Rocky (1976)

• Add

Plot

In  1975, Rocky Balboa  is introduced as a small-time boxer and collector for Anthony Gazzo ( Joe Spinell), a loan shark, living in Philadelphia. The World Heavyweight Championship bout is scheduled for New Year's Day 1976, the year of the United States Bicentennial. When the opponent of undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed ( Carl Weathers) is injured, Creed comes up with the idea of fighting a local underdog and, because he likes Rocky's nickname, "The Italian Stallion", he selects the unknown fighter. He puts it in light by proclaiming "Apollo Creed meets 'The Italian Stallion'".

To prepare for the fight, Rocky trains with a 1920s-era ex- bantamweight fighter and gym owner, Mickey Goldmill ( Burgess Meredith), while Rocky's good friend, Paulie ( Burt Young), a meat-packing plant worker, lets him practice his punches on the carcasses hanging in the freezers. During training, Rocky dates Paulie's shy, quiet sister, Adrian ( Talia Shire) who works as a clerk in a local pet store. The night before the fight, Rocky confides in Adrian that he does not expect to beat Creed, and that all he wants is to go the distance with Creed (which no fighter has ever done), meaning that lasting 15 rounds (the typical scheduled length of championship fights at the time) against him would mean he "... wasn't just another bum from the neighborhood".

On New Years Day, the climatic boxing match begins. Creed does not initially take the fight seriously, but Rocky unexpectedly knocks him down in the first round and the match turns intense. The fight indeed lasts 15 rounds with each fighter suffering many injuries; as the final round bell sounds with both fighters locked in each other's arms, an exhausted Creed vows "Ain't gonna be no re-match", to which an equally spent Rocky replies "Don't want one". After the fight, Rocky calls out for Adrian, who runs down to the ring. As the ring announcer declares the fight for Apollo Creed by virtue of a split decision (8:7, 7:8, 9:6), Adrian and Rocky embrace while they profess their love to one another, not caring about the results of the fight. 
 

Casting

Because of the films incredibly low budget, they couldn't afford many actors, so Stallone tried to get some help from his family. His brother plays the street corner singer, his father plays a bell ringer and even Stallone's real dog appears in the movie as Rocky's dog, Butkus. 
 

Adrian

Talia Shire as Adrian

The crew had a hard time finding the right actress to play the role of Adrian. And at the last minute, Talia Shire came into the room. Stallone and Shire starting reading lines and Stallone felt a real chemistry between them. He believed that she was the best actress for the role, because he thought that she had the look and the perfect voice for the character. 
  

Apollo Creed

Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed

Carl Weathers got the role as Apollo Creed, the same day as Talia Shire. Originally,Ken Norton was supposed to play the role of Creed. But Norton said that he wanted to go to the ABC Superstar Competition and left the movie two nights before shooting. But Stallone has later stated that this was for the better because Weathers is the best Apollo Creed anyone could ask for. When Stallone and Weathers were reading the lines, Weathers said to Avildson (director) "I could do much better if you had a real actor reading with me". Avildson told him that Stallone is the actor who plays Rocky and he wrote the movie, and then Weathers went "Maybe he'll get better". Stallone replied "Hire him, please! That's exactly the attitude I'm looking for!"

Training montage and Rocky steps

The famous scene of Rocky with his hands in the air, looking over the city of Philadelphia.

Reception