Sly's Best

Rating: 8/10 (11 February 2014)

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a tomato fighting bums. Mickey (Burgess Meredith) has even taken his gym locker away. He collects for a loan shark, and is infatuated with mousy Adrian (Talia Shire). When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) can't find an opponent for a short notice fight for the Bicentennial, he picks the Italian Stallion out of a book. Apollo wanted a white local guy with a cool nickname. It's a chance of a lifetime for Rocky.
Stallone wrote this script, and gave possibly his best performance ever. Everybody gave great performances including Burt Young as the memorable Paulie. All the characters have become movie icons. It is a bit too long. The 2 hour running time is extended for the simple storyline. However, the movie never stalls. Sly is absolutely charming, and his lovable Rocky keeps the movie focused on him. The fight action is about 10 minutes at the end. It is exciting, and the final scene is as memorable as it gets.