The underdog story

Rating: Null/10 (23 December 2017)

A breakthrough in Sylvester Stallone's career and still a role he's most known for, after all these years. A tale of a Philadelphia man down on his luck. He's doing odd jobs, mostly collecting money, trying to get a girlfriend. In his spare time he boxes, but even that is going only so so. Until the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), offers him a shot at the title, as something of a curiosity event.
This movie and the whole franchise that followed are known as the boxing films. "Have you seen the boxing films?" "You mean the Rocky films?" "Yeah, those." As such it can be something of a surprise to learn that these films, at least the first two, are really not about boxing. Sure, it's the background for the plot and the climax is the match. But it's really about an underdog. About being poor, with no prospects, no future. About being given that single impossible chance at something different. And that's universal, that's all-encompassing.
And as just a movie it's also quite lovely. Done with a small budget, with a relatively untested and unknown lead actor, who also happened to write the script. And we also know nowadays that Stallone isn't exactly known for his acting capabilities. Except in these films. In here he's a man speaking from his heart, speaking for an entire generation, an entire class of people.
And sure, the film isn't perfect. It's not the most well-shot film there is, the fight choreographies are not what they would eventually end up being and the way Rocky eventually wins over Adrian (Talia Shire) is pretty cringe-worthy to a modern viewer. The film was made in the 70s, let's leave it at that.
But, sometimes a story is so good, the characters so iconic, raw and real, the whole experience so strangely life-representing, that all these minor flaws melt away. Rocky is a classic, no doubt about it.