonzarelli on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's ''
Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
'', 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 re-write 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. 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.
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the stud ...
liked Stallone's script and viewed it as a vehicle for a well-established star like
Robert Redford,
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
,
Burt Reynolds, or
James Caan
James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Suppo ...
. 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
Irwin Winkler (born May 28, 1931) is an American film producer and director. He is the producer or director of over 58 motion pictures, dating back to 1967's '' Double Trouble'', starring Elvis Presley. The fourth film he produced, '' They Shoot ...
and
Robert Chartoff
Robert Irwin Chartoff (August 26, 1933 – June 10, 2015) was an American film producer and philanthropist.
Early life and education
Chartoff was born on August 26, 1933 in New York City, the son of Bessie and William Chartoff. His family was J ...
'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).
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.
Pre-production
Although Chartoff and Winkler were enthusiastic about the script and the idea of Stallone playing the lead character, they were hesitant about having an unknown headline the film. The producers also had trouble casting other major characters in the story, with Apollo Creed and Adrian cast unusually late by production standards. Real-life boxer
Ken Norton was initially sought for the role of
Apollo Creed
Apollo Creed is a fictional character from the ''Rocky'' films, played by Carl Weathers.
He serves as the main antagonist in ''Rocky'' and '' Rocky II'' and also appears in ''Rocky III'' and ''Rocky IV''. He is a tough but agile boxer w ...
, but he pulled out and the role was ultimately given to
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 Ja ...
. Norton, upon whom Creed was loosely based, fought Muhammad Ali three times. According to ''The Rocky Scrapbook'',
Carrie Snodgress was originally chosen to play Adrian, but a money dispute forced the producers to look elsewhere.
Susan Sarandon
Susan Abigail Sarandon (; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actorMcCabe, Bruce"Susan Sarandon, the 'actor'" ''Boston Globe''. April 17, 1981. Retrieved January 21, 2021. and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, ...
auditioned for the role but was deemed too pretty for the character. After
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'', Shir ...
's ensuing audition, Chartoff and Winkler, and director
John Avildsen
John Guilbert Avildsen (December 21, 1935 – June 16, 2017) was an American film director. He is perhaps best known for directing ''Rocky'' (1976), which earned him the Academy Award for Best Director, and the first three ''The Karate Kid'' fil ...
,
insisted that she play the part.
Boxer Joe Frazier has a
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
in the film. Outspoken boxer Muhammad Ali, who fought Frazier three times, influenced the character of Apollo Creed. During the
49th Academy Awards
The 49th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 28, 1977, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Richard Pryor, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty. ''Network'' and '' Al ...
ceremony in 1977, Ali and Stallone staged a brief comic confrontation to show the film did not offend Ali. 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 from the real-life exploits of Joe Frazier, for which he received no credit.
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
Frank or Franks may refer to:
People
* Frank (given name)
* Frank (surname)
* Franks (surname)
* Franks, a medieval Germanic people
* Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang
Curr ...
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
Stu Nahan (June 23, 1926 – December 26, 2007) was an American sportscaster best known for his television broadcasting career in Los Angeles from the 1950s through the 1990s. He is also remembered for his role as a boxing commentator in the firs ...
playing himself, alongside radio and TV broadcaster Bill Baldwin; and
Lloyd Kaufman
Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featur ...
, founder of the independent film company
Troma
Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, primarily of the horror comedy genre. Many of them pl ...
, 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
Anthony Mabron Burton (March 23, 1937 – February 25, 2016) was an American actor and boxer. He was known for his role as Tony "Duke" Evers in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' films.
Early life
Burton was born in Flint, Michigan. He had a y ...
appears as Apollo Creed's trainer,
Tony "Duke" Evers
This is a list of characters from the ''Rocky'' film series, consisting of ''Rocky'' (1976), '' Rocky II'' (1979), ''Rocky III'' (1982), ''Rocky IV'' (1985), ''Rocky V'' (1990), '' Rocky Balboa'' (2006), '' Creed'' (2015), ''Creed II'' (2018) a ...
, a role he would reprise throughout the entire ''Rocky'' series, though the character is not named until ''Rocky II''.
Michael Dorn
Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American actor best known for his role as the Klingon Worf in the '' Star Trek'' franchise. He has appeared more times as a regular cast member than any other ''Star Trek'' actor in the franchise's hist ...
, who would later gain fame as the
Klingon
The Klingons ( ; Klingon: ''tlhIngan'' ) are a fictional species in the science fiction franchise ''Star Trek''.
Developed by screenwriter Gene L. Coon in 1967 for the original ''Star Trek'' (''TOS'') series, Klingons were swarthy humanoids c ...
Worf
Worf, son of Mogh is a fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' franchise. He appears in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' (''TNG'') and seasons four through seven of ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (''DS9'') as well as t ...
in ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and ''
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', made his acting debut, albeit uncredited, as Creed's bodyguard.
