Rating: 
Summary: The Best Movie !!EVER!! Made
Review: Highly Inspiring, an example for all of us on how to get there. Thanks Stallone.
Rating:
Summary: This is not a boxing movie, It's a drama!!
Review: This is one of my favorite movies. Rocky is the most inspirational movie I have ever seen. The movie is about so much more than boxing. It is about a man who is trying to prove to himself that he is more than a bum. From the beginning of the movie you can see that his whole life Rocky has been called a bum. He has heard it so much that he starts to believe it. This movie is so touching at the end. It is a wonderful movie about a Cinderella boxer who learns about love, trust, and most of all self esteem. I get choked up every time I watch it. I recommend this to anyone who is feeling down and feel like they need a lift in life. Rocky Balboa can inspire anyone.
Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch!
Review: "Rocky" is the 1st in the series of 5 motion pictures about the eternal Italian underdog Rocky Balboa, who won the hearts (and the dollars) of moviegoers worldwide.Living a meaningless life in the Philadelphia ghettos, Rocky Balboa's existence is as aimless as a piece of driftwood floating down the Nile. He earns his living as a legbreaker for a slick, suburban loan shark and is a small time pugilist fighting for dollars in sweaty, smoke filled gymnasiums. It appears that his future will be as dreary and hopeless as his present, until the day that world heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed, in a wild, headline grabbing publicity stunt, declares his intention to fight an unknown in his next title bout and selects Rocky as his partner. Supremely confident of his own ability and skeptical about Rocky's, Creed doesn't take the spar seriously. But Rocky realises that not only does this grant him the opportunity to fight for the greatest sporting title in the world, but more importantly, with it will come the chance to gain love, confidence, self respect, a purpose, and a chance to rise above the bleakness which has engulfed his life thus far. Rocky isn't aiming to defeat Creed, stating simply, "All I want is to go the distance." And in 1 of the most exciting boxing sequences ever filmed, he does just that. Written in 3 days and filmed rapidly on a limited budget, this film has become 1 of the most beloved cinema classics in history. It made a star out of Sylvester Stallone (which, depending on your viewpoint, is either a good or bad thing), earned 3 Oscars and global acclaim. Never before or since has a movie character been so likeable or easy to identify with as Rocky Balboa. He is a character for whom viewers will be rooting for from the film's humble beginnings to its dramatic climax!
Rating: 
Summary: Not exciting like the sequels
Review: Stallones accent doesn't help either. Strange enough the sequels were far better. The problem with this film is that it drags too much.
Rating:
Summary: Best One(Should not have made sequels)
Review: The film is about the title character getting a once-in-a-million shot at the Heavyweight Title of the World. The film, itself, has its own one-in-a-million-shot story to it as well.Stallone wrote this very quickly(I have heard he wrote this in less than a week).Film is actually low budget with(at the time) no big name stars(well maybe Burgess "TWILIGHT ZONE" Meredith), and it became the top-moneymaker of 1976 winning the best best picture oscar! I have said in my title that there should not have been sequels spawned from this one. The weakness of the sequels, though they are good pop & bubble gum entertainment, is that the sequels rely too much on just the "fight". The first installment is about the people involved. It is a good love story, it is a good human drama. The fight does not come until the end(although there is a brief fight scene in a hole-in-the-wall club after the opening credits ROCKY roll), and in the meantime we are treated to how the title character lives day-to-day surviving on the streets as a loan shark for ogranized crime while fighting as a "ham and egger" in clubs. It is nice to see that our hero is not perfect. He is, of course, flawed and that works here so well. Rocky is not clean-shaven all-American boy as he is a street tough living in the lower East side of Philadelphia with links to organized crime. The character of his oppponent(Carl Weathers) is not really ever developed much here, and that is important because, again, it is not the fight that is the focus of the film, although the fight scene is very exciting(make-up man should have won an oscar). This is an exceptionally well-written film and the actors serve the story beautifully. These are real, blue-collar types that is so wonderful to see as opposed to straight, white-teethed perfect looking model types in other hollywood films. It is a moving human drama that unfolds before us. There are moments of pounding excitement in the fight scenes, there are triumphant lump-in-throat scenes such as the famous final bell scene where all Rocky cares about is being reunited with his shy girlfriend(Talia Shire), there are embarrasingly funny moments like the ice-skating scene, exciting training scenes set to the top-40 hit Gonna Fly Now. The location filming in this one is very effective. I have been to Philadelphia, and they could not have selected a better locale to shoot this one. One of the best films of the 1970s.
Rating:
Summary: The Great White Hope Masterpiece
Review: This 1976 classic stars Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa in his story about a club fighter with 56 fights. He never mentions how many losses (probably many) however he does say he never got his nose broke. He is a street tough with a good heart and bad luck and makes his real money as an enforcer for the mob. His good heart gets him a stern but polite repremand from his boss because he refused to break someones thumb. He meets Adrian (Talia Shire) a pet shop clerk with low self esteem as he shops for his pets. Talia Shire is almost comical but loveable as an overly shy and homely 30 year old. Rocky sees her pretty face through her short hair, old lady glasses and garb. When she asks Rocky why he wants to fight his humorous replies go from, "You have got to be a moron if you want to be a fighter", to "Because I can't sing or dance." Balboa may sound dumb but his character alleges otherwise. In comes The Bicentennal fight in which Hevyweight champ Apollo Creed calls on Rocky to be his opponent because his scheduled contender has gone south. True this is a farytale story because you have to believe while the champs record is 34 and 0 Rocky's is more like 30 and 26. Rocky however is Italian, Columbus discovered America and it's 1976 the Bicentennial. This bout was meant as an entertaining farce in where the champ gives some unknown a chance and easily whips him. Rocky works out for this bash like it's do or die and proves to Creed winning is not the only way to be tough!
