Rocky

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

655K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer3:28

A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.A small-time Philadelphia boxer gets a supremely rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

655K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

684

202

See production info at IMDbPro

Top rated movie #213

Won 3 Oscars
- 22 wins & 23 nominations total

Videos16

Rocky: It's Thanksgiving

Photos215

+ 208

Oscars Best Picture Winners, Ranked

See the complete list of Oscars Best Picture winners, ranked by IMDb ratings.

See the complete list

List

More like this

7.3

Rocky II: La Revanche

6.8

Rocky III : L'Œil du tigre

6.9

7.1

5.4

8.1

8.1

7.6

Creed : L'Héritage de Rocky Balboa

8.1

Pirates des Caraïbes : La Malédiction du Black Pearl

8.1

Logan

8.2

Piège de cristal

8.3

Scarface

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
After producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff became interested in the script, they offered Sylvester Stallone an unprecedented $350,000 for the rights. He had $106 in the bank and no car, and was trying to sell his dog because he couldn't afford to feed him, but he refused to sell unless they agreed to allow him to star in the film. They agreed, on the condition that Stallone continue to work as a writer without a fee, and that he work as an actor for scale. After Winkler and Chartoff purchased the film, they took it to United Artists, who envisioned a budget of $2 million with an established star, particularly Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds, Nick Nolte or James Caan. When Winkler and Chartoff told United Artists that they could only get the screenplay if Stallone starred, United Artists cut the budget to $1 million and had Chartoff and Winkler sign agreements that they would be personally liable if the film went over budget. The final cost was $1.1 million. Chartoff and Winkler mortgaged their houses for the last $100,000.

Goofs
During the big fight, the arena is clearly empty at times. This is because only 50 extras could be afforded for the scenes, and despite cinematographer James Crabe's best efforts to hide this fact, occasionally, if one looks hard enough, one can see most of the arena is empty.

Quotes
Rocky: I can't do it.
Adrian: What?
Rocky: I can't beat him.
Adrian: Apollo?
Rocky: Yeah. I been out there walkin' around, thinkin'. I mean, who am I kiddin'? I ain't even in the guy's league.
Adrian: What are we gonna do?
Rocky: I don't know.
Adrian: You worked so hard.
Rocky: Yeah, that don't matter. 'Cause I was nobody before.
Adrian: Don't say that.
Rocky: Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.

Crazy credits
Butkus the dog is credited as "Butkus Stallone".

Alternate versions
In the DVD, the Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1 tracks omit a short musical cue of Rocky's theme when the bell rings at the end of the 15th round, which is present in the original mono soundtrack.

Connections
Edited into Rocky II: La Revanche (1979)

Soundtracks
Take Me Back
Music & Lyrics by Frank Stallone
Performed by Valentine
[Sung by the the young men on the street corner]

User reviews880

Featured review

9/10

Rocky through the ages

For this review, I'd like to go through all the Rocky movies (including the most recent Creed) and talk about their good points and their bad points.

Rocky - The first one is obviously a classic and the best out of the series and made people like Sylvester Stallone a superstar. It takes a simple but touching story of the underdog boxer and rise to have a chance to be a champion.

Rocky II - I felt was kind of the same story and was a little cheesy but it still carried the spirit of the original.

Rocky III - Like the second one, was cheesy but it was entertaining. But I like how Rocky was doing more boxing and had more drama and Mr. T was a good villain even though he talked too much. Also it featured a great song, "Eye of the Tiger".

Rocky IV - Again like the two other sequels, cheesy but still entertaining and it had another great song "No Easy Way Out".

Rocky V - I know this one disappointed a lot of fans but I thought it was okay but I can understand why people didn't like it but I don't think it deserves to be hated.

Rocky Balboa - Was redeeming and I like how it has a lot of references to the first Rocky.

Creed - Finally, this one was another great comeback for Stallone as Rocky and gave Michael B. Jordan his big break as well.

But you can't beat the original because it's the first and a classic, like I said before. But I'm still looking forward to the sequel to Creed next year.

Top picks

Sylvester Stallone's Most Iconic Roles

We're celebrating the iconic Sylvester Stallone with a look back at some of his most indelible film performances, from Rocky and Rambo, to Joe in the new superhero movie Samaritan.

See the full gallery