Filming
Principal photography for ''Rocky'' began on January 9, 1976. Filming took place primarily throughout Philadelphia, with a few scenes being shot in Los Angeles. Inventor
Garrett Brown
Garrett Brown (born April 6, 1942) is an American inventor, best known as the creator of the Steadicam. Brown's invention allows camera operators to film while walking without the normal shaking and jostles of a handheld camera. The Steadicam wa ...
's new
Steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement, keeping th ...
was used to accomplish smooth photography while running alongside Rocky during the film's Philadelphia street training sequences and the run up the Art Museum's flight of stairs, now colloquially known as the
Rocky Steps
The 72 stone steps leading up to the entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have become known as the "Rocky Steps" as a result of a scene from the 1976 film ''Rocky''. Tourists often mimic Rocky's famous climb ...
. It was also used for some shots in the fight scenes and can be seen at the ringside during some wide shots of the final fight. ''Rocky'' is often erroneously cited as the first film to use the Steadicam, although it was actually the third, after ''
Bound for Glory'' and ''
Marathon Man''.
Certain elements of the story were altered during filming. The original script had a darker tone: Mickey was portrayed as
racist, 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 only because of budgetary pressures. This scene was originally scheduled to be shot in a skating rink during regular business hours. However, the producers decided they could not afford to hire the hundreds of extras that would have been necessary for that scene.
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, he is told that "it doesn't really matter, does it?" According to director Avildsen's DVD commentary, this was an actual mistake made by the props department that they could not afford to rectify, so Stallone wrote the brief scene 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.
Music
Soundtrack
Bill Conti
William Conti (born April 13, 1942) is an American composer and conductor, best known for his film scores, including ''Rocky'' (and four of its sequels), ''The Karate Kid'' (and all of its sequels), '' For Your Eyes Only'', ''Dynasty'' (and its ...
composed the
musical score for ''Rocky''. He had composed a score for director John G. Avildsen's ''
W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings
''W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings'' is a 1975 American comedy film directed by John G. Avildsen, starring Burt Reynolds, and written by Thomas Rickman. The 20th Century Fox film features the acting debut of Jerry Reed.
Plot
In 1957, W.W. Bright (B ...
'' (1975) that the studio ultimately rejected.
David Shire
David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', ''The Conversation'' and ''All ...
(then-husband of Talia Shire) was the first to be offered the chance to compose the music for ''Rocky'' but had to turn it down because of prior commitments. Avildsen reached out to Conti without any studio help because of the film's relatively low budget. Avildsen said, "The budget for the music was 25 grand. And that was for everything: The composer's fee, that was to pay the musicians, that was to rent the studio, that was to buy the tape that it was going to be recorded on."
The main
theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...
, "
Gonna Fly Now
"Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from ''Rocky''", is the theme song from the movie ''Rocky'', composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. Released in 1976 with ''Rocky ...
", 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
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B.
History Genres
In 1959, ...
released the soundtrack album on November 12, 1976.
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
re-released the album on
CD and
cassette
Cassette may refer to:
Technology
* Cassette tape (or ''musicassette'', ''audio cassette'', ''cassette tape'', or ''tape''), a worldwide standard for analog audio recording and playback
** Cassette single (or "Cassingle"), a music single in th ...
.
Frank Stallone's song "Take It Back" is also on the soundtrack, and he also sings the song in the movie with other friends around a trash can fire.
Release
Theatrical
The movie was released on Sunday, November 21, 1976, by United Artists at Cinema II in New York City.
Home media
* 1980 UK video release by Intervision
Betamax,
VHS (Rental Only)
* 1982 –
CED Videodisc
The Capacitance Electronic Disc (CED) is an analog video disc playback system developed by RCA, in which video and audio could be played back on a TV set using a special stylus and high-density groove system similar to phonograph records.
Fir ...
,
Betamax and
VHS; VHS release is rental only;
20th Century Fox Video release,
Warner Home Video
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros.
It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...
has rest of the World rights
* October 27, 1990 (
VHS and
LaserDisc)
* April 16, 1996 (VHS and LaserDisc)
* March 24, 1997 (
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
)
* April 24, 2001 (DVD, also packed with the Five-Disc Boxed Set)
* 2001 (VHS, 25th anniversary edition)
* December 14, 2004 (DVD, also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set)
* February 8, 2005 (DVD, also packed with the Rocky Anthology box set)
* December 5, 2006 (DVD and
Blu-ray Disc – 2-Disc Collector's Edition, the DVD was the first version released by Fox and was also packed with the ''Rocky'' Anthology box set and the Blu-ray was the first version released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment)
* December 4, 2007 (DVD box set – ''Rocky'' The Complete Saga. This new set contains the new ''Rocky Balboa'', but does not include the recent 2 disc ''Rocky''. There are still no special features for ''Rocky II'' through ''Rocky V'', although ''Rocky Balboa''s DVD special features are all intact.)
