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Rocky, the 1977 Best Picture Oscar winner directed by John Avilden is a fairy tale about a down-and-out boxer who gets a chance at the fight of a lifetime, and even though he loses, he still gains respect and at the same time wins the girl. Back when bell bottoms were hip and America was awash in the optimism of celebrating its Bicentennial, a good-looking but lumpy actor with the very un-cool name of Sylvester connected with us (DVD Review-Rocky 1). Sylvester Stallone not only is the star of this movie, but to many people’s surprise (and also mine), he is also the one who wrote the script and choreographed the boxing scenes. He did not direct this low budget ($1 million) film, but he played an important role as the scriptwriter and ideas-contributor. As a result of this, Rocky, which earned nine Oscar nominations, went on to earn back its cost by more than one hundred-fold, and catapulted Stallone to overnight fame. It is hard to remember there was a time before he was a joke and a parody of himself; the struggle to get this script made, with him acting in it, can only be admired (Trash City review: Rocky 1).
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