Review of Rocky (1976)

Spoiler Warning! While the attempt will be made to keep spoilers minimized, this is an older film, so just watch it! (It’s on Netflix, so no excuses.)

I recently decided that there are just too many older film classics that I have yet to experience. For example I recently watched The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca, thoroughly enjoying the former and appreciating the latter. My current To Be Watched list (TBW) currently contains at least 20 old classics that I intend to get to soon, Rocky being, until recently, near the top.

Now it’s hard to be an American and not have some inkling of what kind of movie Rocky is, without ever seeing it. The musical score and training montage is legendary. (In fact the Rocky theme was a movement of my freshman high school marching band show.) Additionally with a sequel, Creed, coming out later this year I wanted to get my own take on this famous movie.

While I had my doubts about Rocky near the beginning due to a slow start, it becomes clear that our protag is about as dull as a rock but with a heart as big as a mountain. He is surrounded be equally dull and destitute peers, that all seem to have been born in a bottomless pit. However what this film offers is last chance, a gleam of hope, to lift Rocky from his rut. In the film itself Rocky is described as a “Cinderella” story, though in my opinion it has much fewer glass slippers. I can see the appeal to this American Dream type story, no matter how much that it’s a cliché. The part I really connect with was how much rode on this last chance. A failure would mean a great personal loss. Once you have tasted the caviar, you can’t go back to ramen.

Another great moment in the film comes right before the big fight, (though the last 40 minutes is riveting), when Apollo Creed the undisputed champion comes onto the floor. His ego is palpable. I could feel how much Apollo believed he couldn’t lose to a bottom-feeder like Rocky.

“Bellatrix laughed, the same exhilarated laugh her cousin Sirius had given as he toppled backward though the veil.”

In this moment I had a flashback of my time on swim team. Several times seeing the cockiness of a competitor and knowing I still had a chance to win. Anyone who has played a sport can probably relate.

Finally a rating.

Rocky’s timeless themes of overcoming odds and perseverance are what draw an audience and captivate with an intense fight (though intense isn’t a strong enough word). I found myself miming punches and grunting at the screen fighting for the underdog. Stallone gives a warmth to this cold fighter.

9/10