* November 3, 2009 (Blu-ray box set – ''Rocky'' The Undisputed Collection. This release included six films in a box set. Previously, only the first film and ''Rocky Balboa'' were available on the format. Those two discs are identical to their individual releases, and the set also contains a disc of bonus material, new and old alike.)
*May 6, 2014 - Blu-ray re-release with an all new 4K remaster and the previous special features of the old release.
* October 13, 2015 – Blu-ray box set, ''Rocky'' Heavyweight Collection 40th Anniversary Edition. All six films plus over three hours of bonus material, including the 4K remaster of the first film.
Reception
Box office
''Rocky'' grossed $5,488 on its opening day at Cinema II, a house record.
When it was released nationally, it grossed $5 million during its first wide weekend and consistently performed well for eight months and eventually reached $117 million at the North American box office. Adjusted for inflation in 2018, the film earned over $500 million in North America alone. Overseas, ''Rocky'' grossed $107 million, for a worldwide box office total of $225 million. With its production budget of just under $1 million, ''Rocky'' is notable for its worldwide
percentage return of over 11,000 percent. It was the
highest-grossing film released in 1976 in the United States and Canada and the second highest-grossing film of 1977, behind ''
Star Wars''.
Critical response
''Rocky'' received positive reviews at the time of its release.
Roger Ebert of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'' gave it 4 out of 4 stars and said that Stallone reminded him of "the young
Marlon Brando." ''Box Office Magazine'' claimed audiences would be "touting Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone as a new star".
Frank Rich
Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO.
Rich is curren ...
liked the film, calling it "almost 100 per cent
schmaltz
Schmaltz (also spelled schmalz or shmalz) is rendered (clarified) chicken or goose fat. It is an integral part of traditional Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, where it has been used for centuries in a wide array of dishes, such as chicken soup, lat ...
", but favoring it over the cynicism that was prevalent in movies at that time, although he referred to the plot as "gimmicky" and the script "heavy-handed". Several reviews, including
Richard Eder
Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic.
Life and career
For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...
's (as well as Canby's negative review), compared the work to that of
Frank Capra.
The film, however, did not escape criticism.
Vincent Canby
Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
, of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', called it "pure '30s make believe" and dismissed both Stallone's acting and Avildsen's directing, calling the latter "none too decisive".
Andrew Sarris
Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism.
Early life
Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...
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
James Austin Gleason (May 23, 1882 – April 12, 1959) was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter born in New York City. Gleason often portrayed "tough-talking, world-weary guys with a secret heart-of-gold."
Life and career
Gleason w ...
used to pick his teeth".
In modern times, the film enjoys a reputation as a classic and still receives nearly universal praise; ''Rocky'' holds a 91% "Certified Fresh" rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 69 reviews, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The site's 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." One of the positive online reviews came from the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
Films website, with both reviewer Almar Haflidason and BBC online users giving it 5/5 stars. In Steven J. Schneider's ''1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die'', Schneider says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz".
In 2006, the
for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
for best film of the year in 1976, and in 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for ''Rocky'' was selected for the
as the 78th best screenplay of all time.
"—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 ''
'' as one of ''The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time''. In contrast, in a 2005 poll by ''
'', Rocky was No. 9 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Pictures to Win Best Picture Oscar".
In 2015, ''
'' 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 ''
'' instead.
(1998) – #78.
(2006) – #4.
'' in 1979. Followed by ''
'' in 2018. Another sequel, titled ''
'', will be released in 2023; however, Stallone announced in April 2021 that he will not appear in the film.
In July 2019, Stallone said in an interview that there have been ongoing discussions about a prequel to the original film based on the life of a young Rocky Balboa.
has become a cultural icon, with the steps acquiring the vernacular title of "Rocky Steps". In 1982, a statue of Rocky, commissioned by Stallone for ''
. City Commerce Director
claimed that Stallone and Rocky had done more for the city's image than "anyone since
".
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 ''
'', 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 the media. In the 2008 movie ''
'', 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 ''
'', 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 ''
) 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,
named the "Rocky Steps" scene number 13 on its 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment list.
During the
was chosen to run up the museum steps. In
ended his pre-convention campaign at the foot of the steps before going to Boston to accept his party's nomination for president.
was released.
have been produced based on the film. ''
. A game titled ''
'', was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. In 2016,
released a mobile game named ''ROCKY'' for the iOS platform, with a planned 2017 release for Google Play and Amazon platforms.
, based on the film. The musical premiered in
, Germany in October 2012. It began performances at the
on February 11, 2014, and officially opened on March 13, 2014.
, and the fight's influence on the screenplay for ''Rocky''.
''Rocky'' is featured in the 2017 documentary ''John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs'' about Academy Award-winning ''Rocky'' director John G. Avildsen, directed and produced by
'', which was released in 2020. The documentary features Stallone narrating behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the film.