The Rocky franchise has produced eight movies to date, with another in the works. What there is debate over, however, is which one is best. There’s no debating the Rocky pictures rank amongst the best sports films of all time. His services to the sport through those movies can’t be measured as he raised the profile of boxing and inspired thousands of youngsters to join their local amateur gym. The Rocky movies were so successful, Stallone was inducted into the international boxing hall of fame. Stallone helped inspire a generation of fighters The story of the half punch-drunk, flat broke, luckless fighter who took a gamble on himself and went on to become heavyweight champion of the world. The top scriptwriters and moviemakers in Hollywood have always had a love affair with boxing and gambling.īoth themes were covered beautifully by the Rocky movies written and starring Sylvester Stallone. Millions of more fight fans watch the action live on TV and bet on the outcome of fights with a major online sportsbooks like Bovada. The sport is as popular today as it has ever been with major stadiums worldwide, including Wembley in London and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, packed to capacity. As we ask ourselves what was the best Rocky movie?īoxing is an ancient sport that can be traced back through the centuries. Despite almost no experience, Stallone insisted on playing the part himself and didn’t relent until he got his way.After Samuel Edwards discussed some of the best Stallone and Schwarzenegger films of the 2010’s we decided to focus on just one Stallone movie in particular and that’s Rocky. Movie studios were interested in the project but wanted an established actor to play the part. Stallone was a nobody when he wrote the script for "Rocky," loosely basing the character on Chuck Wepner, a tomato can boxer who unexpectedly went 15 rounds with Muhammad Ali. It’s a truly touching scene in a movie filled with silliness, one guaranteed to make any dad want to be a better dad.Īnd Rocky’s "There’s still stuff in the basement" speech to Paulie early in "Rocky Balboa" is just heartbreaking, maybe the best two minutes of acting Stallone has ever done ("She didn’t leave, Paulie, she died.") His son nods, and Rocky hugs him and tells him he loves him no matter what. “Going that one more round, when you don’t think you can, that’s what makes all the difference,” Rocky says quietly. “Well, wouldn’t you be?” Rocky answers, explaining that it’s OK to be scared, and that in times when you want to give up, that’s when you have to be brave. “Are you scared? A little maybe?” his son asks as they sit on the boy’s bed together. We see him mature and age, rise and fall, but the man himself never really changes. We forgive even the most saccharine scenes because of how much we believe in Rocky and identify with him. Throughout the series, amid the ups and downs, Rocky himself remains unimpeachable. Tell me you don’t get the urge to put on sweatpants and head to the gym after watching a Rocky flick and I’ll call you a liar. For the most part they get progressively worse from the best-picture-winning original to the forgettable "Rocky V," a movie that was so depressing Stallone rebooted the series largely so his character wouldn’t end on such a glum note.īut each film has its moments – the boxing scenes, sure, and the familiar characters, the quotable one-liners and, of course, the training montages set to Bill Conti’s famous soundtrack. Rocky is what we wish to see in ourselves. No character the movies have ever given us has better represented our humanity – our dreams, our struggles, our daily attempt to be better people. That's because Rocky Balboa is the greatest movie character of all time.
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