Rocky is a 1976 American independent[3] sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone.

It is the first installment in the Rocky franchise and also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess Meredith.

In the film, Rocky Balboa (Stallone), a poor small-time club fighter and loanshark debt collector from Philadelphia, gets an unlikely shot at the world heavyweight championship held by Apollo Creed (Weathers).

[4] With an estimated production budget of under $1 million, Rocky popularized the rags to riches and American Dream themes of sports dramas which preceded the film.

In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

In 1975, heavyweight boxing world champion Apollo Creed plans to hold a title bout in Philadelphia during the upcoming United States Bicentennial.

Creed selects Rocky Balboa, an Italian-American journeyman southpaw boxer who fights primarily in small gyms and works as a collector for a Mafia loan shark, on the basis of his nickname, "The Italian Stallion".

Rocky begins to build a romantic relationship with Adrian Pennino, a shy woman who is working part-time at the J&M Tropical Fish pet store.

On New Year's Day, the fight is held with Creed making a dramatic entrance dressed as George Washington and then Uncle Sam.

The fight goes on for the full fifteen rounds, with both combatants sustaining various injuries: Rocky, with hits to the head and swollen eyes, requires his right eyelid to be cut to restore his vision, while Apollo, with internal bleeding and a broken rib, struggles to breathe.

As the fight concludes, Creed's superior skill is countered by Rocky's apparently unlimited ability to absorb punches and his dogged refusal to go down.

As Jergens declares Creed the winner by virtue of a split decision, Rocky and Adrian embrace and profess their love for each other, not caring about the outcome of the fight.

[9] Henry Winkler, Stallone's co-star in The Lords of Flatbush who then broke out as Arthur Fonzarelli on ABC's Happy Days, said he had taken the script to executives at the network.

[13] At the time, Film Artists Management Enterprises (FAME), a joint venture between Hollywood talent agents Craig T. Rumar and Larry Kubik, represented Stallone.

After repeated negotiations with Rumar and Kubik, Winkler-Chartoff agreed to a contract for Stallone to be the writer and also star in the lead role for Rocky.

[16][17] He also knew that producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff's contract with the studio enabled them to "greenlight" a project if the budget was kept low enough.

[20] Although Chartoff and Irwin Winkler were enthusiastic about the script and the idea of Stallone playing the lead character, they were hesitant about having an unknown headline the film.

Frazier has claimed that some of the plot's most memorable moments—Rocky's carcass-punching scenes and Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of his training regimen—are taken without credit from his own real-life exploits.

His father rings the bell to signal the start and end of a round; his brother Frank plays a street corner singer, and his first wife, Sasha, was stills photographer.

[23] Other cameos include former Philadelphia and then Los Angeles television sportscaster Stu Nahan playing himself, alongside radio and TV broadcaster Bill Baldwin; and Lloyd Kaufman, founder of the independent film company Troma, appearing as a drunk.

[31] Avildsen said this was an actual mistake made by the props department that they could not afford to rectify, so the brief scene was written to ensure the audience did not see it as a goof.

[32] Conversely, Stallone has said he was indeed supposed to wear red shorts with a white stripe as Rocky, but changed to the opposite colors "at the last moment".

[54][55] Frank Rich liked the film, calling it "almost 100 per cent schmaltz", but favoring it over the cynicism that was prevalent in movies at that time, although he referred to the plot as "gimmicky" and the script "heavy-handed".

The site's critics consensus states: "This story of a down-on-his-luck boxer is thoroughly predictable, but Sylvester Stallone's script and stunning performance in the title role brush aside complaints.

[67] In 2006, the Library of Congress selected Rocky for preservation in the United States National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant".

In July 2019, Stallone said in an interview that there have been ongoing discussions about a prequel to the original film based on the life of a young Rocky Balboa.

In the fourth-season finale of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, as the credits roll at the end of the episode, Will is seen running up the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; however, as he celebrates after finishing his climb, he passes out in exhaustion, and while he lies unconscious on the ground, a pickpocket steals his wallet and his wool hat.

In The Nutty Professor, there is a scene where Sherman Klump (Eddie Murphy) struggles to, and eventually succeeds at, running up a lengthy flight of steps on his college campus, victoriously throwing punches at the top.

In 2004, presidential candidate John Kerry ended his pre-convention campaign at the foot of the steps before going to Boston to accept his party's nomination for president.

The red satin robe and black hat worn by Stallone in Rocky are featured in the National Museum of American History.