Sylvester Stallone, who wrote and starred in the film, recently shared some behind-the-scenes footage practicing fight choreography on the set of Rocky.
The footage also features Carl Weathers who played the antagonist Apollo in the movie.
The footage shows the physical exertion Stallone and Weathers went through for Rocky‘s choreography, as well as some lighthearted moments with Stallone singing while his hands are being taped up. Stallone added that his inspiration for Rocky came from observing that the world is made up of underdogs, so he wanted to make a story of a “real American underdog”.
“Today wars are fought with buttons and bombs and splitting the atom; we don’t need fighters and people who use their hands anymore. It’s all mechanics. So Rocky Balboa needed a miracle,” Stallone said in the footage.
As part of the footage, Stallone added that he had given up on acting, focusing instead on writing screenplays for others. Of course, history would take a different course. The Rocky series would go on to be Stallone’s breakout role, shooting the actor to stardom and future roles in Rambo, Judge Dredd, Cobra, Demolition Man and, later in his career, The Expendables. More recently, Stallone has more recently landed himself in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, appearing as Stakar Ogord in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
The film — which is still Stallone’s highest rated outing — follows Stallone as Rocky Balboa who is a small-time Philadelphia boxer who gets the rare chance to fight the world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed. Rocky is given no chance of winning but he strives to go toe to toe with Apollo to earn the respect of the world.