62. Rocky (1976)

Rocky is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen, written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.[3] It tells the rags to riches American Dream story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated, but kind-hearted working class Italian-American boxer, working as a debt collector for a loan shark in the slums of Philadelphia. Rocky, a small-time club fighter, gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film also stars Talia Shire as Adrian, Burt Young as Adrian's brother Paulie, Burgess Meredith as Rocky's trainer Mickey Goldmill, and Carl Weathers as the reigning champion, Apollo Creed.

The film, made on a budget of just over $1 million, was a sleeper hit; it earned $225 million in global box office receipts, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1976. The film was critically acclaimed and solidified Stallone's career as well as commenced his rise to prominence as a major movie star.[4] Among other accolades, it went on to receive ten Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Picture. In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant". Rocky is considered to be one of the greatest sports films ever made and was ranked as the second-best in the genre, after Raging Bull, by the American Film Institute in 2008.

The film has spawned seven sequels: Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990), Rocky Balboa (2006), Creed (2015), and Creed II (2018). Stallone portrays Rocky in all eight films, wrote six of the seven films, and directed four of the six titular installments. In July 2019, Stallone said in an interview that there have been ongoing discussions about a prequel to the original film based on the life of a young Rocky Balboa.[5]

SHOW NOTES:

Rocky intro (0:01), we're joined by special guest and Rocky completist Paul Tinelli who discusses his special connection to Rocky the movie and the character (1:30), Sly Stallone's home life growing up and entry to movie business (3:00), Rocky origin story versus reality (3:45), Our guest Paul Tinelli gave his wife a 'Diner' test with Rocky on VHS on their first date (4:30), Rocky original ending and poster (7:00), How they shot the arena/fight scene with only 500 extras (08:00), 70's hangover decade and driving around in your Mom's Pinto (12:00), Rock with Cuff & Link the turtles and Moby Dick clip (14:00), Rocky is approached for the Apollo Creed fight clip (16:00), Rocky press conference shout-out to Adrian clip(17:30), Rocky has all the feels clip (18:00), Talia Shire clip with her and Burt Young from 'Rocky' (22:00), The 'Rocky' production design with LA interiors on sets and the run-and-gun Philly shoot (24:00), Rocky and Mick's fight at the gym (25:00), Rocky and Mick's incredible scene in Rocky's apartment (29:00), Burgess Meredith's great Twilight Zone appearance (30:00), Mike Medavoy and Arthur Krim story about Krim confusing Perry King with Stallone in 'Lords of Flatbush' (32:00), Joe Spinnell as Willie Cicci and the gangster in 'Rocky' (33:30), Michael Dorn from Star Trek is in Rocky, as is Troma Pictures Lloyd Kauffman (34:00), Stallone's online store is filled with amazing clothes, knives, and weird Stallonia (36:00), John Cazale was in five movies nominated for Best Picture (38:00), John Avildsen's career as a director (39:00), Paul's rundown on the best Rocky films (39:30), Bill Conti's iconic theme from 'Rocky' (43:00), Carl Weathers role as Apollo Creed (46:00), Philly Eagles fans eat horsepoop (47:00), Stallone and the ownership issues on 'Rocky' (48:30), Alternative Casting w/ (for Rocky) Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Burt Reynolds, James Caan, John Travolta, Robert DeNiro, Warren Beatty, Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Harvey Keitel; Lee Strasberg for Mick; Carrie Snodgress, Susan Sarandon, and Cher for Adrian; Stallone, Chevy Chase, and Travolta all auditioned for Han Solo in 'Star Wars'; for Apollo Creed, Ken Norton was considered, and Roger Mosely who was TC on 'The A Team' (51:00), Columbo Cinematic Universe (1:02:00), Latch Key TV w/ the opens and themes to 'Charlie's Angels', 'Laverne & Shirley', 'Alice', 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' theme was written by Sonny Curtis, a great songwriter who also wrote 'I Fought The Law And The Law One' and 'More Than I Can Say' (1:04:00), Voicemail to the pod from Super-Listener Frazer Rice recommends 'The Hidden' directed 'Wishmaster 2' director Jack Shoulder, and we play the trailer (1:12:45), Super-listener Jeffrey D Stevens is a set medic for major motion pictures and TV shows and wrote to the pod and we're gonna do a movie he suggested on next week's pod (1:17:00), 'Se7en' trailer (1:19:00). Et Finis.