Rocky

1 9 7 6 (USA)

The original Rocky film was a low-budget sleeper written by its unknown star Sylvester Stallone.

Stallone, who wrote the script, plays Rocky Balboa, the struggling boxer with feeling and power trying to make the big time. Nice work, too, from the rest of the cast, especially Shire as the boxer's shy girl friend, Adrian. 

Working in a meat factory in Philadelphia for a pittance, Balboa also earns extra cash as a debt collector. When heavyweight champion Apollo Creed visits Philadelphia, his managers want to set up an exhibition match between Creed and a struggling boxer, touting the fight as a chance for a "nobody" to become a "somebody".

The match is supposed to be easily won by Creed, but someone forgot to tell Rocky, who sees this as his only shot at the big time.

Carl Weathers co-starred as Rocky's opponent and Burgess Meredith played his trainer, Mickey. The film was touching and enormously popular. It won Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director and Stallone became an instant superstar and working class hero.

The whole thing became more of a phenomenon than a film and many sequels followed (ranging from the overly sentimental to the absolutely embarrassing). But the popularity of the Rocky franchise is unquestionable.