The perfect movie that originally came out at the perfect time

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2010)

First, allow me to bat aside the cynics who now disparage this masterpiece of a movie by pointing out that - in the full context of the time in the U.S. when it was released - this was exactly the kind of movie we immediately were ready to fall in love with. Rewind back to 1976, post-Watergate, the Arab oil embargo, deep recession, the Soviet Union on the march, and the era that saw the invention of the terms "malaise," "misery index," and "stagflation." To make matters worse, all this economic and foreign policy decline was occurring on the bicentennial of our nation's founding. Along comes a movie about a lowly amateur boxer who earns just enough to pay for his hovel of a Philadelphia apartment as a "collection agent" for a loan-shark, using his menacing size as the "penalty" for debtors slow to pay back their loans and gigantic interest. Yes, it's the classic underdog story, and yet Stallone - who both wrote the script and played the starring role - and director John Aldiss somehow managed to craft a movie that allows the audience to fall into believing the story and cheering enthusiastically to the end. Incredibly, they managed to produce this movie for a grand total of one million dollars, a shoestring budget by even the standards of the time, and somehow that only added to the realism. This movie also saw - for the first time in a major film - the use of a brand new technological innovation: the Steadycam That particular innovation greatly enhanced the illusion that the audience is literally running alongside Stallone as he runs through the seedy neighborhoods of Philadelphia, getting in shape for the big fight with the Heavyweight Champion, Apollo Creed. It turns out that the set they used for Stallone's apartment was not really a set at all, but in fact a genuinely shabby hole. There is litter in the streets, too, and that only enhances the point that this is a real nobody trying to show that he can be a somebody. There is also a love interest in this movie, played perfectly by Talia Shire as Adrian. When Stallone first sees her, she is a dowdy young woman wearing hideous cat lady glasses, frumpy clothes, and (worst of all) a gray wool watch cap. She is also extremely shy and reluctant to respond to Rocky's affections. Somehow Rocky sees through through all that, and (later) also shows that Adrian is in fact a strikingly beautiful woman. As Rocky courts Adrian, Heavyweight Champ Apollo Creed (played brilliantly by Carl Weathers) is growing bored with the routine nature of selecting his next challenger. Creed takes the daring (and very smart) move of deciding to do something radical by offering an unknown the chance to fight him for a shot at the title. Creed knows that this will only draw more fans because of its unusual nature, plus he is cocky enough to believe that the challenger will be a cinch to defeat. Rocky at first does not want to do this, since he senses what is really going on, plus he also realizes that he is being used as a prop for a kind of publicity stunt. However, he also realizes what this would mean for him, and retired trainer Mickey (the role of a lifetime from the great Burgess Meredith) talks him into it, with himself as the trainer. Mickey himself had boxed quite a bit in his youth, never quite reaching the big time, and he sees in Rocky the opportunity for both of them to reach it. The story progresses from there, Rocky at first in agony as he struggles to run even a short distance, the Bill Conti soundtrack expertly conveying the lonely pain of an out of shape contender. Later, under Mickey's instruction and with confidence building, the soundtrack becomes upbeat with the now familiar "Gonna Fly Now" propelling it along. As all this happens, it really is hard to remember that this is only a movie, and the final ten minutes are some of the finest in movie history. I will not spoil this for those who have never seen it, except to say that the ending is absolutely perfect, and I am unembarrassed to admit that even now I get a bit misty when I see it. Again, getting back to the context of the time that this movie was released, I suspect that if this movie had come out in 1996 instead of 1976, it might not have gained the iconic status it now enjoys. Yes, it's true, the story of Rocky nicely mirrors that of America as a whole, and that makes it all the more appealing. And I don't care if I get derided as some kind of flag waver for having written that. If you have not had the chance to see this movie, you owe it to yourself to grab a copy and watch. Another point that should be mentioned is that this is neither a guy flick nor a chick flick, but instead a perfect blend. It's terrific to watch alone, as a couple, or a whole crowd. Trust me, you won't regret it!