"Rocky"(1976)
Legend has it that Sylvester Stallone, then a struggling 29 year old unknown, hammered out a script about a lovable underdog boxer in three days(or a VERY rough draft as he later admitted) after witnessing the "inspiring" performance of Chuck Wepner in his 1975 heavyweight title fight with Muhammad Ali(Wepner's role in the conception would be subsequently downplayed). The studio loved it, but they didn't love him. They loved Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds and Ryan O'Neal. Stallone held out until producers agreed to let him star on a shoestring budget($1 million) with a strict one-month shooting schedule. The magical results just may prove that there is a God, because Sly indeed became one. American cinema doesn't come any more iconic than Rocky Balboa bounding up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in a gray sweat-suit while Bill Conti's immortal score swells in the background.
This is simply one of the greatest movies ever made(top 100 EASILY), and I'd rather not know the nasty prick that doesn't think so. With all due respect to "Raging Bull", it's the apex of the sports movie precisely because it's really not one(that empty ice rink is filmdom's ultimate first date). "Rocky" overcame the odds at the '76 Academy Awards against Scorsese's "Taxi Driver", "Network" and "All the President's Men" to win the Best Picture/Director combo(for John G. Avildsen), while Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Best Screenplay. This film was a phenomenon not unlike "Stars Wars"(coincidentally released the following year) with a staying power to match. Stallone may not have been 'the next Marlon Brando'(as Roger Ebert somewhat recklessly proclaimed), but the legions of diehard fans that were moved to tears by this happy-go-lucky lug wouldn't have had it any other way.
"Rocky II"(1979)
Back-to-back flops("F.I.S.T.", "Paradise Alley") made Stallone's decision to get back in the ring a much easier one than our hard-punching protagonist faced with potential blindness and a baby boy looming. Here's a fun fact- Sly got all of his control freak tendencies after strongly objecting to a proposed sequel script that wildly departed from just about everything we loved about the original(Rocky dumps Adrian? Does drugs?? Parties at the Playboy Mansion???). That's how he came about writing, directing and of course, starring in nearly every "Rocky" sequel. Now, let's talk about the excellent and loyal supporting cast that all shine just as brightly as they did the first time around- we won't ever get tired of Talia Shire("The Godfather") as the Rock's painfully shy soul-mate, aging character actor Burgess Meredith(aka The Penguin, quack, quack) is inimitable as his crusty gym-dwelling manager Mickey, and Carl Weathers is another irreplaceable component as the colorfully cocky champion Apollo Creed(I can't be alone in thinking this former Oakland Raider/future "Action Jackson" could've been a real boxer).
The oft-imitated training montage was perfected here to kickoff the absolutely killer third act. Audiences turned out in droves to see a bloodied Rocky beat Apollo by one second and triumphantly lift the heavyweight title above his head("Yo, Adrian, I did it!!!"). If you somehow missed a billion airings on basic cable, you deserved that spoiler.
"Rocky III"(1982)
Stallone should be credited(or blamed, depending on your point-of-view) for being one of the filmmakers to TRULY usher in the 1980s, turning Hollywood into a ferocious franchise factory with seemingly limitless ways to expand upon a successful formula. This film's entertainment value is off the charts in everything from the opening "Eye of the Tiger" montage to Carl Weathers' beach attire. Chicago-bred bad-ass Lawrence Tureaud excelled in the Army and had notable success as a bouncer, bodyguard and amateur boxer en route to becoming an '80s icon as the snarling Mr. T. His trademark Mohawk and gravelly voice put an immediate end to Sly's exhaustive search for Rocky's next antagonist. After a memorable charity tussle with wrestling legend Hulk Hogan, Philadelphia's favorite son must overcome championship complacency and the death of grizzled mentor Mickey in two bruising battles with Clubber Lang, the only fights in the series to be seen in their entirety.
"III" was the biggest crowd-pleaser in the summer of '82 not called "E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial", eclipsing the earnings of the first two installments with $123 million. Rocky's dizzying rise to worldwide fame and pop culture omnipresence was practically a mirror reflection of his muscle-bound maker("First Blood" dropped in October). His expansion plans would continue to be completely justified as the dauntless box office champ found another mountain to climb.
