Sylvester Stallone was no more than a struggling bit-part and support actor when he conceived this fairy tale boxing drama, based partly on his own experience and determination to do better in life. He was anything but after the release of this film, which surprised everyone at the 1977 Academy Awards when it beat out the likes of ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN to secure the Best Picture Oscar.
Based in part of the Muhammad Ali / Chuck Wepner fight, which Stallone alleges he used what was left of his $105 in his bank account to view in a theatre in closed-circuit, the story tells of Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a struggling boxer based in Philadelphia who loses his locker for the sake of another seemingly more promising contender at his local gym, run by Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith).
Rocky has a soft spot for Adrian (Talia Shire), a bespectacled pet store assistant, but has to deal with her overbearing brother, Paulie (Burt Young), who wants to become a debt collector like Rocky for a local gangster, Gazzo (Joe Spinell). Meanwhile, Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) is struggling to find a rank contender for his celebration bout – and on a sentimental whim picks Rocky as an alternative thinking he will be a good show. However Rocky, seizing the chance, sees it as more than a showcase…
A low-budget offering that was nothing more than a business proposition for producers Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler, who claimed in a recent book, that the film filled a certain production criteria for them, the film transcended audience and critical success, yielding several sequels and two sub-sequels in the CREED pair of films, with Rocky as a supporting character.
The sequels were hugely successful, but all kept the same spirit of the original in terms of yielding a positive message and thinking all lives are a million to one shot – and anything is possible.