Rocky | |
---|---|
Directed by | John G. Avildsen |
Written by | Sylvester Stallone |
Produced by | Robert Chartoff Irwin Winkler |
Starring | Sylvester Stallone Talia Shire Burt Young Carl Weathers Burgess Meredith |
Edited by | Richard Halsey Scott Conrad |
Music by | Bill Conti |
Distributed by | United Artists |
Release dates | November 21, 1976 |
Running time | 119 min. |
Language | English |
Budget | US$1,100,000 |
Rocky (1976) is a film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone as an underdog boxer. It tells the rags-to-riches American Dream story of Italian-American "Rocky Balboa", a slightly dim-witted but good-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in Philadelphia with a talent for boxing, who gets a shot at the world heavyweight title. John G. Avildsen directed the film, and later won an Oscar as a result. The film was an unexpected sleeper hit [2] garnering rave reviews, which helped to launch Stallone's career.
Made for a budget of only $1.1 million dollars and shot in only 28 days,[3] the film went on to make over US $117.2 million[4] at the box office and spawn four sequels. Production of a sixth installment in the series, to be titled Rocky Balboa, and again starring and directed by Stallone, was announced by MGM/Sony in October 2005 and is expected to be released on December 22, 2006.[5]
Production
The original concept for Rocky was envisioned by Sylvester Stallone after he witnessed a fight between Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner;[1] the idea of one man going the distance and putting up a fierce fight against all odds appealed to Stallone and he began writing the script for Rocky. One day while at a casting call for Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, Stallone brought up his idea for Rocky; Winkler was impressed with this concept and asked Stallone to come back with the script. Although Winkler and Chartoff liked the script, they were initially reluctant to allow Stallone to play the part of "Rocky Balboa", considering instead other big name actors such as Ryan O'Neal, James Caan, Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds. Stallone accepted this fact at first, but once the payment for the part exceeded US$350,000, Stallone decided that he would audition.[1]
However, the producers had trouble casting other key characters in the story. Both Talia Shire and Carl Weathers were cast very late by production standards, although they both were cast on the same day. According to the Rocky Scrapbook, actress Carrie Snodgress was the original pick to play Adrian, until a money dispute forced the producers to look elswhere. Shortly thereafter, Shire's audition impressed both the producers and Stallone; her appearance, acting and even voice were seen to fit the part of "Adrian" perfectly. The character of "Apollo Creed" was initially going to be played by Ken Norton, but when he pulled out, Carl Weathers auditioned. Impressed with Weathers's attitude, body, and voice, Stallone insisted that he play the part.[1]
Certain elements of Rocky's original script were changed prior to its release. The film was originally meant to have a much darker tone. Mickey, for example, was originally portrayed as a very racist man, and the ending of Rocky, as originally written, had Rocky throw the fight after realizing he did not want to be part of the professional boxing world.[1]
Garrett Brown's Steadicam, a camera attached to a weighted system of pulleys so that it would not shake while its operator ran, was used for the first time in this movie, during Rocky's training run up the flights of stairs.[6] The final fight scene was fought in reverse order, with the actors starting out in heavy make-up, which eventually wore off as the scenes were shot.[7]
Plot
Template:Spoiler Rocky Balboa is a dead-end, "bottom of the barrel" Italian-American from South Philadelphia, who is going nowhere in life. He works days as an enforcer for a loan shark and as a boxer at night. With the nation's bicentennial approaching, and scheduled opponent injured, the undefeated heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) searches for a new opponent for the bout on the nation's birthday. With all the deserving competitors unavailable for one reason or another, Creed comes up with the idea that he will fight a local Philadelphia underdog and selects Rocky, and by doing so give him a chance at the title.
Creed sees the whole thing as a joke and a spectacle rather than a fight. At first, his attitude seems justified. In the time leading up to the fight, Rocky trains with 1920s-era bantamweight fighter Mickey Goldmill, played by Burgess Meredith, but Rocky initially shows little in the way of either ability or true desire. However, Rocky soon falls in love with his best friend Paulie's sister, Adrian (Talia Shire), and a new-found focus and determination is sparked within him. After rededicating himself to intense training, Rocky is ready to take his million-to-one shot at the title. Nonetheless, the night before the match, Rocky admits to Adrian that he believes he cannot actually win.
Creed arrives at the stadium, dressed as George Washington. He then removes this outfit to reveal an Uncle Sam costume, to which the crowd and commentators react with surprise. In the first round, Creed treats the match as a joke until Rocky catches him with a left hook that throws Creed on his back and knocks him down. A great achievement as no-one had ever even knocked Creed over, let alone in the first minutes. From that point on, Creed takes the match seriously as does Rocky even more so. The fight continues for all fifteen rounds, Rocky and Creed suffering severe injuries. As the fight ends, Creed, disbelieving but respectful of what Rocky has done, embraces Rocky and says to him in exhaustion, "Ain't gonna be no rematch." Rocky, answers back, "Don't want one." The film concludes with Rocky calling out to Adrian and eventually, as she makes her way to the ring, telling her that he loves her; as in the background Apollo Creed is announced the winner by split decision. Template:Endspoiler
Cast
Main Cast
- Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa: Rocky is a failed boxer turned debt collector, who is given a second chance when Apollo Creed gives him an opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title. While training for the bout, he falls in love with Adrian.
- Talia Shire as Adrian: Adrian is a quiet pet store attendant whom Rocky falls for. Initially she doesn't reciprocate Rocky's feelings, but eventually she too falls in love.