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| Best fight scene ever? |
"Rocky IV"(1985)
Stallone's godlike status and permanent placement on the Mt. Rushmore of movie masculinity was cemented when his celebrated alter-ego chose to spend the holidays in a snowy cabin in Siberia(okay, Wyoming). It has to be noted that Rambo, his OTHER shredded symbol of endless escapism, was also blasting his way into the zeitgeist that very same year. Swedish karate champ Dolph Lundgren beat out 5,000 hopefuls to land his breakout role as the massive, Creed-killing Soviet superman Ivan Drago which he managed to parlay into a lengthy(albeit mostly straight-to-video) run as a second-string action star. Sly proceeds to give us not one, not two but THREE montages(and James Brown) in perhaps the most macho 91 minutes ever committed to celluloid. Another fun fact- Stallone ended up in intensive care from a Lundgren body blow after insisting on too much realism during that climactic final showdown. If you don't feel like running through your living room wall to go train somewhere after "Hearts on Fire", you might not be a heterosexual male. If the mauling in Moscow pictured above doesn't get you pumped, you're probably dead.
"IV" became the highest-grossing sports movie of all time(well, until 2009's "The Blind Side"), and Stallone was at the absolute peak of his drawing power. It's lonely at the top, though. Sly was nestled into his commercial comfort zone by this point, and Brigitte Nielsen's new husband was a million miles away from the scrappy underdog we first met a decade earlier. Repetitive releases like "Cobra" and "Over the Top" would be met with diminishing returns. In short, there was nowhere to go but down.
"Rocky V"(1990)
Alright, I'm hear to offer a defense of the red-headed step-child of the franchise. The film that many vocal fans wish didn't exist, thanks in part to the rapid aging of Robert Balboa(nicely played by Sage Stallone btw). Get over the shifty timeline, because Paulie's robot is worse than anything seen here, and I don't recall any complaints about the beloved fourth episode. Returning director John Avildsen(who'd spent the previous six years producing the similarly rousing "Rocky"-lite "Karate Kid" trilogy) eschewed Stallone's Reagan-era super-heroics in his quest to restore some of that quiet mid-'70s vibe. A brain-damaged and broke Rocky dusted off his trademark leather jacket and hat in his old Philly stomping grounds before picking up an angry apprentice. The late Tommy Morrison was an underrated real-life heavyweight(21-0 at the time) when he nearly killed his onscreen mentor in an awesomely improbable street-fight.
The Italian Stallion would relinquish his box office title to an unlikely challenger- eight year old Macauley Culkin delivered a knockout blow during the '90 holiday season as "Home Alone" shook up the world. However, "V" isn't as 'bad' as it's reputation suggests, despite a bleak bottom line and the fact that it's star-creator has practically disowned it(in typical Tinsel-town fashion, Sly is much more fond of his hits). In retrospect, it was more a matter of the inevitable deterioration of Stallone's relationship with moviegoers("Oscar", anyone?) as the masses had begun to gravitate toward his then-rivals Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. The ripped Republican's career continued it's downward trajectory as Clinton took the Oval Office, "Cliffhanger" and "Copland" notwithstanding. The general consensus was that the saga had swelled to an abnormal size, and Rocky's final resting place seemed to be the bi-annual TNT/TBS marathons that led to many unproductive Sunday afternoons. But nostalgia can never be underestimated and neither can Sly, as the paying public would dutifully return to his corner.
