The true-to-life underdog story of a small-time club boxer that gets a shot at the heavyweight championship of the world. Based on the real-life title fight between "The Greatest of All-Time" Muhammad Ali, when he took on the relatively unknown "Bayonne Bleeder" Chuck Wepner. Wepner was perceived to lose quickly to Ali, knockout in the third, maybe even the second round. Wepner then shocked the world by going the distance with Ali, the entire fifteen-round heavyweight title fight, even knocking him down once in a notorious photo. Ali still managed to beat Wepner by knockout in the fifteenth round, the very end of the fifteenth round, but there was one man in the audience of that fight that was inspired. That man was Sylvester Stallone.
The story of Rocky follows a 30-year-old club boxer named Rocky Balboa (Stallone) who lives in the slums of Philadelphia. Rocky spends his nights getting his face knocked in by various boxers for slim wages. He goes his day life by visiting "Might Mick's Gym", the boxing gym owned by the elderly prize fighter Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) who's verbally abusive to Rocky for being a loan shark for Tony Gazzo (Joe Spinelli) as opposed to the "good fighter" Mickey knows he can be. When not getting mocked at Mickey's Gym, Rocky visits the local pet store in Philly to woo the liking of its clerk, Adrian (Talia Shire). Rocky also hangs out with and gets the advice of how to woo Adrian from her brother, Paulie (Burt Young).Soon, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) comes to town and announces a title fight in Philadelphia on the country's bicentennial. When his proposed opponent backs out due to an injury, Creed goes to make the fight about the opportunity; to give a local underdog Philly fighter an opportunity to fight him for the Heavyweight Championship. He chooses Rocky out of a directory and makes the match official.
The rest of the film, Rocky trains hard and even successfully woos Adrian to be his girlfriend while he does so. Mickey, having at many times criticized Rocky for his life choices of being a loan shark, even volunteers to become his trainer and manager. Rocky initially rebuffs him out of spite and fear for the fight, but eventually agrees. Of course, there's also the iconic training montage, covered over with Bill Conti's epic composition of "Gonna Fly Now".
The fight sees Rocky and Apollo trade hands vigorously in the first two rounds, with Rocky actually managing to knock Apollo down for the first time in Creed's career. The two men then trade hands well into the fourteenth round, where Rocky's eyes are swollen shut and his face bashed in. Creed knocks Rocky down, and Mickey beckons for Rocky to stay down so as not to get hurt anymore, but Rocky gets back up anyway. The fifteenth round sees Rocky begin to dominate the exhausted and bewildered Apollo in the ring, but fails to knock him down before the final bell rings. Adrian rushes to the ring and declares her love for Rocky, who returns the sentiment, saying he loves her. They embrace and kiss as Apollo is declared the winner by points decision.
Rocky is a sports drama triumph. It was so popular, it's spawned five sequels and a spin-off. Maybe we'll go over them some time. Sylvester Stallone became synonymous with Rocky Balboa and has played the character in all of his iterations in everything since this. Rocky is inspiring, it's a rags-to-riches tale of going from the worst possible position in life to the triumphant point of success. Rocky is an figure of inspiration in and of himself. While the ending to the film could've been the typical Disney-esque ending that has Rocky winning over Apollo, but this ending is more powerful because it shows you can even triumph without winning. All you need to do is win the girl and you're title-fight was a success, regardless if you beat the champion or not. Ten-outta-ten. Recommended fully.
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