- Burt Young as Paulie: Paulie is Adrian's loud and boorish brother, who works as a freezing worker. He assists Rocky by letting him practice his punches by pounding carcasses in the storehouse.
- Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed: Rocky's opponent. Once his original opponent for the heavyweight fight pulls out, Apollo comes up with the idea of giving a nobody a chance at the title. Muhammed Ali heavily influenced his larger-than-life character.[1]
- Burgess Meredith as Mickey : Owner of a local boxing gym, he insists on assisting Rocky to win the title, even though he gave up on Rocky earlier.
Cameo appearances
Given the inevitable comparison between the outspoken Apollo Creed and the real-life outspoken Muhammad Ali, one interesting detail is the cameo appearance of Joe Frazier, a former world heavyweight champion who fought Ali three times, as himself. Frazier accuses Creed of "dodging him" prior to the start of the match with Rocky. Stallone invited all boxing heavyweight champions to participate in the cameo, with Joe Frazier being the only one who accepted the invitation. In that year's Academy Awards, Ali had a small comic scene of confronting Stallone onstage, which ended amiably to make it clear that he was not offended by the film.
Due to the film's low budget, members of Sylvester Stallone's family were used to play certain minor parts; his father appears as a bell ringer (a person who signals when a round begins and ends), his brother was used as a street corner singer and Stallone's first wife was the set photographer.[1] Other cameos included Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the longest running independent film company Troma, makes an appearance as a drunk.
Reception
Reviews
After its release in 1976, Rocky received mostly positive reviews, with it being very well received by the Directors Guild of America[1] and regular reviewers. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Rocky 4 out of 4 stars [8] and Box Office Magazine claimed that audiences would be "...touting Sylvester (Sly) Stallone as a new star." [9]. However, Vincent Canby of the New York Times called it "Pure '30's make believe" and slammed both Stallone's acting performance and called Alvidson's direction "...none too decisive..." [10] Today, the film enjoys a positive reputation as a classic and still receives generally positive reviews. The movie website IMDb gives Rocky a 7.8 out of 10 rating [11] and Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 100% fresh rating [12]. In Steven J. Schneider's 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Schneider says the film is "often overlooked as schmaltz." [13]
Awards
Rocky won the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture and earned Stallone a nomination for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. John G. Avildsen also won the award for Best Director, and Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad won the Academy Award for Film Editing. Talia Shire was nominated for Best Actress while Burt Young and Burgess Meredith were both nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
The American Film Institute frequently places Rocky in its 100 Years lists, placing it at number 78 of its AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies [14], at number 4 for AFI's 100 Years... 100 Cheers.[15] it placed the line "Yo, Adrian" at number 80 on its AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes.[16] and put the character of Rocky Balboa at number 7 (of the heroes section) on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains [17]
In 2006, Sylvester Stallone's original screenplay for Rocky was selected by the Writers Guild of America as the 78th best screenplay of all time. [18]
Influence
In 1982 a statue, commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III of Rocky was placed at the top of Philadelphia Museum of Art steps (The steps Stallone ran up in the movie). Following its placement atop the steps City Commerce Director Dick Doran claimed that Stallone and Rocky had done more for the city's image than "anyone since Ben Franklin". However differing opinions of the statue and its placement led to it being moved to the sidewalk outside the Philadelphia Spectrum Arena. The statue was moved back to the top of the steps for Rocky V before being moved back to the Spectrum after it closed. In 2006 the statue was moved back to the Art Museum to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the original Rocky movie, but this time the statue was placed at the bottom of the steps[19].
The famous scene of Rocky running up the steps to the museum has become a cultural icon. During E! Channel's 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment the scene was placed at number 13 on the list[20]. During the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay, Philadelphia native Dawn Staley was chosen to run up the museum steps. The scene is also frequently parodied amongst the media. In the Simpsons episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can", Lisa Simpson runs up a flight of stairs, just as Stallone did in Rocky, during her training run, while wearing a similar tracksuit to the one worn by Rocky[21].
Music
Rocky's soundtrack was composed by Bill Conti with the main theme song "Gonna Fly Now" making it to number one on the Billboard Magazines Hot 100 list for one week (from 2nd of July to the 8th of July 1977) [22] and was placed at number 58 by the American Film Institute on its AFI's 100 Years... 100 Songs [23]. The complete soundtrack was re-released in 1988 by EMI on CD and Cassette [24]. Every Rocky film since (with the execption of Rocky IV) has been composed by Bill Conti, who will return for the sixth installment Rocky Balboa [25]
Video Games
The film has also been made into multiple video games; the first Rocky video game was released by Coleco for Colecovision in 1983. [26] Another was released in 1987 for the Sega Master System. More recently, a Rocky video game was released in 2002 for the Nintendo Gamecube, Sony Playstation 2, and Microsoft Xbox, and a sequel released in 2004 for the Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Sylvester Stallone (2000). Rocky Gold Edition Video Commentary (DVD). Australia: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
- ^ "Inside the Actors Studio with Sylvester Stallone". Retrieved 28 September.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Rocky Movie Gross @ Screen Source". Retrieved 23 September.
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suggested) (help) - ^ ""Rocky Trivia"". Retrieved 24 August.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Roger Ebert Rocky Review". January 1 1977. Retrieved 23 September.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Box Office Magazine Rocky Review". November 22 1976. Retrieved 23 September.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "AFI 100 Heroes and Villains". Retrieved 11 October.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "E! Channel's 101 Most Awesome Moments in Entertainment". Retrieved 23 September.
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