After Indiana Jones I figured I'd just rewatch the Rocky films, along with the Creed reboot that I've never seen.
The original Rocky movie is from all the way back in 1976, before Indiana Jones, before Star Wars. And I forgot how good it was! I think what I liked most is how unambitious it is compared to the franchises mentioned above: simple storyline, great execution. The characters feel real, photography in cold-rainy Philly really sets the mood, and there is the classic shot on the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts, now dubbed Rocky steps.
Stallone did a great job with writing this, and it probably works so well because it's almost an autobiography, if you swap boxing for acting. Before Rocky, Stallone was struggling to become an actor, going as far as taking a part in a softcore porn film and recalling later, "it was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end—the very end—of my rope".
Rocky went on to be nominated for 10 Oscars in 1977 and won 3, including Best Picture (another Best Picture nominee that year was Taxi Driver). Overnight, Rocky Balboa became a famous boxer, and Stallone became a famous actor.
8/10