Rating: 
Summary: Rocky vs. Goliath.
Review: A vintage "Feel Good" movie, maybe even the "Feel Good" movie by which all others are judged. Rocky Balboa, the Italian Stallion, is self proclaimed nobody,an aging pugilist past his prime who is given a once in a lifetime chance to fight the heavy weight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. "Rocky" is a boxing movie that is a about something more profound than boxing; it is about the spirit of America. It is the American cinematic version of David vs. Goliath. I give this movie four, not five stars because there are a handful of really lousy scenes. All scenes with Bob Hope look alike George Jurgens are especially awful and unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: One of my top 50 of all time
Review: Once in a long while, there comes a film that has such tremendous gestalt that it rises above any negative criticism. 'Rocky' is such a film. It is more than just a story about an underdog boxer who makes the best of a title shot. It is a story about perseverance, heart and courage. Most of all it is a story about transcendence. All the major characters in the film, including Apollo Creed, transcended their previous limitations. If you reflect on it, Mick, Paulie, Adrian and Rocky were all changed people by the end of the film. Apollo was changed too, but we didn't realize it until the sequel. The film was also a transcendent event for Stallone, and served as an allegory of his life. If there ever was an underdog in Hollywood, it was Sly Stallone. His trademark droopy eyes and slurred speech were the result of a severed nerve at birth, and this disability was not conducive landing roles as a leading man. As a child, he was teased for his slur, and coupled with his name endured a childhood of Tweety bird jokes. He knew a little about fighting. He was expelled from fourteen schools by the time he was fifteen. In the film, when Rocky was knocked down and his corner told him to stay down, it was symbolic of his own life when his acting teachers at University of Miami tried to dissuade him from acting. In both cases he got up and proved them wrong. This film found its original inspiration in a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner (a.k.a. The Bayonne Bleeder), an astronomical underdog who lasted fifteen punishing rounds and emerged with his pride and a face that looked like ground beef. Anyone who saw that fight and this film would see the obvious similarities in Ali/Creed and Wepner/Balboa. After seeing this fight, Stallone wrote the screenplay in three days. Stallone had several big money producers interested in the script, but they refused to produce it with him in the lead. So he turned them down and produced it on a shoestring, grossing over $225 million and winning Best Picture and Director Oscars and acting and writing nominations for Stallone. Stallone should have stopped after the first 'Rocky' as the sequels did not and could not compare. However, I can't blame him for riding the gravy train after the price he paid for admission. Stallone is brilliant in the role, as the inspiration came from his own life. He simultaneously elicits pathos and respect from the viewer. Though Balboa is none too bright, Stallone gives him a pure heart, unswerving desire and through sheer simplicity makes him the wisest of all the characters in the film. By the end, everyone in the theater is pulling for Rocky because to do so is to cheer for their own lost dreams. The end is triumphant and I still get a lump in my throat when he screams out, "Adrian". This film is in my top 50 of all time. I'm partial to underdog stories and this is the heavyweight champion of that category. I rated it a perfect 10. 'Rocky' may not have been great filmmaking but it was great art. Would that life could always imitate art as well as it did in this film.
Rating:
Summary: A simple classic.
Review: "Rocky" is a true classic which spawned the career of Sylvester Stallone and four very mediocre (a couple are just plain awful) sequels. Rocky is a lonely club boxer with a good heart who has seen his dreams pass him by. He is insulted or ignored by his gym's owner, Mickey; he is disrespected by the neighborhood kids; and the woman he loves, Adrian, won't talk to him out of shyness. Rocky's future looks bleak. Yet, by a quirk of fate, he is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity for fame, glory, and, above all, dignity. The heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, needs an opponent, any opponent, and Rocky is picked purely by chance. This opportunity allows him to earn Mickey's trust and respect, and he slowly starts to gain confidence in himself. Also, his genuine good heart eventually starts to melt through Adrian's shyness, revealing a very lovely woman who just needed someone to treat her with respect and kindness. The famous scene of Rocky charging up the steps of City Hall, with Bill Conti's memorable score blazing, shows a reborn Rocky buoyed with hope and the love of Adrian- a far cry from the dismal club fighter seen in the film's early parts. Yet, Rocky knows he is not in Apollo Creed's class and that he will lose. He confides to Adrian that all he wants is to go the distance to prove to the world and himself that he is not a bum. The fight is fantastic to watch especially with Conti's stirring score pacing the action. In the late rounds, Apollo finally puts Rocky to the canvas. Rocky's cornermen tell him to stay down- he has proved his valor. Apollo celebrates. Yet, Adrian, who had stayed in the lockerroom throughout most of the fight, emerges to see Rocky struggling to regain his feet. She alone knows that he will get up- she knows how much going the distance means to him. A truly great scene- I tear up everytime I see it. Rocky does get up, but loses the fight on a decision. Yet, the outcome is insignificant- the announcement of the decision is actually muted out by the crowd noise and reporters; what is important is that Rocky has won his dignity and the love of the woman he loves. A great movie- it's too bad they had to later turn the great character of Rocky into a cartoon in all those horrible sequels.
Rating:
Summary: A triumph of the human spirit
Review: Over 20 years later, this movie still stands as one of the best of the past century. Stallone gave the perfpr,ance of his career and his loveable character will have you shadowboxing for days after watching this movie. Not to be overlooked are the superb performances by Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith and Carl Weathers. There are no Rockys in the world of bxing now. Until one comes, stick to watching this movie.
|
