Rocky

Rocky

Director: John G. Avildsen

Screenplay: Sylvester Stallone 

Rocky was a cinematic masterpiece.  Winning Best Picture for the Academy Awards in 1976, Rocky was the first Sport-related film to accomplish this. Instead of just focusing primarily on the boxing aspect, the film was the true rags to a richer story. It followed the story of a Boxer in Philadelphia named Rocky Balboa (played by Sylvester Stallone).  He worked as an enforcer for loan sharks and often visited the local pet shop for some fish food to chat up with Adrian (played by Talia Shire), who Rocky felt heated for. He boxes at a local gym every couple of weekends for a small pay of 50$. 

However, everything changes once the reigning Heavyweight Champion of the world, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) puts out an challenge to Rocky to let him have a shot at the title and give a nobody a chance to become a somebody.  Rocky initially declined the invitation but later changes his mind to take the shot at it.  He then went to train with Mickey (Burgess Meredith), which was the icing of the movie.  However, this is where the movie truly shined, as it was able to show his rigorous training, as well as it follow him outside of the gym.  His relationship with his lover Adrian grew, while him and his best friend Paulie (Burt Young) who is also Adrian's brother, is starting to deteriorate.  

 One of the most iconic sequences is the training montage.  Accompanying this is the equally iconic Rocky theme song. Following this is the fight, which showed Apollo Creed come out strong against Rocky.  It looked like the fight would be over before it started, but Apollo's cockiness came back to haunt him.  Rocky had the champion on the ropes, all up until the final bell in the 15th round, making Rocky the first man to ever go the distance with Apollo. The ending scene truly embodies what this film is.  As Rocky stands in the ring hurt, bloodied, and messed up, he shouts for his girlfriend. She pushes through the massive crowd and finally makes it in to the ring, where they exchanged I love you's and kiss. And all of this took place while they announced Apollo Creed had one the fight.  But this is what makes this movie special and unique, especially for its time.  The focus wasn't on the fight or on becoming the champion.  It was truly the story of an underdog and fighting against the odds, while also maintaining a captivating and genuine love story.  A cinematic masterpiece.