"Rocky Balboa"(2006)
To say that Stallone's career was dead in the early 2000s would be putting it gently. I hate to lump him in with the has-been brood of Seagal, Van Damme and Chuck Norris, but the "Spy Kids" series had to throw him a bone for god's sake. Who would have ever thought that the role that brought him to the dance would also be responsible for his resurrection? When Sly set out to script this SIXTH installment after a SIXTEEN year gap, few in the industry gave him more than a puncher's chance. They clearly discounted the man's heart and intelligence that were obscured for far too long in a string of assembly-line action vehicles. Adrian lost her fight with cancer, and a grief-stricken Rocky has no reason not to fight light heavyweight champ Antonio Tarver(he beat '90s pound-for-pound king Roy Jones Jr. twice) after the results of a computer fight wakens the sport of boxing from it's depressingly stagnant state. I know I've largely neglected Burt Young's Paulie in this retrospective. Balboa's boorish brother-in-law remains by his side, and a(platonic) relationship tenderly develops with a grown-up lil' Marie(Geraldine Hughes) who should've listened to the champ's sage advice on that street corner in '75. He does more of that here, because his sad-sack adult son(Milo Ventimiglia) needed to hear that "sunshine and rainbows" speech. Maybe I did, too.
"Balboa" was better than it had any right to be, and received a warm reception from critics and audiences in Dec '06. A fourth "Rambo" and an "Expendables" trilogy later, and Sly was unexpectedly a marquee player once again in his twilight years. But nobody(including the man himself) could have predicted that Rocky would go one more round.
"Creed"(2015)
Writer-director Ryan Cooglar proposed this simultaneous spin-off/continuation to MGM following the success of 2013 film festival fave "Fruitvale Station". The red-hot 29 year old may have just established the 'Rocky Cinematic Universe'(anybody got a problem with that?) and he wasn't EVEN alive when the first four films came out. If that isn't a testament to the timelessness of this character, then I don't know what is. James Bond has got nothing on the former two-time Heavyweight Champion of the World. After some token resistance, Stallone was impressed by Cooglar's script and agreed to release his Lucas-like grip on his defining property. It's basically the same story as the Oscar-winning original with a few 21st century tweaks and Rocky assuming the Mickey role, but god-dammit IT WORKS. Adonis Creed wants to follow in the footsteps of the father he never knew, and seeks the supreme guidance of a 70 year old Balboa as he bursts into the fight game. He's got the name, but does he have the heart and skill(as we know by now, only the latter can be taught). Michael B. Jordan is the real deal, and it's hardly a bold prediction to say that this young stud is going to stick around. The bone-crunching boxing scenes live up to series standards, with pristine pugilists Andre Ward and bad Brit Tony Bellew standing on the other side of the ring.
As long as there's an underdog out there, a good "Rocky"(OR "Creed") movie will always be welcome at the multiplex. A Best Supporting Actor nod for Stallone's heart-wrenching reprisal would surely illicit online cheers, but this film is already a winner. A new generation is shadowboxing their way out of crowded theaters across the country, wondering aloud what might be next for Creed, his singer-girlfriend Bianca(Tessa Thompson) and of course the one-and-only Rocky Balboa. Is it REALLY starting all over again? I didn't hear no bell...
Updated Nov 2018
"Creed II"(2018)
Was there ever any doubt? Director Steven Caple Jr. capably takes the reigns from Ryan Cooglar, to craft this colossally entertaining sequel that delivers on everything we were promised in 2015. Michael B. Jordan, hot off the year's highest grosser "Black Panther", is even better here than he was the first time, as Adonis Creed claims the heavyweight title, and seemingly, the biggest black actor crown, previously worn by Denzel Washington and Will Smith. His relationship with Tessa Thompson's Bianca is nicely developed, but there's little time to revel in domestic bliss. Dolph Lundgren's iconic Drago has resurfaced, and he's passed down the only thing he knows to his equally imposing son(Florian Munteanu). Caple allows us to sympathize with our Russian antagonists, whose climb has been no less arduous than that of Adonis. Longtime fans will love the many callbacks to the old "Rocky" movies(hello, Brigitte Nielsen), as Creed prepares to avenge his father's death in '85. Needless to say, Sly Stallone(also back on screenwriting duties) is a durable delight as his wizened mentor.
The robust Thanksgiving week box office indicates that there's still inspiration to be taken away from the continued adventures of Rocky and Adonis. I know I'll be hitting the gym a little harder than usual tomorrow. The DVD will surely be in my possession in a few months, even though everything is streaming now. "Creed III" can't come soon enough.
