Rocky is something I’ve heard about for all my life, but to be honest, I had never seen any Rocky films. The first Rocky related movie I watched was Creed in 2015, and I thought it was a pretty good movie. Now, as Creed 2 is about to be released, I took on a project to watch all of the Rocky films.  (We’ll enter this movie binge in two movie increments.)

Rocky (1976)

Wow! I am truly amazed at how amazing this movie is. I’m also really surprised at how a movie that is now more than 40 years old has such a great storyline and cinematography. I can only imagine how viewers at the time felt about it.

I think this first movie did character development very well. I think that Rocky is a very charismatic, charming, and funny character. He really allowed me to get sucked into the movie and really feel for the character of Rocky. In terms of movie theme, for a sports film about boxing there was very little time spent boxing. I will say that the boxing scenes were spectacular. I was cheering from my couch!

On top of this, I learned so much from Rocky: 1) A split decision does not mean it’s a tie! 2) There were 15 rounds (then) in a boxing match. 3) If a boxer is down for 10 seconds, then the other boxer wins the whole match (not just that round). 4) Rocky is a South Paw. Which means his left hand is his dominant fighting hand.

One question still unanswered: did Adrian truly believe that Rocky could hear her through the crowd and the reporters swarming him??

Grade: A

Stay tuned for Rocky II. I’ll be adding these reviews here as I binge through the franchise.

Rocky II

The beginnings of this movie were exciting because it gave a recap of the previous movie. I think that’s a pretty cool technique. Even though I am binge watching and my memory of Rocky I is still fresh, I still found it helpful. I think many viewers would appreciate if all movies gave a recap of the previous movie, especially if a few years have passed.

This movie picked right back up where the last one ended. There’s a lot of scenes that don’t seem relevant to boxing in the beginning of this movie. About half of the movie is about character development and build up for the rematch between Rocky and Creed. It isn’t until an hour in until a rematch is even set. If Rocky wasn’t such an entertaining character this would have deterred me from continuing the movie.

The first half of the movie, Rocky carelessly spends his money and attempts to film commercials. But during the commercial filming, everyone learns that Rocky can’t read, which I think is the main driver for Rocky’s boxing interest in the first place. In this movie, Rocky isn’t too interested in boxing because he’s already proven that he can box to himself, but due to his inability to read and find a decent job, he feels he has no other option. The way he spends his money also adds to the storyline and to the character development of Rocky. He’s never had this much money before and yet he’s not afraid to spend on those who he loves. I find that to be pretty selfless. I also see more character development with Adrian in this movie. Frankly, I wasn’t too sure of Adrian’s purpose in the first movie, specifically because she didn’t have many lines, but as I continue watching, I see that her character is just shy and is slowly becoming her own woman.

When Rocky finally decides to go up against Creed again, I learned he has a significant blind spot in his right eye. He’s determined to fight, so he trained to use his right hand. Remembering that Rocky is a South Paw, I find this to be one heck of a strategy and also is very inspiring.

The funniest scene in my opinion is when Rocky stops to see his priest before his fight. He’s already late, but he drives up to the priest’s window and yells to ask for a blessing.

The fight scene at the end rivaled an actual fight, because it was longer and it wasn’t only a bunch of clips strung together. During the fight scene, Creed really brings his all. This isn’t a joke to him anymore, because Rocky has shaken his confidence in his title. I wasn’t too sure how things would end, and during that final round both Creed and Rocky got knocked down. I was once again on the edge of my seat. I wasn’t sure the direction the fight would go. I thought for sure Rocky was going to lose, and that would be the premise of Rocky III. What I loved most about this movie was the twist at the end, when everyone waits to see who will stand up in time.

Honestly, I have so much respect for both Rocky and Creed. You could see the exhaustion in both of them, but they both refused to give up.

Here’s a quiz question for the next time: What can you count on to happen in a Rocky film?

Grade: A

Stay tuned for the answer and for Rocky III!

Movie Review – Creed

Movie Review – Creed

And here is our original review when Creed first came out:

Movie Review – Creed