A story about a man trying to prove to himself, and the woman he loves, that he has worth.  Also there's boxing in it.

Notice how much integrity Gazzo has: when he reprimands Rocky for not breaking the guys finger, he doesn't do it in front of the driver but instead takes Rocky to a private place for a one on one.  Exemplary employee management.

Stallone always said it wasn't a boxing movie, it's a love story.

If Stallone had never made another movie, he would still be a legend. This film is as close to perfection as any film can get.

It's not just the character of Rocky that was an underdog. The movie itself was an underdog. It was basically a low budget movie that wasn't expected to be that big.

Rocky and First Blood always surprise people, since their pop-culture depictions of ridiculous violence are very different than the actual emotional themes.

"He just keeps getting hit in the face."

30 seconds into the movie and you've already figured out Rocky's strategy.

In Philly, Rocky is still treated like a city hero, not a movie character.   ♥️ 🥊

Most people are surprised when Rocky goes back to Mickey and agrees to working with him after his tirade. But what struck me most about Rocky’s good nature is that he doesn’t hold any grudges.
That’s why he never pushes Paulie away.
Rocky sees people for who they are. And I think he rather just pities them than judge them. He’d rather be there to help, if they ever ask.

Winner of 3 Oscars including Best Picture.

I love that the real Stalone was so close to this character in many ways. He wrote the script and the studio was doing everything not to have him star and he was broke the whole time. The audience at the end was almost all friends and family of the crew as they couldn’t afford anything else. He went from a poor kid with a script to a world known actor. Pretty cool.

Incredible love story that just happens to have a boxing match in the background.

Chandra is correct. There was a Mountie in the Bullwinkle cartoons. His name was Dudley Do-right.

The main singer on the street scene is Sylvester Stalone's brother Frank. He shows up in all the films soundtracks.

Butkus was Sylvester Stallone's real dog. He had to sell Butkus before he got the funding to make this movie, but once he got it he was able to by his pup back (the new owner charged him way more), and decided to integrate the dog into the film.

Adrian is the heart and soul of all the Rocky movies!

I loved Chandra's reaction...
I love watching female reactors react to (Rocky) they come in anticipating a fight movie only to find out the enjoyment that it's a love story

i love it when smart people react to Rocky!

This was Stallone’s personal writing project, that Movie Studios had passed on.
Winning the Oscar, for Best Picture, redeemed Stallone’s conviction in this story.

When combined with Bill Conti’s theme song — it became the cultural event of 1976.

Great movie, great reaction and RIP Carl Weathers.