Let me take you back to 1976

Rating: 10/10 (2 September 2013)

Packed house. Little town. As the opening credits rolled "written by Sylvester Stallone" you could hear the whispers. And a lot of female whispers. Incredulous, like, "He wrote the movie!" Instant credibility. Times were different then and I'm not really talking about in the general sense but relative to this movie. No one, and I mean no one, knew who the hell Sylvester Stallone was (save for a few soft porn aficionados). But this movie captured the imagination of the American public and everyone was talking about him now.
This movie transcended sports. So many people could relate to this. Obviously the sports lover, as it is a boxing movie. But it has a love story interwoven through it too. The movie builds like a wave. From the opening scene to the climatic finale, it just grabbed a hold of people. Maybe for anyone who has ever been down and out, or maybe it was the gritty realism. Something. Young, old, male, female, people were talking about it.
The movie starts with a low-budget fight ("low-budget" from perspective that it's a pro fight, but it's not heavily attended and the fighters earn a pittance). It's interesting. You get involved with his life. It builds. He gets his shot. Then Mickey shows up at his apartment. Wants to be his MANAGER! But he had just recently come down on Rocky and Rocky was seriously ticked. Mickey leaves unceremoniously and starts walking down the long staircase. Rocky knows Mickey can hear him and he just unleashes on him. Maybe it's a lifetime of anger. Maybe it's everything, but he verbally tears into him. "Talkin' about your prime. What about my prime, Mick? At least you had a prime!" It was like, wow, the dude CAN act. Rocky continues the verbal barrage and you think that's the end of their relationship. Cut to Rocky walking out the door (with no corresponding audio) and you can tell he's asking Mickey to help him. I remember how that scene got to my father. It had the power to strike a nerve.
And Talia Shire. She was known (I mean she was in the two "Godfather" movies). But she wasn't that well known. You really believed she was this homely looking gal. Later, trying to get intimate, Rocky takes off her glasses and he says how pretty she is and I could hear another one of those female whispers, saying "She DOES have pretty eyes." It was interesting.
***Spoilers ahead*** Get to the fight at the end. There's such a buildup. In the first round when Rocky drops Apollo Creed with a left, the movie theater ERUPTED. A guy in front of me rose to his feet, arms high in the air and was like, "Yeah!" I can remember my dad laughing. Not at the movie. Just at the spectacle of being in a movie theater that so resembled a real boxing ring.
I'll stop it there, without completely spoiling the movie. I mean, I'm sure most have seen this movie, but there's people born every day who have not. I just wanted people to know the effect this movie had on the American movie-watching public (and probably beyond), how it had the power to catapult a then unknown actor named Sylvester Stallone on to super stardom and what an amazing time it was to watch it all happen.