X
- 1976
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h
- 1976
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h
Summary Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a Philadelphia club fighter who seems to be going nowhere. But when a stroke of fate puts him in the ring with a world heavyweight champion, Rocky knows that it's his one shot at the big time; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go the distance and come out a winner! [MGM]
Directed By: John G. Avildsen
Written By: Sylvester Stallone
- 1976
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h
- 1976
- PG
- United Artists
- 2 h
Rocky
70
8.7
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Summary Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) is a Philadelphia club fighter who seems to be going nowhere. But when a stroke of fate puts him in the ring with a world heavyweight champion, Rocky knows that it's his one shot at the big time; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go the distance and come out a winner! [MGM]
Directed By: John G. Avildsen
Written By: Sylvester Stallone
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
70
71% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable Based on 14 Critic Reviews
70
71% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
29% Mixed
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
By now, everyone knows who wins, but the scenes before the fight set us up for it so completely, so emotionally, that when it's over we've had it. We're drained.
The basic storyline has been done to death over the years; this is still one of the most effective and successful applications of the formula.
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 323 User Ratings
8.7
93% Positive
301 Ratings
301 Ratings
7% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
User Score
Universal Acclaim Based on 323 User Ratings
8.7
93% Positive
301 Ratings
301 Ratings
7% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
0% Negative
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
Jun 2, 2025
The greatest boxing film I have ever watched. Sly really peaked in the 70s-80s era.
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Sep 24, 2024
An extremely impressive screenwriting debut for Sylvester Stallone, not to mention a breakthrough acting performance, in this transcendent boxing saga that's more about the path to the ring and the tumultuous effects of both participants' personal lives than the outcome of the fight itself. Stallone is raw and nuanced as Rocky Balboa, the punchy palooka who wears his heart on the sleeve of his leather jacket and tumbles through life in a barely-contained tailspin. He's awkward but approachable, blunt but genuine. Flanked by an equally flawed supporting cast, we catch Rocky's personality from a number of different angles. Finally granted the long-sought opportunity to date a friend's sister, for example, he's clumsy and oafish. They both are. The climactic moment of their embrace isn't a Hollywood crescendo, met with a romantic orchestral swell, it's a quiet fumble on the cold floor of his ratty, single-bedroom apartment. That's real; that's personal. As a trusted corner man's alcoholism spirals into an incoherent fury, we don't find any easy resolutions. Just added color to an already-bright fabric, portraying life in an American downtown during the mid-'70s. The film's simple, seat-of-pants production further reinforces that theme. There's no gloss here, no smoothed edges. It's heartfelt and meaningful, bare and earnest, from the quiet moments of self-doubt to the irrelevance of the judges' scorecards at the end of the big match. Great stuff.
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Rocky is an old-fashioned fairytale brilliantly revamped to chime in with the depressed mood of the '70s. Although its plot - nonentity gets to fight the heavyweight champ - is basically fantasy, the film deftly manages to suspend disbelief by drawing back at its more implausible moments.
By Staff (Not Credited) FULL REVIEW
This is really Sly's movie as he slugs his way through a heartfelt performance and delivers some cracking punches, both literally and emotionally.
A great movie? Hardly. Stallone as the next Brando? You've got to be kidding. A nice little fantasy picture? Maybe. That's the hype and reality of Rocky, the flatout schmaltzy saga of a Philadelphia club boxer who, on New Year's Day of our Bicentennial Year, gets a chance to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world. . . .
The problem, I think, comes back to Mr. Stallone. Throughout the movie we are asked to believe that his Rocky is compassionate, interesting, even heroic, though the character we see is simply an unconvincing actor imitating a lug.
May 24, 2024
How can ANYONE rate this classic low? It is the penultimate FIGHTER'S STORY. And it aligns PERFECTLY with any person on a fighter's journey either as a real fighter or metaphorically in life. If someone rated this low they DON'T understand what it is to be a fighter in ANYTHING, and I feel sorry for them
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Aug 23, 2022
The first half was very meandering and slow, and the payoffs are not nearly as high or entertaining as they need to be. Every scene with Carl Weathers was awesome.
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Apr 23, 2020
Rocky. Seek and do not give up. For me, the film was controversial. It was at the same time interesting in terms of the fact that you should train a lot and then you will get the result, and also really liked the final fight. But at the same time in the movie there were a lot of strange and stupid dialogs in which Rocky looked dumb. Perhaps this was planned.
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Feb 12, 2018
don't want one.. Rocky There are some dreadful scenes like cutting an eye for clear vision which is not easy to watch but on the other side it has probably one of the best first dates ever portrayed in a movie; the relation between Rocky and Adrian is easily the best thing in here. Rocky is a smart movie; which came off as a surprise to me, the whole movie is a build up to the much awaited fight giving the perfect value and gravitas to the event that it deserved but fails on living up to the expectation for the choreography is way too lose. John seems like an amateur when it comes to execute physical sequences but does a decent job for the rest of it maybe because he probably didn't have to do much since the writing is good enough to sail on its own and Sylvester is amazing on both the roles with a good enough supporting cast. Rocky is the slow ride that is comfortable and in an appropriate tone to its characters and plot giving enough space for the actors and the audience to chew it in.
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Production Company
- Chartoff-Winkler Productions
Release Date Dec 3, 1976
Duration 2 h
Rating PG
Tagline You have a ringside seat for the bloodiest bicentennial in history!
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 3 Wins & 10 Nominations
Golden Globes, USA
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
BAFTA Awards
• 5 Nominations
