When Rocky was released, nobody expected it to be as big as it became. And Sylvester Stallone had his first meet-up with success, stardom, and acclaim. As it is with every other celebrity, now the weight of being a celebrity and expectations were looming over him with each day.
And so he decided to do the movies F.I.S.T. and Paradise Alley, the latter being famously referred to as the ‘Father of Rocky‘. However, both movies were heavily criticized by the critics, something that the new celebrity wasn’t prepared to deal with. The result was him challenging critics to an alley fight for their bashful censure.
Heavy Criticism Let Sylvester Stallone To Challenge Critics To An Alley Fight
Rocky established Sylvester Stallone as a force to be reckoned with. It proved to everyone the talent and genius within Stallone, however, it later led to certain great expectations placed upon him by media, critics, and fans, just as the actor puts it in his Netflix documentary, Sly.
“Right after Rocky, people had built me it something perhaps bigger than I should have been built into.”
Right then, the movie F.I.S.T. came along, and the actor took it as his chance to move away from Rocky, in hopes of showing people that he had something more and different to offer. However, the movie was criticized and so was his next Paradise Alley.
Paradise Alley was a movie that he wrote, directed, and acted in. It was actually written before his blockbuster Rocky and thus was the Father of Rocky. So when ‘the disaster struck’ and the movies ended up doing terribly, he started challenging critics to fight him directly rather than writing 500 hundred or so words discrediting his efforts.
“He wasn’t expecting F.I.S.T. to not do well, and he wasn’t expecting the critics who championed Rocky to turn viciously against Paradise Alley. He didn’t handle it well. He started popping off, challenging critics to fight.”
States Quentin Tarantino in the documentary, giving us a glimpse of what went inside the head of the now-Hollywood legend.
Despite Failure, Sylvester Stallone Pushed Through With Rocky II
While Rocky was a critical success, his next two movies were miserable failures. The want to fulfill the expectations placed upon him and the challenge to prove himself were now more eminent. Despite the criticism and setbacks, Sylvester Stallone once again put on his gloves and continued to push through.
“I’ve just learned that that will pass. Just hang in there. Don’t have your anxiety attacks. let that fear… That’s all part of it.”
He states in Sly, Netflix’s documentary. And so Rocky II was made, with the media surprised to see Stallone filled with fire and confidence after facing such harsh times. Just pushing through and trusting himself bore fruitful results, for the sequel was yet again a huge success, a hard slap for anyone and everyone who had ever doubted him.
Rocky is available to stream on Netflix.
