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. – Rocky Balboa
A lot of my childhood heroes came back to the big screen in 2006. Of course, anyone that knows me or reads this column regularly knows how much seeing a new Man of Steel adventure meant to me. Superman Returns was more than just a movie to me, it was this momentous event that I’d been hoping for since I’d first heard about Kevin Smith writing his adaptation of The Death of Superman. When the world cheered in the film at Superman’s return, I was cheering along with them.
Next up was the return of 007. After the revolving door of rumors and speculation, and then the onslaught of negative press and Internet campaigns, Casino Royale ended up being a triumphant new beginning for my favorite secret agent. There may have been a new man in Bond’s tux, but this was the same old 007 for me. I got the same charge I felt when I watched Octopussy as a kid, and watched Goldeneye when I was in high school. One thing’s for sure, Daniel Craig’s going to be around for a while.
Finally, this Christmas I’m going to get to see one last hero, but this one’s a little different. Instead of a modern adaptation with a new star in a classic role, I’m getting the return of a classic. I get to see Rocky Balboa climb in the ring one more time, and I couldn’t think of a better present to all of us from Sylvester Stallone.
I was first introduced to this franchise at a very young age. My family didn’t actually own a copy of the first film, but the third, which to my tender young mind was an amazing cinematic experience. It’s just so easy to be entertained by Rocky III’s comic book conventions, as we see this hero clad in old glory, taking on superhuman opponents like Hulk Hogan’s Thunderlips and Mr. T’s Clubber Lang.
When I finally saw the first film of the franchise years later, my opinion of the series changed even further. This wasn’t just the entertaining spectacle of the third movie; this was real human drama with huge heart. Rocky is a movie that stands the test of time because its themes ring as true today as they did then. Audiences are still connecting with this character.
Rocky Starring Sylvester Stallone, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Talia Shire, and Burt Young. Directed by John G. Avildsen.
Honestly, Rocky’s a film that’s a little hard to write about. The movie is such a part of Americana at this point, that many know it by heart, so my commentary on the movie may be moot. And yet, it’s such a rich film, so simple in premise and yet with so many complex emotions and a huge wellspring of goodwill that it brings forth. Has any movie in the last thirty years captured the American spirit in a better light?
Even the movie’s back story is pretty inspirational, with small time actor Sylvester Stallone getting inspiration from Chuck Wepner, a washed-up boxer that took the greatest fighter of all time, Muhammad Ali, to the 15th round. Stallone himself was broke and writing in a cold apartment, with his windows painted black to keep him from getting distracted. After finishing his script, Stallone had what was still an uphill battle to get the movie made.
The studio wanted Rocky, but what they didn’t want was Stallone. Unable to direct the movie, Stallone fiercely battled to be able to star in the leading role. The studio, seeing the potential for such a picture, wanted a name star to help sell it. Names like Ryan O’Neal and James Caan were thrown around, but Stallone stuck to his guns, threatening to take the script with him if he wasn’t given the opportunity.
Who knows what this movie would have turned out like without Sly in the lead. The man simply is Rocky, with his low grumble and slurred speech. When we meet Rocky Balboa, he’s not the superhero from Rocky III, he’s a guy who fights in small gyms and gets food thrown at him. He talks to his animals and tells bad jokes. He has to wear goofy looking glasses when he reads. He’s a loveable lug and maybe the worst loan shark ever; a big guy, but doesn’t want to be a bully, just doing what he can to get by.
It’s this stark realism in the early stages of the film that sells the picture. We’ve all been that guy living on Ramen noodles, with just our small pets for real company. It’s so easy to identify with Rocky because he’s not the chiseled warrior from the later sequels, but a guy who’s a man of the people. He’s grown up in this neighborhood and then never left. And then, just like that, a chance for the American Dream falls in his lap.
Fighting for the Heavyweight Championship isn’t just a boxing match, it represents this ultimate goal that Rocky uses to focus his energy and get his life together. There’s a dichotomy running throughout Rocky, as Balboa’s opportunity to fight for the title is mirrored against his blossoming love for Adrian (Talia Shire) and the small family unit, including Paulie (Burt Young) and Mickey (Burgess Meredith), that all come together to help Rocky achieve his goals.
