A One Mann’s Movies review of “Rocky”. (1976, 4*, 15).

As part 1 of my double bill this week, Everyman Salisbury very kindly showed as their “Throwback” screening the original 1974 classic Rocky, ahead of my Part 2 viewing tonight: I Play Rocky, the story of the making of this classic film.

(It was a bit of a mind-bending choice of Everyman to show, immediately before the film started, the trailer for I Play Rocky, since my brain got thoroughly confused. As Rocky started and we see Rocky sparring in the ring, I was thinking to myself “Bloody hell – he really DOES look exactly like Sylvester Stallone”… before realising my mistake and unscrambling my brain again!)

One Mann’s Movies Rating:

Plot:

Rocky “The Italian Stallion” Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) scrapes a living in Philadelphia by being a “leg-breaker” for a local loan shark, but in his spare time he trains in the local gym run by Mickey (Burgess Meredith). But in an almost unbelievable twist of fate, the current world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), needs to find an unknown Philly- lad to stage a show-fight with and Rocky gets selected.

Certification:

UK: 12A; US: PG. (From the BBFC website: “moderate violence, mouthed strong language, domestic abuse.”)

Talent:

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Thayer David, Joe Spinell, Jimmy Gambina, Jodi Letizia.

Directed by: John G. Avildsen.

Written by: Sylvester Stallone.

Running Time: 2h 0m.

Review:

Positives:

• The film has a really grimy feel of the bad side of Philadelphia. This is not the nicely polished tourist trail of the Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (although, ironically, the “Rocky steps have now joined that “must do” tourist itinerary!) You feel like you need to give your hands a good scrub after coming out of this film. (You’d like to think Stallone grew up in those backstreets, but he was actually New York born and though he moved to Philadelphia with his divorced mother, they lived in much more affluent suburbs.)
• The character of Rocky and his relationship to Adrian (Talia Shire), her sleazy brother Paulie (an excellent Burt Young) and the coach Mickey (Burgess Meridith), desperate for one last shot at achieving a triumph, is really nicely observed. Even though Rocky is a bit of a nasty piece of work (we see him letting one mark off a broken thumb, but how many more marks has he maimed?), he is cleverly painted as a tough guy with a soft heart, as typified through his gentle courting of the unbelievably shy Adrian and his pep-talk to backstreet ‘whore-to-be’ Marie (Jodi Letizia).
• The famous montage of Rocky training to get fit, culminating in that famous run through the street market and the triumphant climbing of the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (this time, not wheezing himself to near-death) is brilliantly uplifting, thanks to Bill Conti’s iconic music. Stallone must have wet himself hearing that score for the first time (I do hope this is shown in I Play Rocky!) since it is one of the most brilliant scores of the 1970’s. It’s astonishing that this DIDN’T get an Oscar nomination!
• The odd-couple love story between Rocky and Adrian (Talia Shire) is cute and touching and led to a Best Actress nomination for Shire as well as the Best Actor nomination for Stallone.
• The boxing match in the finale is again really exciting and engaging with its surprise twists and turns. The script cleverly doesn’t push itself TOO far into incredulity: the goal here pulls back from the ‘ultimate goal’. It’s much imitated aftermath – “A-D-R-I-A-NNNNN!” – is a bit bonkers!

Negatives:

• The pacing is sometimes patchy. Given it’s a best picture, the film slows down to a crawl in places.
• The whole story feels highly contrived: why on earth would Apollo Creed choose to fight an absolute nobody. But, hey, it’s a fantasy Cinderella movie!
• By today’s standards, the final boxing match lacks some finesse. Many of the ‘strikes’ of Creed on Rocky and Rocky on Creed obviously don’t connect. Compare and contrast with some of the more visceral boxing scenes in the likes of Creed.

Summary Thoughts:

The story behind the making of the film will be fascinating. For this was an incredible rags-to-riches story for Stallone. The film went on to be nominated for an incredible ten Oscar nominations, winning three of them. They were:

• Best Picture – WINNER
• Best Actor – Sylvester Stallone (he lost to Peter Finch for Network)
• Best Actress – Talia Shire (she lost to Faye Dunaway for Network)
• Best Supporting Actor – Burgess Meridith (he lost to Jason Robards for All the President’s Men, so no crime there)
• Best Supporting Actor – Burt Young (as above)
• Best Director – John G. Avildsen – WINNER
• Original Screenplay – Sylvester Stallone (he lost to Paddy Chayefsky for Network).
• Best Sound – 1977 Nominee Oscar
• Best Sound – Harry W. Tetrick, William L. McCaughey, Lyle J. Burbridge, Bud Alper (they lost to the team from All the President’s Men.)
• Best Film Editing – Richard Halsey, Scott Conrad – WINNER.
• Best Music, Original Song – “Gonna Fly Now” (lost to “Evergreen” from A Star is Born).

It was fascinating to see it on the big screen again. It was a film of its time and given it was up against All the President’s Men and Taxi Driver for Best Picture, I’m not sure the Academy – once again – made the right choice! But it still manages to pack a punch – pun intended – and to date has managed to spawn another 8 additional films, the last being Creed III in 2023.

I’m off to the cinema to see I Play Rocky in 30 minutes, so watch out for my review of that to follow!

Where to watch?

Trailer

The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hk-LYcavrw.

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