The actor playing Stallone, Anthony Ippolito, also played Al Pacino in the making of The Godfather series, The Offer.  He was uncanny as a young Pacino as well.  Keeping an eye on this kid for sure.

I saw Rocky the week it came out… My date was thinking “ What’s Rocky?”.  When he climbed the steps the audience was jumping up and down. Come the fight, people were yelling instructions to the screen… Can’t explain it, just had to be there

How do you not put Rocky as one of the greatest films of the 70s? It's had more long-lasting cultural impact than almost any other film from the era; it won three academy awards; it depicts some of the best character studies in all of film; the cinematography is iconic. I could go on and on.

In fact, it's up there as one of the greatest, most impactful films EVER made...not just of the 70s...of the 70s should be a no-brainer.

Loved it. One of the only film’s I voted for when I participated in the people’s choice vote at tiff.

At 3:28, Brian says, “it’s not, to me, one of the best films of the ’70s, but there’s a lot to love about Rocky,” and I really have to push back on that.

What makes Rocky extraordinary is that it sits between two Americas. There is the heroic mythology of 1776, the story of ordinary people challenging established power and refusing to let status determine their fate. Then there is 1976, an America that simply looks exhausted. Vietnam and Watergate are part of that exhaustion, but so are the worn streets, economic anxiety, declining confidence, and the feeling that the country has spent a decade being told that its old promises no longer work the way people thought they did.

There are stretches of Rocky where I almost feel like I am watching a documentary somebody happened to shoot in 1975. I can feel how cold Philadelphia is. I can feel that meat locker. The gym looks exhausted. Rocky’s apartment looks inhabited rather than designed. The streets, rowhouses, pet shop, Paulie’s workplace, even the awkward conversations feel caught rather than manufactured. Maybe part of that comes from making the film for roughly $1 million, but the result is one of the most honest images of working class America in the 1970s.

And Philadelphia matters. This is the birthplace of the American Revolution during the Bicentennial, yet Rocky is collecting debts for a loan shark, fighting for almost nothing, and wondering whether his life has already passed him by. Apollo turns him into a celebration of American opportunity, even though that opportunity comes almost by accident. The distance between the America being celebrated and the America Rocky actually lives in is what makes the film so powerful.

Then Rocky loses. Apollo keeps the title. Rocky only wanted to prove that his life had not already been decided for him. He goes the distance, the judges announce Apollo, and Rocky is looking for Adrian.

That is much more than “a lot to love.” To me, that is one of the best American films of the 1970s.

I honestly think that this film could be a major player in the Best Casting category, in addition to Best Actor and Best Picture. Let's not forget that Peter Farrelly's prior film GREEN BOOK actually WON People's Choice as well, in addition to being a massive box office hit. The fact that it was neither part of a franchise nor a Netflix release (in addition to being a hit) is what ultimately helped GREEN BOOK win Picture especially considering the competition and their drawbacks.

That actor is perfectly cast

Brian, I’m sorry to say that you totally missed the point of the ending, and I’m sad that impacted your grading. The movie Rocky wasn’t about him winning the fight. That was completely irrelevant. He just wanted to go the distance. He made that very clear that was the goal. And at the very end when they turned down the ring announcer’s volume down when he says that the winner and still champion was Apollo Creed. Many people believe that Rocky won! Which by his goals HE DID!  He won the fight by going the distance and experiencing that moment with the love of his life. If they showed him/them winning the Oscar for Best Picture it would totally go against what the movie Rocky was all about. It wasn’t about winning anything. It was about sticking to his guns and just getting to play the role that he created. HE WON just by doing that. Getting the movie made = Going the distance with Creed.

I don't know whether it was discussed in the film but absolutely central in creating the whole feeling of Rocky was the music. Bill Conti was just one of the best. I think he was also relatively unknown at the time. Gonna fly now is just unforgettabe. The fugal fanfare opening of Going the Distance was obviously inspired by Bach which gave it a very classic feel as well as an unmistakably 1970s one. (I would also argue that Conti's For Your Eyes Only was hands down the best score of any James Bond film.)  The music to Rocky is simply iconic. Rocky without Bill Conti would be like imagining Star Wars without John Williams.

The actor playing Sylvester looks so much like him at the time, the resemblance is so uncanny.

We need a movie based on Mickey!! His early 1900s days as a fighter

I think your review does a great job of balancing expectations and reality. I have fond memories of the original but I'm not a big Stallone fan. It's like for every plus, there's a minus - but I definitely will see it and bet will enjoy it way more than I'm expecting. Now, we all continue to brace ourselves for the "Elsinore" review. Sigh.

If I had a nickel for every actress who's played Talia Shire alongside Anthony Ippolito...

Brian, you hates The Fall Guy, so I PLAY ROCKY will definitely be an Oscar Fiasco for real. 😁

I think I talked about I Play Rocky enough, so all I can Say, is, I Can't wait to see this movie!!!

Ippolito has to get the same buzz and word of mouth like Inde Navarette did for Obsession. But you are right, the Best Actor category is already stacked. He might not be able to get in this year.

This movie looks interesting but I remember seeing Rocky in the theaters back when it first came out. I still remember the music as it panned over the title. Maybe will watch when comes to streaming

It opened him up to First Blood, which cemented him as an A-List actor.

Hi, Brian! I’m a movie fan and a huge Rocky fan in particular. I’m really looking forward to I Play Rocky. I’ve been following you for a while and was curious to see your review about this one—very honest, as always. The Best Actor race is crowded this year, but I think Ippolito’s performance is more deserving than those of Cruise and Damon. I don’t see I Play Rocky winning any Oscars, but it seems to me that it deserves nominations for Best Picture, Actor, Casting, and Makeup. Let’s see what happens.

3:28 that’s blasphemy I’m sorry 😭