When world heavyweight boxing champion, Apollo Creed wants to give an unknown fighter a shot at the title as a publicity stunt, his handlers choose palooka Rocky Balboa, an uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark. Rocky teams up with trainer Mickey Goldmill to make the most of this once in a lifetime break.
Rocky is an old-fashioned fairytale brilliantly revamped to chime in with the depressed mood of the '70s.
– Geoff Andrew,
Time Out,
24 Jun 2006
fresh:
I wanted to like it more than I did, but it'll do.
– Dave Kehr,
Chicago Reader,
13 Dec 2006
fresh:
There are occasional flashes that the film may be patronizing the lower end of the blue-collar mentality, as much if not more than the characters who keep putting Rocky down on the screen. However, Avildsen is noted for creating such ambiguities.
– A.D. Murphy,
Variety,
20 Feb 2009
rotten:
The story is achingly familiar, and though Stallone has a certain power, he is certainly not the subtlest actor to crawl out from under Marlon's overcoat.
– Richard Schickel,
TIME Magazine,
26 Jul 2011
fresh:
Sylvester Stallone [is] as likable as a basset hound.