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Rocky (1976)
Director: John G. Avildsen
Cast overview: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire
Running time: 119 minutes
Another from my seventies-watching period. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it much. It's in the IMDb top 250, which I personally find ridiculous, but most seem to agree with the view that this is a film classic (and it is, strictly speaking), but it just doesn't work for me. Some people call this the best movie ever made, for example, which I'm utterly flabbergasted by. I can understand why people like it - it's a typical Hollywood underdog, rags-to-riches story.
Firstly, I thought Stallone - hardly a Laurence Olivier at the best of times - gave a very mediocre and uninspiring performance, mumbling his way through virtually every line. The supporting cast - while several are talented - were scarcely better, playing their cardboard cutout characters with mediocrity. But it was the whole cloying, saccharine Hollywood storyline that turned me off most. Not to mention I found the whole thing boring and contrived. The dialogue, writing, script were all poor, I thought. There's very little boxing in the film, just scenes at the beginning and at the end.
There's not a great deal more to say. I didn't enjoy it, found it terribly cliched and over-the-top, and hardly found it "gripping" as some reviewers have commented. I understand that people want to find inspiring stories - I find they often make for the best films - but the story here didn't inspire me much at all. I think this is hugely overrated, and I can't see why it's regarded as a classic.
Quotes
Mickey: You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!
Adrian: It's Thanksgiving.
Rocky: Yea, to you it's Thanksgiving; to me it's Thursday.
Mickey: Your nose is broken.
Rocky: How does it look?
Mickey: Ah, it's an improvement.
Trivia
After producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff became interested in the script, they offered writer Sylvester Stallone an unprecedented $350,000 for the rights, but he refused to sell unless they agreed to allow him to star in the film (this despite the fact that he had only $106 in the bank, no car and was trying to sell his dog because he couldn't afford to feed it). They agreed, but only 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, but that was on the basis of using an established star (they particularly wanted Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds or James Caan). United Artists didn't want Stallone to star, and when Winkler and Chartoff told them that the only way they could get him to sell the screenplay was to agree to cast him, United Artists cut the budget to $1 million, and had Chartoff and Winkler sign agreements that if the film went over budget, they would be personally liable. The final cost of the film was $1.1 million. The $0.1 million came after Chartoff and Winkler mortgaged their homes so as to complete the project.
Most of the scenes of Rocky jogging through Philadelphia were shot guerrilla-style, with no permits, no equipment and no extras. The shot were he runs past the moored boat for example; the crew were simply driving by the docks and director John G. Avildsen saw the boat and thought it would make a good visual, so he had Sylvester Stallone simply get out of the van and run along the quays whilst Avildsen himself filmed from the side door. A similar story concerns the famous shot of Rocky jogging through the food market. As he runs, the stall keepers and the people on the sidewalks can clearly be seen looking at him in bemusement. Whilst this works in the context of the film to suggest they're looking at Rocky, in reality, they had no idea why this man was running up and down the road being filmed from a van. During this scene, the famous shot where the stall-owner throws Rocky an orange was completely improvised by the stall owner-himself, who had no idea that a movie was being filmed and that he would be in it.
During his audition, Carl Weathers was sparring with Sylvester Stallone and accidentally punched him on the chin. Stallone told Weathers to calm down, as it was only an audition, and Weathers said that if he was allowed to audition with a 'real' actor, not a stand-in, he would be able to do a lot better. Director John G. Avildsen smiled and told Weathers that Stallone was the real actor (and the writer). Weathers looked at Stallone thoughtfully for a moment, and said, "Well, maybe he'll get better." Stallone immediately offered him the role.
Trailer
Director: John G. Avildsen
Cast overview: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire
Running time: 119 minutes
Another from my seventies-watching period. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it much. It's in the IMDb top 250, which I personally find ridiculous, but most seem to agree with the view that this is a film classic (and it is, strictly speaking), but it just doesn't work for me. Some people call this the best movie ever made, for example, which I'm utterly flabbergasted by. I can understand why people like it - it's a typical Hollywood underdog, rags-to-riches story.
Firstly, I thought Stallone - hardly a Laurence Olivier at the best of times - gave a very mediocre and uninspiring performance, mumbling his way through virtually every line. The supporting cast - while several are talented - were scarcely better, playing their cardboard cutout characters with mediocrity. But it was the whole cloying, saccharine Hollywood storyline that turned me off most. Not to mention I found the whole thing boring and contrived. The dialogue, writing, script were all poor, I thought. There's very little boxing in the film, just scenes at the beginning and at the end.
There's not a great deal more to say. I didn't enjoy it, found it terribly cliched and over-the-top, and hardly found it "gripping" as some reviewers have commented. I understand that people want to find inspiring stories - I find they often make for the best films - but the story here didn't inspire me much at all. I think this is hugely overrated, and I can't see why it's regarded as a classic.
Quotes
Mickey: You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!
Adrian: It's Thanksgiving.
Rocky: Yea, to you it's Thanksgiving; to me it's Thursday.
Mickey: Your nose is broken.
Rocky: How does it look?
Mickey: Ah, it's an improvement.
Trivia
After producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff became interested in the script, they offered writer Sylvester Stallone an unprecedented $350,000 for the rights, but he refused to sell unless they agreed to allow him to star in the film (this despite the fact that he had only $106 in the bank, no car and was trying to sell his dog because he couldn't afford to feed it). They agreed, but only 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, but that was on the basis of using an established star (they particularly wanted Robert Redford, Ryan O'Neal, Burt Reynolds or James Caan). United Artists didn't want Stallone to star, and when Winkler and Chartoff told them that the only way they could get him to sell the screenplay was to agree to cast him, United Artists cut the budget to $1 million, and had Chartoff and Winkler sign agreements that if the film went over budget, they would be personally liable. The final cost of the film was $1.1 million. The $0.1 million came after Chartoff and Winkler mortgaged their homes so as to complete the project.
Most of the scenes of Rocky jogging through Philadelphia were shot guerrilla-style, with no permits, no equipment and no extras. The shot were he runs past the moored boat for example; the crew were simply driving by the docks and director John G. Avildsen saw the boat and thought it would make a good visual, so he had Sylvester Stallone simply get out of the van and run along the quays whilst Avildsen himself filmed from the side door. A similar story concerns the famous shot of Rocky jogging through the food market. As he runs, the stall keepers and the people on the sidewalks can clearly be seen looking at him in bemusement. Whilst this works in the context of the film to suggest they're looking at Rocky, in reality, they had no idea why this man was running up and down the road being filmed from a van. During this scene, the famous shot where the stall-owner throws Rocky an orange was completely improvised by the stall owner-himself, who had no idea that a movie was being filmed and that he would be in it.
During his audition, Carl Weathers was sparring with Sylvester Stallone and accidentally punched him on the chin. Stallone told Weathers to calm down, as it was only an audition, and Weathers said that if he was allowed to audition with a 'real' actor, not a stand-in, he would be able to do a lot better. Director John G. Avildsen smiled and told Weathers that Stallone was the real actor (and the writer). Weathers looked at Stallone thoughtfully for a moment, and said, "Well, maybe he'll get better." Stallone immediately offered him the role.
Trailer