TOP 30 MUSCLE MOVIES (#2)

Generation Iron, Rocky, Muscle Movies, Stallone#2. ROCKY (JOHN G. AVILDSEN, 1976)

What’s the first image you think of when you imagine rising up to peak physical shape? Odds are it’s running up a long flight of stairs, reaching the top, and punching the air to inspirational music. It’s Rocky. It’s the ultimate zero to hero story.

You all know the tale; Rocky Balboa is a small time boxer who gets the rare chance to fight the heavy-weight champion, Apollo Creed. Cue the inspirational music, the training montage, and a fantastic road towards rising above and victory.

This is an underdog story in both fiction and reality. After Stallone wrote the script, the studio wanted to buy it off of him for a large sum of money. But Stallone wanted to star in it, which the studio did not agree with. Yet with only $100 to his name, Stallone refused to sell the script until he could get it made the way he wanted. He succeeded, rising to the top of his ambitions and the box office. Just like Rocky Balboa in the ring.

To prepare for his role, Stallone trained for six months with the legendary fight-trainer Jimmy Gambina. This pumped him up into not only supreme shape, but also supreme boxing form. Stallone was so invested in the role that he flattened out his knuckles permanently while shooting the famous meat training scene. Just from punching so hard over and over. It’s that drive that carried Stallone’s career, the film, and people’s hearts all across the world. Making Rocky #2 on our list of Top 30 Muscle Movies.

 

Tomorrow we reveal the final film on the list. Take a shot and guess what will be #1. Hit us up in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter here: @GI_Athletics

 

Photo courtesy of: Distractify

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