Rocky

Million-to-One

The success of Rocky is arguably more interesting than the movie itself. Sylvester Stallone wrote it for himself, and refused to sell the screenplay if another actor was going to be cast as Rocky Balboa. Because of Stallone's relative obscurity at the time, the movie was made on a short shooting schedule on a low budget. It went on to win three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Huh? This beat out Network? I'll admit that it has a certain appeal, and definitely good characterizations by Talia Shire, Burt Young, and Stallone, but it isn't that enthralling, even as a Horatio Alger story. I'm willing to respect Balboa's quest for respect, and even his desire to impart that quest on neighbors, but it didn't hit me as spectacular filmmaking.

Reference Source

The most famous things from Rocky may be quotes like "Yo, Adrian!", but now I get to get a joke in reverse. "Ally McBeal" as been using "the bells" as a signal of confidence for several of its characters. And it turns out those bells first made their existance known in Rocky. The same day that I watched Rocky, an episode of "Futurama" recycled the camera angle looking down into the ring as the announcer's microphone descends. Cool.