History Film / Rocky

''Rocky'' was the highest-grossing film of 1976. The film was nominated for ten [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]] and won three: [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestPicture Best Picture]], [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestDirecting Director]] and [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestFilmEditing Editing]]. Stallone was nominated for both [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInALeadingRole Best Actor]] and [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalScreenplay Best Original Screenplay]].

** Buddy, Gazzo’s driver rudely suggests he take Adrian out to the zoo for their date. Rocky gets angry. [[CallBack Guess where Rocky ends up proposing in the sequel?]]

* HypocriticalHumor: At one point, a drunken Paulie violently derides his sister Adrian for no longer being a virgin, letting a man (Rocky) "take down her pants". Later, at the title fight, Paulie proudly unveils the hooker he paid to escort him to the event.

* IDontPayYouToThink: When Rocky only collects 130 dollars from someone who owed his boss $200:

* ImpliedDeathThreat: Somewhat downplayed, but after he insults Adrian, Rocky tells Buddy, Gazzo’s JerkAss driver, he should count his blessings as he’s “still healthy”. Rocky was letting him know he could easily [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown clobber him into the ground]] if he wanted.

* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The movie was BasedOnATrueStory but altered just enough to not be the exact event, that of Chuck Wepner vs Muhammad Ali and the idea of a relative nobody (Wepner was mildly successful but far from a name like Ali) getting a chance to go against the world champion. Rocky's surprise knock-down on Apollo in the first round reflects Wepner doing the same to Ali in the ninth, and while Rocky went the distance against Apollo, Ali was able to knock out Wepner a few seconds before the last round ended. Rocky himself took his name from real life boxing heavyweight champ Rocky Marciano. At the Oscars Muhammed Ali himself jokingly claimed they stole his story, and he said he wished he had thought of the "Master of Disaster" moniker Apollo used.

** The second time happens when Mickey comes to Rocky's apartment, offering to be his manager. This time, Rocky calls ''Mickey'' out for not offering his help "about ten years ago", and lashing out at Mickey while he leaves, ashamed of himself. However, Rocky quickly makes up his mind after getting all his feelings out, and he and Mickey reconcile and decide to work together.

* RealityHasNoSoundtrack: For the first 3/4 or so of a two-hour movie there is almost no soundtrack; most of the soundtrack is a quiet LonelyPianoPiece and all the score probably doesn't add up to two minutes. The lack of soundtrack reinforces the mood of gritty realism in the film, so when "Gonna Fly Now" does finally play with a half-hour left it has quite an impact.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Stallone was an utter {{Determinator}} as a screenwriter, never giving up on trying to get one sold no matter how many were turned down, until he had over thirty failed scripts to his name by the time United Artists bought ''Rocky''. This is mirrored in Rocky's own "going the distance" victory.

* SouthpawAdvantage: Creed's trainer is worried about Rocky the "southpaw". The trainer is worried that Rocky's southpaw stance, the opposite of what Apollo usually sees, will cause Apollo problems. He's right. Rocky himself blames his southpaw status for his failed boxing career, claiming other fighters are reluctant to fight him.

** A fire in a trash can with a small crowd of people around it appears during a night time scene (with Rocky walking by it) in the opening credits of the movie.

The film spawned [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} a franchise]] which includes five sequels centered around Rocky -- ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), and ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006). ''Film/{{Creed}}'', a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son, was released in 2015 and has itself received two sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all sequels and the first two spin-offs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spin-off, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the franchise page for tropes that stretch across the series or multiple films.

** Apollo Creed shows up about a half hour in to establish the turn of events that leads him to give Rocky a shot. Apollo and Rocky don't actually interact until the climactic match (aside from Rocky watching Apollo on a news broadcast). Rocky treats Apollo with nothing but respect the whole time, and Apollo is positioned as a powerful opponent rather than an enemy or antagonist. Later films would become heavily defined by the particular rival Rocky is given, and spend time establishing a hostile - or at least personally antagonistic - relationship between them.

* Determinator: Forms the core of Rocky's character and one of the main themes of the Rocky series. Rocky must continually meet and overcome the challenges before him with every ounce of courage and persistence in him, and the Rocky series practically created the TrainingMontage in film.

The film spawned [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} a franchise]] which includes five sequels centering around Rocky -- ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), and ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006). ''Film/{{Creed}}'', a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son, was released in 2015 and has itself received two sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all sequels and the first two spin-offs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spin-off, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the franchise page for tropes that stretch across the series or multiple films.

The film spawned [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} a namesake franchise]], including five sequels centering around Rocky -- ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), and ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006). ''Film/{{Creed}}'', a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son, was released in 2015 and has itself received two sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all sequels and the first two spin-offs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spin-off, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the franchise page for tropes that stretch across the series or multiple films.

The film has spawned [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} a franchise]] containing six sequels: ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006), and ''Film/{{Creed}}'' (2015), the lattermost a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son which itself has received sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all five sequels and the first two spinoffs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spinoff, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky franchise page]] for tropes that stretch across the series, or multiple films.

It was later [[ScreenToStageAdaptation adapted as a musical]] which first premiered in Germany in 2012 to good reviews and made its Broadway debut in 2014.

The film has spawned six sequels: ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006), and ''Film/{{Creed}}'' (2015), the lattermost a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son which itself has received sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all five sequels and the first two spinoffs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spinoff, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky franchise page]] for tropes that stretch across the series, or multiple films.

