Member review

“Rocky” is a hard-hitting and dramatic drama that I appreciated, but I don’t view it as an absolute classic like many people do.

Sylvester Stallone gives a fantastic performance as washed-out boxer Rocky Balboa, he brings grit and determination to the role that ensures that the audience roots for Rocky in the finale.

Even though it took a very long time to reach it, the boxing sequence in the third act of “Rocky” does not disappoint. I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of boxing as a sport, I can’t understand why watching people pounding each other to a bloody pulp is considered to be entertaining. However, the fight scene in “Rocky” is enthralling, compelling and incredibly intense.

Maybe my favourite aspect of “Rocky” is it’s memorable and awesome theme, I wouldn’t put it on the level of other 1970s movie tunes like “Jaws” or “Star Wars”, but it really ramps up the excitement of certain sequences.

I loved the training montage here, it’s a rousing and captivating scene that gets the audience raring to go for the action-packed finale.

One criticism I had with “Rocky” is how slowly paced it is, many scenes drag by as characters scream at each other about their feelings, with varying degrees of acting quality (“Took you long enough to get here. Took you ten years to get to my house. Huh, what's the matter? You don't like my house? Does my house stink? That's right-it stinks!”) “Rocky” wasn’t boring, but sometimes it became unintentionally hilarious when it was trying to be melodramatic.

In conclusion, “Rocky” is a decent drama with an excellent central performance. It’s mopey tone and hammy acting can cause the film to wear thin and crawl along at times, but overall, “Rocky” is pretty good.