Rocky Film Analysis

Rocky

Directed by John Avildsen, the film Rocky is often known as the best sports

underdog film ever made. Written and starred by Sylvester Stallone, a washed-up boxer

does the unthinkable to beat the heavyweight champ. Avildsen beautifully directs a film

that is not only focused on sports, but a romance also, proving that a film with a low

budget and not well-known actor Stallone can be successful. Rocky is a film that touches

audience’s hearts and will shed a tear with many. Stallone wrote Rocky in only three

days and demanded he would be the star of the role, “a young Marlon Brando”, as Ebert

said, the film would go on to receive several awards and make millions.

Stallone himself developed the screenplay in only three days. Stallone began

to shop around the script with him being the star. The studios although did not think

Stallone would suit the main character position. After several months the film was finally

bought by United Artist and given a miserable budget of one million dollars, yet this did

not hurt the films success. Winning Best Picture in 1977 Academy Awards against Taxi

Driver and Network, known to many as the better more “important” films, as Berardinelli

stated, Rocky reigned as the underdog, low budget film that won. Berardinelli also wrote

that, “ In many ways, its grabbing the title belt of Best Picture was as unlikely as its main

character going the distance with Apollo Creed, the film went from being a minor release

on United Artists' schedule to becoming a full-fledged cinematic phenomenon.” Rocky

in both respects to the character and the movie are underdogs that in the end prevail with

what little they had to prepare with. Rocky won the Oscar for Best 
Director, Stallone was

nominated 
for Best Actor, and for Best Screenplay. Young and Meredith were nominated

for Best Supporting 
Actor, and Shire was somehow nominated for Best Supporting

Actress and the great theme song,...