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The October 2, 2009, issue of Entertainment Weekly had a small piece called “Shoestring Budget, Giant Box Office”. The films listed were “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, “Rocky”, “Mad Max”, “The Blair Witch Project” and “Napoleon Dynamite”. Only the “Blair Witch Project” made a bigger profit than “Rocky”.
[Why they used a photo from “Rocky II” when praising “Rocky” only they can say. – Craig]
Over at Today at NineMSN.com, they take a look at the all time Top Sporting Movies [“Rocky”, “Chariots of Fire”, “The Longest Yard”, “A League of Their Own” and “Jerry Maguire“]. Here’s what they had to say about “Rocky”:
Rocky is a 1976 film written by and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen.
It’s a rags-to-riches story about Rocky Balboa pursuing his American dream – an uneducated but good-hearted debt collector, who is also a club fighter, gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship when the contender breaks his hand.
Rocky was made for only $1.1 million and it made over US$117.2 million, the highest grossing film of 1976 for US.
Who could forget the famous scene of Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art?
Academy Awards:
- Best Picture (Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler) (won)
- Best Director (John G. Avildsen) (won)
- Film Editing (Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad) (won)
- Best Original Screenplay (Sylvester Stallone)
- Best Actor (Sylvester Stallone)
- Best Actress (Talia Shire)
- Best Supporting Actor (Burt Young)
- Best Supporting Actor (Burgess Meredith)
- Best Music, Original Song (Bill Conti, Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins for “Gonna Fly Now”)
- Best Sound (Harry W. Tetrick, William L. McCaughey, Lyle J. Burbridge and Bud Alper)
Here’s a recent video of Sly talking about how “Rocky” saved his career.
On November 3, 2009, MGM Home Entertainment will release ROCKY: The Undisputed Collection Blu-ray Box Set, comprising all six films in the “Rocky” series. The set is presented on seven discs, which includes a “Rocky Anthology” documentary disc, and other bonus features which you can read about here. You can even pre-order it here.
On September 9, 2009, Blic Online posted a piece by A. Novakovik about director Berry Avrich’s documentary “Amerika Idol,” which tells how folks in the small Serbian village of Zitiste erected a statue of Rocky Balboa to represent their underdog status. We’ve been following the story here at StalloneZone and thanks to the Blic Online piece we learn a bit more:
The 46-minute-long documentary Amerika Idol will feature the appearances of Sylvester Stallone, Thomas Schomberg – the sculptor behind Rocky’s original statue in Philadelphia, Croatian sculptor Boris Staparac, who made the statue in Zitiste…
To read the full piece click here. [Photo: Lj.Stupar]
The HDRoom.com has announced that on November 3rd, a seven disc collection of all of the “Rocky” movies will be released on Blu-ray. Amazon.com has the collection listed at 30% off for pre-orders. Hopefully this will be the definitve collection that all fans have requested. As more information on the extras becomes available, we’ll post the information.
On July 26, 2009, Nathan Dominitz of Savanah Now.com posted his All Time Top Ten Favorite Sports Movies. “Rocky” came in 3rd and here’s what he had to say:
3. Rocky (1976)
Hero: Boxer Robert “Rocky” Balboa (Sylvester Stallone)
Plot: Balboa, a palooka fighter/inept loanshark muscle, has few career options until heavyweight champ Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) needs a hand-picked tomato can for a Philadelphia bout. Enter the Italian Stallion to prove that underdogs, through earnest training and guts, can go toe-to-toe with superior talent, speed, experience and size. It’s often forgotten by politicians and the like adopting the underdog “Rocky” persona that he lost (by 15-round split decision) in the original. Oscars went to “Rocky” in 1977 for best picture and director.
Quotable: “Yo, Adrian!” “Cut me, Mick.” Anything uttered by Balboa’s crusty trainer, Mickey Goldmill.
Backstory: The story goes that Stallone, a broke actor/screenwriter, sold his screenplay for $350,000, contingent that he star as Balboa. He did, but made scale as the lead actor and nothing more for writing. Studio United Artists wanted a big name (Burt Reynolds? Robert Redford?) but was contractually stuck with Stallone. The rest, including numerous sequels, is cinematic history.
You can read the complete list by clicking here.
Larry Phillips of the Mansfield News-Journal.com posted his all-time favorite sports films. “Rocky” came in third and here’s what he had to say:
3. Rocky (1976)
Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire. Supposedly, Stallone was inspired to write this picture after watching a 1975 fight in Cleveland when Muhammad Ali struggled to put away Chuck Wepner. Rocky Balboa is the quintessential palooka, a southpaw with a Philly left hook as his only weapon against the world. The brilliance of this film, which won the Oscar for Best Picture, is captured in the final seconds. One has to listen closely to discover who won the big fight. Of course by that time we all know a winner isn’t judged by a scorecard.
On June 27, 2009, Christopher Crespo at the Orlando Movie Examiner posted an article titled “Why Rocky Balboa Works Where the Other Rocky Sequels Failed”. Crespo actually has some good things to say about “Rocky II” and “Rocky III” but focuses his attention on how “Rocky Balboa” (like the original “Rocky”) mirrors what was happening in Sly’s life and “Stallone (didn’t) pretend things (were) different from what they (were).” You can read the full piece by clicking here.
“Rocky” makes The Ticket’s list of The Top Five Fight Films of All-Time.