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Rocky receives a freak opportunity: a match with world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), a flamboyant black man seeking to promote Rocky as the next Great White Hope. As Rocky gets into shape, his manager Mickey wonders, can he actually beat a distracted Apollo Creed?
How I felt about it. The story behind Rocky is more fascinating than the movie itself. The public perception of Sylvester Stallone is that he is a mumbling dumb-dumb. But it is easy to confuse the role with the actor. The real life Stallone wrote a good screenplay for the movie, and it was well received in Hollywood. But the project was held up by Stallone's insistence that he play the lead. Stallone was at the time a little known actor living in poverty.
Eventually, the film was funded by United Artists for a meager million dollars. When it went over budget, Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff had to mortgage their homes to complete the film. Such sacrifices often turn out badly, but of course, Rocky was a huge hit, and eventually won the Oscar for Best Picture.
One wonders, why didn't Stallone write more good film scripts after Rocky? The answer is complex. Stallone became an action moviestar commanding multi-million dollar salaries, and this part of his career was of greater concern to both him and Hollywood. But Stallone did write more screenplays, such as the one for Rocky V. They simply weren't as good. Maybe what those films needed was a Bill Conti score.
Rocky is at its best during Rocky's patient courtship of Adrian. It's nice to see his interest in such a mousey, shy woman, and his attempts to draw her out are endearing. After the first night, however, the relationship moves forward too easily. I can understand why Adrian would rather live with Rocky than Paulie, who is abusive and self-concerned. But it would be nice if Adrian was given some activity or interest outside of Rocky, other than attending the cash register of the pet store where they met.
The fight scenes stretch credibility. His 'hard as nails' manager Mickey wants him to stay down after taking the thousandth hit on the face from Apollo. When the fight decision is announced, Rocky is oblivious to it. All he cares about is seeing Adrian, whom he saw just before the fight, and will soon see again since he lives with her. It's hokum. After taking all that punishment in the ring, he can show off his pizza face to his girlfriend later, once he knows who won the split decision.
How others will see it. Rocky spawned many sequels and set Stallone up for future financial successes, such as the Rambo films. Rocky has seeped into popular culture such that if you shout "Yo, Adrian", any movie buff can immediately place the reference. Because it is a boxing film, it is unsurprising that men enjoy the movie more. Some women viewers may harbor some contempt for Adrian, the only female character in the film and in dire need of a makeover and/or personality transplant. The imdb.com user ratings decline slightly but steadily with increasing age, an indication that experienced viewers find something lacking. Perhaps it is the character of the loan shark Gazzo (Joe Spinell), who is nicer to Rocky than anyone else prior to his big break.