December 1999

Rocky
Reviewed by Doug Schneider
DVD Format

Overall Enjoyment:
Picture Quality:
Sound Quality:
Packaged Extras:

Starring Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith

Directed by John Avildsen

Theatrical Release: 1976
DVD Release: 1997
Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen/Full Screen

Written by the then unknown Sylvester Stallone, Rocky is one of the best and most successful sports movies ever made. In some ways the film mirrors Stallone’s own life because much like the young, ambitious boxer, Stallone was himself a small-time actor and screenwriter hoping to make it big. Given his status today, it’s hard to believe that when viewers walked into the theaters almost a quarter century ago Stallone was an unknown talent. Today he’s still best remembered for his role as Rocky Balboa.

This movie wasn’t just popular with audiences, it was also popular with the critics. In 1976, Rocky won Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Editing and Best Picture. Stallone received nominations for Best Actor and Best Writing and both his co-stars, Talia Shire and Burgess Meredith, also received nominations for their acting. This movie spawned four inferior sequels and many pale imitations. For decades Hollywood talents attempted, but failed to duplicate Rocky’s success.

This hugely successful movie is the tale of Rocky Balboa, a fighter who is given a ‘million to one shot’ by Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the reigning heavyweight boxing champ of the world. The fight is staged as a publicity stunt to celebrate the American bicentennial anniversary. In the land of opportunity Creed gives one man the chance of his life and luckily it comes at a time when Rocky needs it most. Rocky is a low-rent boxer whose life is going steadily downhill. He lives in a slum, his trainer has lost respect for him, and to support himself he is forced to work on the side as a thug for a local loan shark. The only thing that Rocky’s got to keep him going is his passionate hope that Adrian (Talia Shire), a local pet-shop clerk, will one day take notice of him. As a result, Rocky is the ultimate underdog and is easily able to court the sympathy of the audience.

Character development is partially responsible for the fame and success of Rocky. Despite the fact that I’ve seen the movie a number of times, it wasn’t until I watched it on DVD that I realized just how little boxing there really is. In fact, almost three-quarters of the movie is devoted to developing the relationships between Rocky, Adrian, Paulie (Burt Young), and of course, Mickey (Burgess Meredith), his trainer. By the time Rocky finally steps into the ring with Apollo Creed, the audience isn’t just cheering for him as an underdog, they are identifying with him as an individual.

The various spin-off movies that tried to imitate Rocky (including its own sequels), failed to realize the importance of character development. These imitations mistakenly assumed that it was the fight scenes that produced Rocky’s success. Although Rocky was not a high-budget movie when it was filmed, its raw and edgy look actually helped improve the realism of the story. Considering the contribution this type of filming made to the authenticity of the story, I hoped that upon transfer to DVD technicians would use a pristine copy of the film to preserve the style. However, judging by the jerky and damaged frames that show up in key parts, as well as the severe graininess in some of the fight scenes, it’s obvious that they didn’t go to any great lengths to find a respectable copy to work with. About the only thing that can be said to recommend the DVD in this regard is that the transfer of color is pretty good and there is a respectable amount of detail.

As for the sound quality, things don’t get any better. When I scoured the Internet Movie Database I was surprised to learn that the original Rocky was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound when released in the theaters. The sound on the DVD is abysmal and is not much better than what one gets with TV viewing. There is limited dynamic range, poor frequency extension and so much distortion that some of the dialogue is difficult to understand. As for the DVD extras, the obligatory theatrical trailer is all that’s given. I would like to see a company like Criterion, one that pays attention to detail, try their hand at a release of this movie.

Obviously one can’t recommend this DVD on its technical merits. Needless to say it’s a rushed and careless DVD release. Nevertheless, the story of Rocky Balboa is a timeless one and this is a movie worth watching a number of times. For this reason alone I highly recommend it.

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