Stallone actually said himself that Rocky isn't a boxing movie, it's a love story. So you're definitely right about the fight being the B-plot.

That was actually Rocky's point. He wasn't really concerned about winning the fight. He just wanted to be able to not only give HIS best but also TAKE Apollo's best and last till the end of the fight, to test how worthy he is as a fighter.

One of the things I love about this movie is that Apollo isn't the "bad guy", this is just about someone proving to themselves they deserve self worth.

The ice rink scene was originally written to feature 300 extras, but the production couldn't afford so many people. When Sylvester Stallone turned up to shoot the scene, to his horror, there was only one extra. So, Stallone hastily threw together the scene as it exists in the completed film. This scene has become one of the most popular in the entire Rocky saga.

Adrian's hat gets knocked off when she's trying to get to the ring after the fight and Rocky is soooo in love with her that (even through the chaos and physical pain he's experiencing) he notices immediately. It's a throwaway little line, but speaks volumes about their relationship as the first thing he says to her when she greets him in the ring is "where's your hat?"

Simone:  Making fun it's going to be a romance movie.
Everyone who has seen the movie: Smiling, not because it's funny but because it's true.

Rocky's relationship with his boss is the most underrated aspect of this movie. Rocky's boss really cared about him.

It's not just a training montage, it's THE training montage, this is when the trope solidified in popular culture, it stemmed out of this movie.

Both "Rocky" and "First Blood" sneak up on you. You expect them to be, as Simone put it, Beef-caky, but they're actually deep, well made and well acted movies.

9:08 "The fight is the B plot, the A plot is him wooing the pet shop girl"  
Exactly right!

Rocky’s greatest lesson is that you can lose while simultaneously winning literally everything that actually matters.
Also you might not have noticed him but one of Apollo’s bodyguards is played by Michael Dorn, Worf from Star Trek.

Burgess Meredith (Mickey) was one of the best character actors ever. He was classically trained and did film, television and theater. He was The Penguin in the 1960s 'Batman' series, played George in the 1939 film adaptation of John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice And Men', was Aemon in the 1981 'Clash of the Titans', and was Grandpa Gustafson in both 'Grumpy Old Men' and 'Grumpier Old Men' films...playing Jack Lemmon's father (and he basically steals every scene he is in. He never played Popeye...sorry.

Burgess Meredith (Mick) never played Popeye, but he was the first actor to play the Batman villain The Penguin on the 60s TV show.

Everyone knows Stallone but the acting all around in this movie was incredible.  Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers and Burgess Meredith gave some of the most amazing performances on a shoe string budget.  There will never be a small movie that had such an impact on movies like this again.

28:12 This scene hit me a lot harder than it seemed to for you guys the first time I watched it. Paulie is a selfish but broken man in pain. Adrian is trapped by her shyness affliction and suddenly flips. It just seems such an accurate reflection of real life where family members depend on each other, take each other for granted, loathe yet love each other at the same time. So gritty and unexpected. Apart from the ending, this scene and the scene at Rocky's place with Mickey are the best scenes for me.

Rocky hitting the side of beef:
Paulie: “You’re breaking the ribs.”
Round 14: Breaks Apollo’s ribs.

Brilliant.

I'm always so interested watching the first time reactions of people who don't know much about Rocky. The later movies are definitely more straightforward sports movies, but the first one is such a good character study and romance. It's kind of like how people just hear "Rambo" and think "super violent action movie" and then watch First Blood and realize that movie, while it's certainly got some of those elements, has SUCH a deeper meaning and is about PTSD and the treatment of Vietnam vets upon returning home and is, likewise, as much a character study as anything else, and only the sequels went full-fledged action hero.

I never realized how close this was made to The Godfather. Talia Shire was in some big hits in the 70’s.

Most people are surprised to realize that this is a love story at its heart. Rocky going the distance is just as much about his relationship with Adrian as it is about the boxing match.

The dog is named Butkus after Dick Butkus (a truly unfortunate name) who was a legendary lHall of Fame linebacker for the Chicago Bears in the 1950s.