''Rocky'' was the highest-grossing film of 1976. The film was nominated for ten [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]] and won three: [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestPicture Best Picture]], [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestDirecting Director]] and [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestEditing Editing]]. Stallone was nominated for both [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestActorInALeadingRole Best Actor]] and [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAwardForBestOriginalScreenplay Best Original Screenplay]].

However, everything changes for Rocky when reigning World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed (Creator/CarlWeathers) suddenly has to find a replacement opponent for his next exhibition match on short notice. Apollo decides to give the bout to a local underdog as a publicity stunt, and picks Rocky ''just because he likes the sound of his nickname''. No-one seems to treat Rocky as a serious contender, but Rocky is determined not to let the opportunity go to waste, and steps up to show the world and himself that he "ain't some bum from the neighborhood".

''Rocky'' was the highest-grossing film of 1976. The film was nominated for ten [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]] and won three: Best Picture, Director and Editing. Stallone was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

The film has spawned six sequels: ''Film/RockyII'' (1979), ''Film/RockyIII'' (1982), ''Film/RockyIV'' (1985), ''Film/RockyV'' (1990), ''Film/RockyBalboa'' (2006), and ''Film/{{Creed}}'' (2015), the latter a SpinOff about Apollo Creed's son, which itself got sequels, ''Film/CreedII'' (2018) and ''Film/CreedIII'' (2023). Stallone portrays Rocky in all five sequels and the first two spinoffs, wrote all the main series films and co-wrote the second spinoff, and directed all of them except ''Rocky V'' and the ''Creed'' films. See the [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky franchise page]] for tropes that stretch across the series, or multiple films.

[[JustForFun/TheOneWith The one that]] started it all.

* ImpliedDeathThreat: Somewhat downplayed, but after he insults Adrian Rocky tells Buddy, Gazzo’s JerkAss driver, he should count his blessings as he’s “still healthy”. Rocky was letting him know he could easily [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown clobber him into the ground]] if he wanted.

* CallingTheOldManOut: When Mickey - who is the closest thing Rocky has to a father figure - shows up at his apartment offering to become his manager for the big fight, Rocky initially rejects him: pointing out that Mickey had looked down his nose at Rocky and his lifestyle (working as a mob enforcer to make ends meet) for seven years and never offered to help him make a better life by training his boxing skills until the publicity of the exhibition match came along.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This film is a carefully paced character drama with boxing as the backdrop, it could barely be called a sports film while later movies codified the underdog appeal to become the modern sports formula.

* CallingTheOldManOut: When Mickey, who's the closest thing Rocky has to a father figure, shows up at his apartment offering to become his manager, Rocky rejects him, saying that he needed Mick's help before and he didn't care, and going on a rant about what he's had to endure as an underdog with no future and no one to look out for him. Mickey sadly leaves, but Rocky changes his mind, accepting his offer and reconciling with him.

** The film repeatedly seeds the fact that Rocky is a southpaw (left-handed), and that right-handed boxers are generally reluctant to fight southpaws because the left-handedness throws off their rhythm and muscle memory. When Apollo chooses Rocky purely on the strength of Rocky's nickname, Apollo's trainer Duke looks at Rocky's data more carefully, immediately picks on the fact that Rocky's a southpaw, and tries to warn Apollo away from fighting him ("I don’t want you messing around with southpaws, they do everything backwards!").
** The second instance also features Duke: this time as Apollo and the rest of his crew are planning the publicity around the fight. Duke is watching a news broadcast showing Rocky in the meat locker training by using a slab of meat as a punching bag. He sees that Rocky's punches are landing very hard and tries to call Apollo over, but Apollo is too distracted to acknowledge him, demonstrating how much he is underestimating Rocky.

However, everything changes for Rocky when reigning World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed (Creator/CarlWeathers) suddenly has to find a replacement opponent for his next exhibition match on short notice. Apollo decides to give the bout to a local underdog as a publicity stunt, and picks Rocky ''just because he likes the sound of his nickname''. No-one seems to treat Rocky as a serious contender, but Rocky is determined not to let the opportunity go to waste, and steps up to show the world that he "ain't some bum from the neighborhood".

** Apollo Creed shows up about a half hour in to establish the turn of events that leads him to give Rocky a shot. Other than a press conference shown on TV, Apollo and Rocky don't actually interact until the climactic match, and Rocky is more concerned about giving it a good shot rather than anything personal about Apollo. Later movies become heavily defined by the particular rival Rocky is given.

* ChampionsOnTheInside: Rocky ultimately loses his fight to Apollo, but the point was that he achieved his personal goal of winning the respect of the boxing world by showing he was more than a faceless bum for Apollo to defeat.

JustForFun/{{The One|With}} [[Main/WhereItAllBegan that started it all]].

* CantCatchUp: Rocky realizes before the fight: He won't be able to beat Apollo. He just got taken from an obscure life in the streets a few weeks beforehand, and it's not for nothing that Apollo Creed ''is'' a heavyweight champion.
* ChampionsOnTheInside: Rocky ultimately loses his fight to Apollo, but the point was that he took the champion to a place he's never been to; the ''full length of a match''. In doing so, he accomplished his goal of proving his own self-worth and showing the world that he isn't just some bum.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: One of the most famous subversions in film. Rocky, while training hard and seriously, realizes there's no way he can beat the more experienced, skilled, and refined Apollo Creed. Instead, he becomes determined to last until the final round.