On December 3, 1976, audiences began swarming theaters to see a low-budget movie starring an unknown Italian-American actor. Not only was it a box office smash, it would also go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. In the decades that followed, it spawned five sequels as well as a spin-off that itself had two sequels. And this year, a new feature documents the incredible story of the making of the original movie. In an age when few fads last more than a social media cycle, what is it about Rocky that gives it such enduring cultural power?
Over the years, Sylvester Stallone and the character that made him a star have been widely mocked and parodied — the hulking muscles, the marble-mouthed manner of speech, the formulaic workout montages, and the increasingly unrealistic feats Rocky Balboa pulled off as the series kept trying to raise the stakes. The later movies are routinely dismissed as roided-out music videos (although I will defend each of them, especially Rocky IV, with every fiber of my being). The original, however, was a genuinely great American film that still resonates for good reason.
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