Rocky, the Screenplay: Original Movie Script

by Sylvester Stallone

This Collector's Edition features the complete original movie script, filmographies of Stallone as actor, director and screenwriter, and 8 glossy full-page stills from the movie.

115 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor, director, producer and screenwriter. One of the biggest box office draws in the world from the '70s to the '90s, international megastar Sylvester Stallone is a global icon. He has played two characters who have become a part of the American cultural lexicon: Rocky Balboa, the boxer who overcame all odds to fight for love and glory, and John Rambo, a courageous soldier who specialized in violent rescue and revenge missions.

During the 1980s, he enjoyed phenomenal popularity and was one of the biggest movie stars in the world with the Rocky and Rambo franchises. Stallone's culturally influential films changed pop culture history and he has largely enjoyed a career on the Hollywood A list for over 30 years.

He is considered by many (including the mayor of Philadelphia) as the one who made the city of Philadelphia an international tourist attraction with the Rocky Steps. His immense popularity there has led to a statue of his Rocky character being placed permanently near the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. In August 2007, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Žitište. Stallone's film Rocky has also been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum as a national treasure.

Reviews

[Vance Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently I have moved into the movie writing world and as I have no idea how to do this, I downloaded Rocky Balboa. Sly uses Final Draft, like I do LOL. Good reason, aye.

I read the entire script in one sitting. As I have seen the movie several times I wanted to know how he built up plot point 1 and plot point 2.

He writes almost to the formula that Syd Field describes as the formula for movie creation.

Setup pp 1-30 // confrontation pp 30-90 // Resolution pp 90-120

Sly’s script wasn’t exactly this formula as it was part 6 of a life time story of a character movie goers love and couldn’t (I think) stick to the formula. Plus Sly doesn’t need to stick to any kind of formula. He knows what he is doing.

This is the way movies are meant to be written, I think. LOL. It was simplistic and worked well. It was actually better than the movie. There wasn’t a lot of description I think that was left up to the director — and Sly was the director, right? Plus all the sights we already knew, although they had fallen into disrepair.

What is the underlying theme of this 6th Rocky movie? I think it is about a man who lives in the past — and what an amazing past it was. But Rocky is getting tired of telling all the old stories of his past. Remember Rocky is a brawler more than a boxer, he doesn’t have the expert training of a boxer. But he has heart and courage and the will power to remain on his feet.

This script give you the inside knowledge and the reading of scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor.

And the one liners are great as well.

I will end it here, before this turns into a review of the movie, which I have already done. Next I will read a script of a movie I have not seen.

[Gabby Arrigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finished in one sitting. The script I read, thought labeled as the final draft, was surprisingly dissimilar to the movie. I know they only had like 28 days to film, so I’m sure they had to alter some things, but there were a lot of differences. I really enjoyed being able to compare the two and see how Sly developed his vision from the page, to the screen. The two were very different tonally, but each delivered in their own way. Overall, it felt productive to gather more details about the story and see how certain things could’ve played out. Reading the script provided extra context that, for me, was crucial to understanding and appreciating the story in a more nuanced way. There were lots of scenes cut from the movie that were in the script, (that I’m assuming are still canon), because they were referenced at some point in the movie. The details that those missing scenes provided, gave me a better understanding and appreciation for some of the more underdeveloped characters and storylines. I’m not a fan of his current antics, but Sly was a genius with this script. Beautifully written, great characters, fabulous story.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it a while ago, but didn't put it here until now.