The original underdog...

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2006)

Sylvester Stallone stars as Rocky Balboa a regular joe who is given the shot of a lifetime when he is asked to fight heavy weight champion Apollo Creed(Carl Weathers) along the way Rocky falls for extremely shy pet-store worker Adrian and befriends her brother Paulie(Burt Young) in what has to be the best movie of Stallone's career. Rocky probably didn't deserve an Oscar over Taxi Driver but that aside Rocky is a rather uplifting drama that works because it concerns itself with the lives of an average joe. Sylvester Stallone is perfect as the average joe who is down to earth, likable even if not too bright. The fight sequence at the end is in particular well staged and it really does get the blood pumping although it's more about the pride of one man and his chance at accomplishment than it ever is about who is really winning. It really is a good movie that not only opened up a genre but also stands alone as one of the most essential boxing movies ever made.
* * * * out of 4-(Excellent)