The Rocky Movie With Character Studies

Rating: 8/10 (14 November 2006)

After not seeing this film since it had come out in the theaters in 1976, I was almost shocked at how little action this movie had compared to what you see today....or in the Rocky sequels, for that matter. It's okay. It was needed to give us character studies of the main players: Rocky, his wife, his brother, his manager, etc., people we would see in subsequent films. Also, the fight scenes in those sequels went on too long, anyway. Frankly, I've enjoyed all the Rocky movies, beginning with this one.
In this film, the romance between "Rocky Balboa" (Sylvester Stallone) and "Adrian" (Talia Shire) was a major subplot to the boxing saga. It reminded me a bit of the '50s film with Paul Newman, "Somebody Up There Likes Me." If you enjoyed this movie, check that classic film out.
The DVD transfer is excellent, especially considering the movie is 30 years old.