Man… they don’t do movies like Rocky anymore. I mean, where did all of those underdog stories went? Wasn’t the underdog like a super popular character to write about? Just think about it, when was the last time you watched a movie in which the protagonist had a rough life? I can’t think of any! Well maybe the Oscar winner, what was the name? the one with that lady who lived in her car and was crazy… Well anyways, Rocky, yeah, what an incredible movie, to think that the guy was completely in love of Adrian from the start, that even if he worked for that mafia guy, he was always trying to help others. What an amazing character and what an amazing performance from Silverster Stallone, the guy truly shines in here. I would say that this movie is about a guy who’s fighting to have someone take care of him, to have some bond with others, maybe even a family and it’s so crazy that he’s been fighting all of his life in the ring in search for this.

Okay, but before getting too sentimental, let’s talk about the story.

So, this movie is about the Italian stallion, right? A man whose father told him he wasn’t very smart, yet had a good body, so he decides to pursue a sports driven life, landing in boxing and making a somehow descent career in it. I mean he fights like 58 times and in none of those fights someone manages to break his nose, that has to count for something. At the beginning of the story, we find Rocky winning his last fight against a dude named Spider, working for that mafia guy and with only one goal in mind, to take out Adrian, a girl who’s too shy to make friends outside of her own brother. At the same time, Apollo Creed, boxer champion of the world, doesn’t have anyone to fight with, so he decides to give an underdog a chance at the title. After fighting for so long and being one step from quitting, Rocky Balboa gets the opportunity of a lifetime, to fight Apollo for the belt.

As I said before and looking at the midpoint of the story, when Mickey, the old dude in charge of the gym comes to visit Rocky and offer his help in the fight, you can argue that the movie is about a dude looking for someone to give a damn about him and achieving this many years after looking for it in the boxing ring, and it’s so emotional when he’s finally able to express his feelings about it to Mickey. Also, the ending, after the fight is over and the results are being given, with him only caring about Adrian,  seems to support this, I mean the battle is over yet the bonds remain!

Just as in Jaws by Spielberg, in here we find the perfect combination of a character driven plot being executed in a visual way, a sort of fairy tale for modern ages that delivers hope and drama by the tons. What’s craziest about it is that Rocky and Apollo say that there will be no rematch, yet this movie turned into a franchise! And I can understand why, is about the characters and their world, two elements that merge in a fantastic way to convey a story about love, dreams and achievements. An amazing epic like the ones none makes anymore, and that’s a real shame.