When I saw that Premiere was going to list what they believed to be the 100 greatest characters of all time, I was excited to see where they would place Rocky Balboa, one of my favorite - IF NOT FAVORITE -- screen characters of all time. Lo and behold, he was number 64.
64. Rocky Balboa Played by Sylvester Stallone in Rocky (1976, dir. John G. Avildsen) and five later films
The year was 1976, and after so much cynical, Watergate-era fare at the cinema, bicentennial America craved something exhilarating. That jolt came in the form of a streetwise southpaw boxer named Rocky Balboa. When the reigning champion, Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), plucks the sometimes painfully slow and raw Rocky from bad-side-of-Philly obscurity by challenging him to a world-class fight, it’s time for our hero to step up—and prove once and for all that he’s not “just another bum from the neighborhood.” His triumph comes from going the distance—and getting the (unlikely) girl, a super-shy librarian whose name makes up half of the movie’s most repeated mantra: “Yo, Adrian.”
Defining Moment: Rocky runs through the streets in the early morning. As the energetic theme song climaxes, he races up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and turns around to face the city, fists high in the air, victorious. (MGM DVD)
To see the list in it's entirety, click HERE
