full script of rocky balboa speech to son

Meanwhile, the humiliated Apollo Creed is desperate for a re-match to help him recapture some measure of self-respect. Following doctor’s orders, Rocky retires from boxing and decides to turn his change in fortune to his advantage. Rocky narrowly loses the fight but emerges the moral victor (an echo of America’s attitude to the Vietnam war, perhaps?) Released in the shadow of Vietnam and the Watergate scandal Rocky gave American audiences someone simple, relatable and easy to root for.įollowing his unlikely heroic defeat, Rocky is now a national figure and is celebrated for his performance. What follows are a number of set pieces that would come to provide the series with so many of its iconic features – the training montage with the iconic jog through Philadelphia, the famous music, the unintelligible drawl, and of course the incredible fight choreography. The fight is a PR stunt designed to show the public of the power of the American Dream – anyone can make it (at one stage Creed literally dresses as Uncle Sam!).

He is going nowhere that is until he is selected by the Heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, as his next opponent. The film itself tells a tale of the working class Rocky Balboa, a talented but unfulfilled boxer who supplements his income collecting on behalf of a local gangster. Instead, Stallone took an unpaid writing credit and worked for scale in exchange for the starring role in what would go on to win that year’s Best Picture award at the Oscars (it also picked up further awards for Best Director and Editing). Stallone, struggling to make a living as an actor and with only $106 in the bank, turned down a reported fee of $350,000 for his script about the Italian Stallion’s improbable rise because the production company planned to cast someone else in the title role. This movie so strongly tells the fable of the American dream that even its production is one of the great rags to riches tales in filmmaking. Let’s have a look at how the series has evolved and how it’s many incarnations have dealt with and reflected shifting attitudes in American politics. Throughout its history, Rocky has dealt with issues such as legacy and fatherhood, (an awkward attempt at) racial politics, social mobility, and even managed to bring down the Soviet Union. However, that is not the only social movement that we can link to the film’s long narrative. Throughout its 42-year life cycle, Rocky has always represented the American dream: a working-class guy who life had seemingly passed by reaches the summit of the sport of boxing through determination, hard work and guts. The Rocky franchise is due to welcome it’s eighth instalment this month with the release of Creed II.

Full script of rocky balboa speech to son