One gains a certain degree of perspective with the passage of time, and one of the things I like to do is watch a movie that I saw upon it's original release and compare my feelings for it now to those I experienced back in the day. I thought "Rocky" was a great and inspiring movie back in 1976, and with only the slightest bit of hesitation, I think it delivers the same feelings today. I throw in that slight hesitation part because over the years, the sports underdog theme has been worked to death in cinema. But the thing about "Rocky" is that it's not so much a film about boxing as it is a film about life in general. A direction-less man with no goals suddenly finds the gold ring handed to him on a platter. Not that there isn't a whole lot of work involved to make that dream come true, but one has to recognize opportunity in the first place. I read with some amusement the negative reviews of the picture on this board and have to wonder how many of the nay-sayers consider themselves so intellectually superior that they trash the film for that simple lack of recognition. Because criticizing Rocky Balboa for talking like he had a mouth full of marbles is missing the point. He talked like that because he was a street punk working as an enforcer for a local mob boss, and the people he dealt with on a daily basis weren't exactly magna cum laude types. Nor was he going up against members of mensa whenever he climbed through the ring ropes at a local boxing joint.

To prove he's not just another bum from the neighborhood, all Rocky wants to do, as he confesses to Adrian (Talia Shire) in that touching apartment scene, is go the distance with the champ. He doesn't have to knock him out, doesn't even have to win, just go the distance. You know, I still have to remind myself at times as I reflect on the picture that Rocky really didn't win the match. But he comes out a winner in the truest sense of the word, and that message blurs out the ring announcer's call of a split decision in favor of Apollo Creed. If there was no "Rocky II", (or III or IV or V),I wonder how many of the movie's fans would have been settled with the idea that Rocky Balboa actually became the world champion that day.

Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a struggling Italian/American boxer who also earns cash collecting debts for shady Philadelphian 'businessman' Gazzo (Joe Spinell). When heavyweight boxing champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) finds himself without an opponent for his upcoming match, he offers the unknown fighter a chance at the title as a gimmick, but doesn't count on Rocky's determination to go the distance.

I watched Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull not that long ago, an excellent film, but something of a downer—a gritty study of a not very nice character whose horrible personality and poor choices see him winding up losing everything. Rocky, on the other hand, is a real feel-good film about a guy on the skids who is given a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to make something of himself. It's an uplifting Cinderella story, a classic underdog tale that leaves the viewer with a big smile on their face, which is why I prefer it slightly over Scorsese's film.

Rocky also has a great story behind the making of the film which mirrors that of its main character: star Stallone went from an almost broke struggling actor to Hollywood mega-star by not only writing the script for Rocky, but also insisting that he play the title role. The rest, as they say, is history.

Those only familiar with Stallone's later action hero work will be surprised at how good an actor he is in his breakthrough role, tackling the drama just as well as the boxing: Rocky's burgeoning romance with shy pet store clerk Adrian (Talia Shire),his friendship with her brother Paulie (Burt Young),and his strained relationship with trainer Mickey (Burgess Meredith) are all handled superbly.

Director John G. Avildsen also manages all aspects of his film with aplomb, with the final fight between Rocky and Apollo being the absolute showstopper, a gruelling battle of wills, both combatants pushed to their limits. Add a rousing score from Bill Conti and what you have is an unmissable, uplifting classic of the '70s.

9.5 out of 10, rounded up to 10 for IMDb.

Sylvester Stallone had a dream and it was to get this film made about an enduring character he created, one of the most enduring in the history of cinema. In true Cinderella Man style Rocky guaranteed him a career and screen immortality. A whole lot like the protagonist ROcky Balboa in the film.

There was an Irish equivalent of Rocky during the early Sixties in real life, a boxer named Tom McNeeley from South Boston, just as Rocky Balboa is from South Philadelphia. McNeeley was a barely ranked contender, ranked in fact at all just to give him some kind of credence as an opponent for Floyd Patterson. McNeeley fought Patterson in Boston for the local gate attraction. Needless to say his showing against Floyd wasn't quite as good as what Rocky did against Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, showboating heavyweight champion in the style of Muhammed Ali.

And that's what happens to Rocky. Stallone is a local club fighter who also works as a part time enforcer for the loan sharks, but his heart isn't really into it. His heart is torn actually between boxing and his love for Talia Shire, the plain Jane sister of his friend Burt Young.

When opportunity comes you have to take it. For some reason a scheduled match between Weathers and another contender for the championship falls through. Several other name contenders aren't available, so it comes down to Rocky Balboa being given a once in lifetime chance in a bout to be held in his native Philadelphia like McNeeley's was in real life.

Rocky was the Cinderella story of the Oscars that year, it won for Best Picture, Best Director for John G. Avildsen, and Best Film Editing. Sly Stallone was nominated for Best Actor and Original Screenplay. He lost however to Peter Finch for Network. Burgess Meredith as Rocky's cornerman and gym owner and Carl Weathers were nominated for Best Supporting Actor, but both lost to Jason Robards, Jr. for All the President's Men.

My favorite in the film was Talia Shire, she is really touching as the Thirty something unmarried plain girl who grabs a last chance for love with Rocky. The role is so different from Connie Corleone in any of the three Godfather films. Sadly Talia lost to Beatrice Straight as William Holden's wife in Network.

John Avildsen winning for Best Director is great though I think the film is so much Stallone's own creation, he should have won for Original Screenplay. Avildsen never directed anything as good as Rocky before or since. In fact he directed seven years later one of my all time favorite trash films, A Night In Heaven.

Rocky is the great Cinderella movie of all time, the creation of its leading character who put enough of his heart into this film and gained a career for himself. None of the succeeding Rocky films came anywhere near this one for quality. And the story itself was pure Cinderella. How paradoxical and how great.