well done, but not really my kind of movie

Rating: Null/10 (14 September 2003)

Now I have finally seen the original. Having seen II and V, I would definitely say this is the best of the three, though I didn't find it all that entertaining a lot of the time. Here, Rocky doesn't seem like a loser, though the truth is that he is just a regular guy who is having trouble making it in the world. He doesn't talk like he is brain-damaged nearly as much as he did in the other two movies, and when he does sound like a comic impression, it's not really that bad. Sylvester Stallone's performance in this movie is more multi-dimensional compared to II and V.
Carl Weathers did a great job as the heavyweight champion who, for a gimmick, decided to fight an underdog. And Burgess Meredith was quite good as the caring but sometimes nasty Mickey, who wanted to be Rocky's manager.
There was not as much comedy in this movie as there was in II, but I liked the scene with Rocky and Adrian at the skating rink, and there was another scene in a meat storage facility where his friend Paulie worked, where Rocky demonstrated one of his training techniques for a TV camera--punching carcasses.
The arrangements of the theme song 'Gonna Fly Now' sounded better here than in II. There was even one song at Rocky's apartment, which was played while he and Adrian were together, which sounded like it could have been the basis for 'Gonna Fly Now'. Or perhaps based on that theme song.
Of course, as in II, most of the excitement came toward the end, and the shots of Rocky training as well as running through Philadelphia were quite effective.
I can see why this movie was thought of as a classic. It was good, but for me it wasn't great.