Makes You Want To Go Out And Beat Up A Slab Of Beef
Sylvester Stallone’s screenplay about a local boxer who gets a chance to fight for the title, “Rocky,” with Stallone in the title role, led to three Oscars and four sequels.
This somewhat cornball plot of the million-to-one shot that mixes a lot of “Marty” with “Cinderella” and “Walter Mitty” won the 1976 best-picture Oscar as well as statuettes for directing and editing. In all, it had 10 nominations.
There was a following - yes, a cult - by the time the series culminated in 1990 with “Rocky V.” The movies made their runs on television and home video, but now, on “Rocky’s” 20th anniversary, the set of five films is being released by MGM/UA Home Video for $39.92. The individual movies sell for $9.98 each.
The films, which grossed more than $500 million, the year “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” swept the Emmy Awards; Bjorn Borg, at 20, was the youngest Wimbledon champion in 45 years; and Pittsburgh beat Dallas in Super Bowl X.
The plots weren’t nominated for awards of originality, but they were packed with emotion and gave viewers a heaping dose of exultation, one finish after another.
The five films:
“Rocky”
The film inspired many ordinary guys “to go the distance” as the Italian Stallion goes the route with world champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers).
“Rocky II”
Despite massive injuries from the first fight and his retirement, Rocky answers the clamor of the fans for a rematch with Apollo Creed.
“Rocky III”
After 10 victories, Rocky is KO’d by Clubber Lane (Mr. T) and, with the help of Creed, goes into a grueling rematch for the world title.
“Rocky IV”
This is an East-vs.-West fight to the finish with Rocky and Drago (Dolph Lundgren), the Soviet Union’s 6-foot-4, 261-pound contender, who killed Creed in an exhibition fight.
“Rocky V”
Rocky returns to his low-rent roots in Philadelphia with his wife (played by Talia Shire) and son (Sage Stallone, the star’s real son) after an unscrupulous financial adviser wipes out his life’s earnings. He starts to train a young boxer, who turns on him and taunts him into risking everything in one last bout, ending the saga.