Rocky has become a part of popular culture for so many years its hard to look at the first film as a standalone low budget entry in the boxing genre. This is a great film and put the writer and main lead Sylvester Stallone into the stratosphere of Hollywood. Considering what the Rocky series became - popcorn action films with little heart, less intelligence, and a lot of testosterone - it's a somewhat refreshing experience to go back and re-connect with the original, which offers a lot more substance than the sequels. Rocky is not a flawless motion picture, but it is a feel-good classic, and well worth another look. The basic storyline has been done to death over the years; this is still one of the most effective and successful applications of the formula.