All Critics (47)
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Top Critics (6)
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Fresh (46)
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Rotten (4)
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DVD (30)
The story is achingly familiar, and though Stallone has a certain power, he is certainly not the subtlest actor to crawl out from under Marlon's overcoat.
There are occasional flashes that the film may be patronizing the lower end of the blue-collar mentality, as much if not more than the characters who keep putting Rocky down on the screen. However, Avildsen is noted for creating such ambiguities.
I wanted to like it more than I did, but it'll do.
The screenplay of Rocky is purest Hollywood make-believe of the 1930's, but there would be nothing wrong with that, had the film been executed with any verve.
A description of it would sound like a cliche from beginning to end. But Rocky isn't about a story, it's about a hero. And it's inhabited with supreme confidence by a star.
The basic storyline has been done to death over the years; this is still one of the most effective and successful applications of the formula.
One of the greatest, if not the greatest, feel good movies of all time.
It's all here: the famous Bill Conti fanfare, the 'Gonna Fly Now' training montage, the inevitable 'David and Goliath' climax. [Blu-ray]
transforms the gritty realities of economic hardship and personal desperation into a celebration of individuality and determination without sinking into mushy sentimentalism
Sly's best pic winner sets underdog-hero standard.
A great example of underdog sports cinema.
This is really Sly's movie as he slugs his way through a heartfelt performance and delivers some cracking punches, both literally and emotionally.
Rocky retains its power to enthrall ... a quieter movie than some may remember.... It's worth seeing again, for what it was, before it was betrayed by it's less intelligent, testosterone-soaked progeny.
A dunce who can fight with a contagious likability: Now that's American.
Yo Adrian, we're on Blu-ray!
This two-disc collection is also the best presentation of the film to date. Even those who have bought any of the many previous DVD versions will be well served in the upgrade.
Marty like romance tale with boxing gloves.
Better films have been made about the world of sports, but for many Rocky is the sports movie.
A paint-by-numbers inspirational sports film.
...there's simply no denying the film's overall effectiveness...
A "guy movie" mega-classic that's really gotten better with age.
An extremely old-fashioned, if also intermittently enjoyable, sports drama that mixes elements of Marty as well as numerous prize-fighting pictures like The Cahamp, Golden Boy, and Somebody Up There Like Me.
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