“His Whole Life Was A Million To One Shot.”
That was the tagline for the Oscar winning best picture of 1976, “Rocky.” But did you know that the tagline was also the story of how the film ever got made?
“I Play Rocky!”
I cannot wait for this new film coming soon! It’s the story of how the classic film “Rocky” was made – for those who don’t know, Sylvester Stallone was a struggling unknown Actor in the early 70’s. Frustrated by not getting parts in films, he wrote one for himself – and the rest is history!
Now, that true story of his “million to one shot” has been made into a great new film!
Deadline.com has a great preview of the film, which is getting stellar early reviews – it opens nationwide in November. As they report:
“In a year that marks the 50th anniversary of Rocky, a film that spawned five sequels and three more films in the Creed spinoff series with Michael B. Jordan, I Play Rocky brings us full circle right back to the beginning and manages to slyly recapture the fresh spirit that birthed it. This film has turned the making of Rocky into its own Rocky-like moment of triumph.”
Here is the trailer:
I love films about the “making of” movies, for good and bad – and this one is an upbeat celebration of one Actor overcoming all odds – did you know that Stallone turned down a million dollars for his screenplay so he could play the part himself?
There are so many fascinating twists and turns that led to this film ever being made at all….it was directed by the great Director John G. Avildson.
As Deadline continues:
“It is not just about the making of this one film against all odds, but rather it is really about the making of just about every film, a love letter to movies that in its own way is on par with Truffaut’s Day For Night.“
The film is packed with great stories about what the low budget film had to endure in order to get “Rocky” made. Deadline has one example:
“A scene in Philadelphia at the meat-packing plant where they find the local union head has gotten wind they are shooting without permits turns into an amusing nail-biting moment where all the equipment and cast and crew has to be immediately hidden before he gets there. Another scene, the re-creation of the iconic run up the Philly steps, show us one of the first uses ever of the now indispensable Steadicam (using the original, I am told) as it reinvented that aspect of moviemaking.”
Deadline then gives it the best review you could hope for:
“There are so many highlights in a movie that pulls off a tall task in bringing the same feeling we got the first time we saw Rocky.“
And let’s remember: the first “Rocky” is inspiring, exciting and literally the story of a man who had a “million to one shot”, and he took it – and that’s the story of Sylvester Stallone as well!
“Rocky” was the well-deserved Best Picture winner for 1976, topping 4 other masterpieces of cinema: “Bound For Glory”, the bio-pic of Singer Woody Guthrie; “All The President Men”, the riveting story of the Watergate scandal that toppled a President; “Taxi Driver”, the brilliant film of social alienation and anger; and the prescient “Network”, a film that showed us where TV News was headed – and it went there and beyond.
I shared another little-known story about “Rocky” as well:
This is a wild story as well! Stallone had a bit part with Henry Winkler, who was riding high at the time as “The Fonz” on “Happy Days” – did you know he was instrumental in getting “Rocky” made as well?
See that incredible story here!
“Rocky” won Best Picture of 1976, but this movie was my favorite that year:
“Taxi Driver” lands at #3 on my list of best films of all time…click here to see why:
Also on my “top ten of all time” is this film, also nominated for Best Picture that year:
“I’m Mad As Hell And I’m Not Going To Take It Anymore!”
That iconic line of dialogue comes from “Network”, a brilliant look at television news…see an in-depth look at the film here:
Finally, “All The President’s Men” is another brilliant film from 1976:
Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are brilliant as the Washington Post Reporters who bring down a presidency…it’s one of the films I profiled that are all about the U.S. Presidency…see them all here:
I cant wait to see “I Play Rocky” – how about you?
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Categories: 70's Cinema, Academy Awards, Action Films, Art, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Hollywood, Independent Cinema, Movies, Movies About Movies, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities
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