Released in 1976 and winning several Academy Awards including Best Picture, Rocky brought Sylvester Stallone instant fame and began one of the most popular movie series in the world. With passion and conviction, Stallone wrestled with Hollywood executives to retain the integrity of his original screenplay inspired by boxer Rocky Marciano and his own real life personal struggles. Instantly iconic, often emulated and parodied, the inspiring and universally relatable story of Rocky Balboa rings true. The film transcends what most would write off as a simple boxing movie to become what is essentially a synonym for "crowd-pleasing underdog film."
The success of Rocky paved the way for five direct sequels and a spin-off film series centered on the son of Rocky's rival Apollo Creed with Stallone's Rocky as an essential supporting character. Spanning four decades of cinema history, the Rocky film series turned Carl Weathers, Mr. T, and Dolph Lundgren into action stars. Running parallel to the life and professional career of Stallone, most apparent in the fluctuating thematic focal points and varying overall quality of each film in the series, the extended saga of Rocky Balboa is American cinema's ultimate inspirational fairy tale.
