Rocky (1976) on Netflix
Rocky Balboa scrapes by as a club boxer in Philadelphia and collects debts for a loan shark. When the heavyweight champion needs an opponent for a title bout, he picks Rocky.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb8.1/10701,886 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes91%
Trailer
Plot summary
Rocky Balboa earns little from small fights in Philadelphia gyms and collects debts for the loan shark Tony Gazzo. He keeps coming by the pet shop to see Adrian Pennino, who is shy and says little, and her brother Paulie, his friend, sets up an evening out for the two of them. Heavyweight champion Apollo Creed learns that his scheduled opponent cannot compete in the New Year's title bout, so he decides to give a local unknown a chance at the title. Apollo and his trainer Tony settle on Rocky, drawn to his nickname. Promoter Miles Jergens brings him the offer, and the old trainer Mickey Goldmill offers to train him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rocky (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sylvester Stallone wrote the screenplay for Rocky in three and a half days, shortly after watching the championship match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner at Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio, on March 24, 1975.
- Stallone and Weathers were both injured during the shooting of the final fight: Stallone suffered bruised ribs and Weathers suffered a damaged nose, the opposite injuries of what their characters had.
- Real-life boxer Ken Norton, upon whom Apollo Creed was loosely based, was initially sought for the role, but pulled out and it went to Carl Weathers. Carrie Snodgress was originally chosen to play Adrian until a money dispute intervened; Susan Sarandon was then deemed too pretty and Cher too expensive.
- Philadelphia-based boxer Joe Frazier has a cameo in the film, and has claimed that Rocky's carcass-punching scenes and the run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were taken without credit from his own real-life exploits.
- Inventor Garrett Brown's new Steadicam was used for the Philadelphia street training sequences and the run up the Art Museum's stairs. Rocky is often erroneously cited as the first film to use the Steadicam, although it was actually the third, after Bound for Glory and Marathon Man.
- Stallone has denied that Chuck Wepner provided any inspiration for the script, despite the match motivating him to begin work on Rocky. Wepner sued Stallone and eventually settled for an undisclosed amount.
- In 1982 a statue of Rocky, commissioned by Stallone for Rocky III, was placed at the top of the Rocky Steps. City Commerce Director Dick Doran claimed that Stallone and Rocky had done more for the city's image than "anyone since Ben Franklin".
