The Film:  Rocky

Year: 1976

Genre:  Drama / Romance

Directed By: John G. Avildsen

Written By:  Sylvester Stallone

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Carl Weathers

Why Rent It?

The weekend after Independence Day calls for a feel-good all-American story:  Rocky.

If you’ve seen a Sylvester Stallone film in the last 20 years, we apologize, and we wish we could give you your money back.

But, there was a time when Stallone wrote and starred in a pretty great film that earned 10 Academy Award nominations, even winning Best Picture.

The Breakdown:

Rocky introduced us to one of the greatest movie/sports themes ever:

Director John G. Avildsen captured the action in a new way with a Steadicam:

The story of a hometown boy who does well never gets old:

Final Analysis: 

Rocky is one of the greatest sports movies of the last 40years, and the fact that it’s had 5 progressively worse sequels should be reason enough to enjoy the original again.

When it was released, Rocky was recieved well by audiences, but the critics were mixed.

New York Times critic Vincent Canby said:

Under the none too decisive direction of John G. Avildsen, Mr. Stallone is all over “Rocky” to such an extent it begins to look like a vanity production.

Avildsen would go on to win the Oscar for Best Direction.

In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Rocky is available on Blu-Ray and at Netflix.