Rocky is a 1976 American film written and starring Sylvester Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen. The story follows the search for the American dream by Rocky Balboa, a lower-class Italian-American who is dedicated to collecting loans from a Philadelphia moneylender. Although he has a talent for boxing, he lacks motivation, but he finds it before the unique opportunity to fight for the heavyweight title and for the love of a woman. The film's cast is rounded out by Talia Shire as Adriane Pennino, Burt Young as Paulie (Adriane's brother), Burgess Meredith as Mickey Goldmill (her coach), and Carl Weathers as Apollo Creed, Rocky's rival and world champion.
Rocky quickly became a huge hit; grossing more than 117 million dollars in the United States alone, winning three Oscars (including best picture) 1 and launching Stallone immediately to stardom.2 Five sequels and two spin-offs were made: Rocky II, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Rocky V, Rocky Balboa, Creed and Creed II, forty years from the first to the last.
In 2006, the film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress of the United States for being "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant." Rocky is considered one of the best sports films in history and was placed second, after Raging Bull, in a list of the ten best sports films of the American Film Institute in 2008. In 2010 Stallone was chosen for the Salon of Boxing Fame since Rocky contributed to the spread of this sport throughout the world