While the boxing storyline is the film’s driving element, the movie’s love story comes together just as well. I love the scenes where Rocky practices his weak jokes and pickup lines in front of a mirror, only to watch him fall flat as his nerves get to him in front of the mousey Adrian. Their scenes together are timid, and quiet, until their passion springs fourth, driving them toward each other when no one else would have them. You almost get the sense that this love is almost enough for the two of them, with Rocky’s fight representing the very last thing he needs to prove his worth to himself and his new love.
Just as with Rocky, it’s hard to imagine that Adrian could be played by anyone other than Talia Shire, but that’s what could have happened. Bette Midler apparently turned down the role, even after Stallone tried to make the script a better fit for her. Susan Sarandon tested for the role, but she was deemed too pretty to make the role realistic.
Talia Shire was a godsend to the film makers and Stallone. Her subdued performance makes us love Adrian even more, and makes her the soul of this movie. It doesn’t even really matter if Rocky wins the fight because he’s got the love of this woman, who it turns out, was very beautiful underneath her nerdy exterior.
It’s the picture’s quiet moments, such as these scenes with Adrian and Rocky, Rocky’s lonely predawn failure of a run, and his moment of doubt the night before the fight, that give the film’s finale such weight. We know the stakes that are riding on the fight, because Rocky has come from nothing, just like we could, to get ready for this seminal event in his life. It’s the journey in Rocky and not just the outcome that makes the movie worthy of its status.
This is not to say that the boxing side of the movie lacks in any way. Burgess Meredith turned what could have been a throwaway role into a cultural icon, giving Mickey a life of his own. His initial rejection of Rocky, only to humbly beg to become his manager again is an amazing scene. In the end, they realize they both need each other, with Mickey living vicariously through Rocky to get the shot at the title that he never got, and Rocky needing Mickey’s experience to have any chance of succeeding.
Director John G. Avildsen expertly paces the buildup to the fight, making Rocky’s journey from wash-up to contender an epic one, even within a relatively short running time. Of course, Bill Conti’s highly unforgettable score does half the work for him, as his music is probably up there with John William’s scores for Star Wars and Superman as far as being memorable. You can hear in Rocky IV how much of a contribution the composer has made to this whole series, as without his music in that entry the film felt hollow compared to the previous installments.
Also helping to make the fight so climactic is the work of Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed. Loosely based on Muhammad Ali, Creed is a man wanting to put on a great show for the people of Philadelphia, but is also a man of pride. Thing is, he’s a calculating man, a blowhard in public, but not quite as boastful in private. It’s this boastful nature that even seems to endear him to the audience, though his turn to Rocky’s side in Rocky III has done more than anything else to enhance the characte’s popularity with people.
As with the leads, the role of Apollo was supposed to go to real life boxer and former Heavyweight Champion of the World, Ken Norton. According to imbd.com, when Norton, one of the few men who actually could claim to have a win over Muhammad Ali in the ring, had to drop out, Producer Irwin Winkler signed Weathers. It turned out to be an inspired choice, as Weathers’ flamboyancy in the role gave him an air of invincibility which would make Rocky’s stand even more impressive.
As for the fight itself, it may not be as long a sequence as you remember, but it still comes off as a gigantic bout. One of the brilliant things done in the construction of the sequence was to actually film it backwards, with the actors starting with heavy makeup and then taking the makeup off gradually as they filmed the earlier rounds. The technique ended up earning the movie the Oscar for Best Editing that year.
What we’re left with in the bout are the indelible images it created, such as Rocky’s mellow entrance against the grandstanding of Creed. The sequence ebbs and flows with emotion as Rocky’s surprising opening flurry gives way to the technique and poise of Creed. A battle ensues throughout as we gasp for air when Rocky falls in the 14th, only to stun Creed with his stubborn resilience. The final round is complete magic. The combination of all involved, from the actors, director, composer and editor, make the sequence as memorable as any cinematic sporting event ever filmed.
The $1,000,000 budgeted picture would of course go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards that year, but it’s the triumph of the human spirit within the picture that has made it endure where other winners have fallen into obscurity. While its sequels may have out grossed this film at the box office, it is this first film that will go down as the king of “feel good” movies. If Stallone could capture half of the magic he had in this movie, then Rocky Balboa will be as unstoppable as this character has been for the last 30 years.
Picture Credits: razyboard.com, impawards.com
