20 Years with Rocky |
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![]() In February 1977, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored Rocky with ten Oscar nominations, later awarding it the 1976 Academy Award for Best Picture. Stallone's triumph was complete. As surely as Rocky Balboa overcame all obstacles to "go the distance" in the ring, Sylvester Stallone himself overcame ferocious odds to put his vision on screen.
That very night, Stallone went home with an idea for a character: Rocky Balboa, a man without much mentality, but with incredible emotion, patriotism, spirituality and good nature. As Stallone conceived him, Rocky "would be America's child. He would be the 70's what Little Tramp was to the 20's." For three-and-a-half days straight, Stallone wrote his first draft of Rocky, keeping himself awake with a steady intake of caffeine pills. Studios loved the script, but they weren't so enamored of the strings attached: Stallone, an unknown, wanted to star. James Caan, Ryan O'Neal and Burt Reynolds were mentioned as more likely candidates. Stallone was initially offered a hefty sum for the screenplay only, but he didn't bite. He'd sell his script only if he were allowed to star. "I knew if I [just took the money], then the whole thing I wrote about in the script was totally false, too," he said. "The picture was taking that goldon shot in the face of adversity." Eventually, United Artists gave in, putting their faith in Stallone.
Rocky was an immediate success, with positive word-of-mouth spreading even before its release. It was seen as an antidote to the pessimism and cynicism that had characterized much of Hollywood's output earlier in the decade, and many critics compared Rocky to the work of Frank Capra, the legendary director of such classics as It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Capra himself has said of Rocky, "Boy, that's a film I wish I had made." As a result, Stallone's career had been launched as few had ever been before. After starring in F.I.S.T. and Paradise Alley, Stallone returned in Rocky II, for which he not only starred and wrote, but also directed. Because Rocky was clearly a character with universal appeal, Stallone thought "it would be a shame just to throw him away after two hours."
As Stallone's stardom grew, he realized how easy it was to become complacent and make "safe" choices to preserve one's success. As he tried to free himself from this trap, he wrote Rocky III, in which the enormously successful champ loses his edge. Rocky is defeated by Clubber Lang (Mr. T) and then must regain "the eye of the tiger" in order to win back the championship. Stallone himself was coming to grips with many of Rocky's feelings. "I was really providing therapy for myself," he says of making Rocky III. "It is not only what has happened but what is happening to me that is paralleled in the Rocky films."
The Rocky saga came full circle with Rocky V, a film which finds the champ penniless and unable to box professionally. Rocky is back in the South Philadelphia neighborhood where he started, searching for meaning in his shambles for a life. He thinks he finds salvation in young Tommy Gunn (Tommy Morrison), an aggressive boxer whom Rocky trains. Only later does Rocky realize that his own family, paricularly his neglected son, is his true salvation. Rocky must fight Gunn in the stunning climaz, but the more important battle for his family has already been won. Rocky's son in the film is played by Stallone's real-life son, Sage.
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