The Greatest Underdog Movie Of All-Time

Rating: 10/10 (23 October 2011)

When people think of movies about underdogs,the first thing that definitely would come to their minds is Rocky. It is a movie that tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted debt collector for a loan shark in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Rocky starts out as a club fighter who then suddenly gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship fight with Apollo Creed.
The film stars Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa together with Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed. It was also written by Stallone,who became a major star after this film and directed by John Avildsen.
The movie has become a big hit on the day it was released.Although the film was pure Hollywood as it was formulaic and predictable especially with the fight against Apollo Creed and Rocky Balboa,the movie was sincere and subtle in the telling of the story.Also,it was released at a time when the United States were facing economic difficulties. They needed a movie like this to provide them inspiration and hope in their daily lives.
What unfortunately lacks subtlety is the execution of the performances of the cast especially by Sylvester Stallone inspite of his Oscar nomination for Best Actor.Many critics and fans have considered him the next Marlon Brando but unfortunately that is far from the truth at present.He definitely was a movie star for so many year due to the many films he made that made millions and not because of his acting abilities.But nevertheless,after watching this movie,I could fairly say that this was the best performance of this career.The other stars in the movie were decent.
As for the legacy of this movie,it was not only well-known to be the greatest movie about underdogs.The music of Bill Conti especially the classic Rocky theme,"Gonna Fly Now" has not only been identified to Rocky but also to the sport of boxing.Arguably the it has maintained the popularity of boxing for so many years especially when Conti's music is played in boxing matches.Aside from that,Rocky gave way to many movie sequels such as Rocky's II,III,IV,V and Rocky Balboa - all that never came close to this movie. Definitely,it gave way to a successful movie franchise in the years to come.