Director
John G. Avildsen
Leading Actors/Actresses
Sylvester Stallone
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Talia Shire, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Genre
Sports Drama
Language
English
Awards
Selected in 2006 by the Library of Congress for the National Film Registry.
Date of Release
November 1 1976
Producer
Irwin Winkler Robert Chartoff
Setting and Context
Philadelphia, 1975, during the golden years of boxing
Narrator and Point of View
The point of view is that of Rocky Balboa, challenger to the heavyweight championship of the world title
Tone and Mood
The tone is hopeful, motivational and rousing.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Rocky is the protagonist, Apollo Creed the antagonist.
Major Conflict
The championship bout is the physical conflict in the movie.
Climax
Rocky takes Creed the full distance in the bout which is something that nobody has ever done before.
Foreshadowing
A split decision foreshadows Creed's win because as the incumbent champion he is awarded the title in the event of a non-unanimous score from the judges.
Understatement
Creed has understated Rocky's talents, as has Creed's team. They believe he is easy to beat because he is not a very experienced or stylish boxer.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
This is the first film that made use of the Steadicam which was used to accomplish filming a moving subject, in this case, running alongside Stallone in the scenes that featured Rocky training.
Allusions
The characters allude to the boxers who went before them, specifically in the 1920s and 1930s when Mick was a bantamweight champion.
Paradox
Rocky actually outscores Creed in the fight and has the only knock-down but loses the match because the judges cannot agree on a score which gives Creed the title by default.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between Rocky's uphill fight in the ring and his uphill fight in getting Adrian's brother to accept him.
