1. 1975
   1976
2. 1977
   1978

Rocky won Best Picture for 1976.

1. Frank Capra
   Martin Scorsese
2. Sylvester Stallone
   Burt Young

Incredibly, Stallone is supposed to have written the script in 3 days.

1. Gym janitor
   P.E. teacher
2. Bodyguard
   Collector for a loan shark

Rocky's soft heart gets him in trouble with his boss.

1. A pet shop
   A movie theater
2. A skating rink
   A day care

Rocky drops by a lot to flirt, but she's initially painfully shy.

1. He gives her a new dress to wear
   He tells her it's a favor to him
2. He says he can't support her forever, if she doesn't get married
   He throw the Thanksgiving turkey out the window.

Paulie, an alcoholic, is given to outbursts and tactlessness throughout the series.

1. His manager has accused him of getting soft
   He knew Rocky from high school
2. He wants to beat Rocky and win Adrian's attention
   Giving an unknown a shot is a gimmick related to the US Bicenntennial

Creed was proving that America is the Land of Opportunity.

1. Apollo, by a unanimous decision
   Apollo, by a split decision
2. Rocky, by a split decision
   Rocky by knockout

As the exhausted boxers cling to each other late in the fight, Apollo says, "Ain't gonna be no rematch" and Rocky says, "Don't want one."

1. The payday is irresistible
   His wife has a crush on Rocky, which he finds intolerable
2. He held back in the first match and knows he could fight better
   Boxing fans are taunting him about nearly losing to an unknown

Apollo taunts the now-retired Rocky into accepting the bout

1. She's in a car crash
   She suffers a miscarriage
2. She slips into a coma after giving birth
   She is diagnosed with Parkinson's

After she awakens, she gives her blessing to the rematch with Apollo Creed.

1. High school classmates gave it to him
   Neighborhood girls called him that, because he was such a player
2. Mickey, his manager, liked the rhyme
   Rocky thought it up while eating dinner

The scene with the reporter illustrated how ill-trained Rocky was talking to the media.

1. His grandparents
   His old gym
2. His priest, Father Carmine
   His old boss, Gazzo the loan shark

Father Carmine gives him a quick blessing from an upstairs window.

1. Apollo Creed threw their second fight
   Mickey has brain cancer
2. Rocky's opponents were handpicked to be easy fights
   Rocky is his illegitimate son

Rocky has had ten successful title defenses by this point.

1. Lang makes a sexually offensive remark to Adrian
   Rocky's son really wants him to fight
2. The boxers at Rocky's old gym have a huge wager riding on it
   Apollo taunts Rocky into it, much like Apollo's fans taunted him into the second fight with Rocky

Lang also suggests what Mickey later confirms -- that Rocky has been fighting easy opponents.

1. Andre the Giant
   Hulk Hogan
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin
   Bret Hart

Hogan's cameo came in montage that showed how popular and media-savvy Rocky had become since the second film.

1. Rocky's old meatpacking plant
   Apollo's old Los Angeles gym
2. A rural Pennsylvania farm
   The slums of Brooklyn

Apollo's training incorporates more speed and strategy into Rocky's straightforward 'brawler' style

1. That Rocky mentor Apollo's son
   For Rocky to partner with him in a gym
2. That Rocky give Apollo public credit for his training
   That they would fight, away from the cameras and fans, at Apollo's gym

The credits roll just after the first exchange of blows.

1. Clubber Lang
   Apollo Creed
2. Apollo's son
   Rocky's son

Apollo dies as a result of the punishing bout.

1. "Fight is a cruel mistress."
   "If he dies, he dies like a gladiator."
2. "If he dies, he dies for his country."
   "If he dies, he dies."

Rocky threw in the towel, but too late to save Apollo.

1. Apollo's gym in Los Angeles
   A remote island in the Black Sea
2. An American gym for US Olympic boxers
   Krasnogourbinsk, USSR

In contrast, Drago is seen training in a state-of-the-art Soviet facility.

1. Brigitte Nielsen
   Nastassja Kinski
2. Kim Basinger
   Lena Olin

Not to be confused with Connie Nielsen, who is also Danish.

1. Paying off Paulie's massive gambling debts
   Through the bad investing of a shady accountant
2. Rocky is sued by former sparring partners he injured
   We never learn this

The family moves back to south Philly, and Adrian even goes back to work at the pet shop.

1. The gym is worth nothing, so his creditors reject it
   He buys it back with cash he'd hidden under the floorboards
2. Mickey willed the gym directly to Rocky's son
   Rocky signed the gym over to Paulie in a sentimental moment

Rocky re-opens the gym, leading to his new career as a trainer.

1. The Duke
   The Maniac
2. Tommy "the Machine" Gunn
   Tommy Knocker

George Washington Duke was the name of the promoter Gunn defects to.

1. Rocco
   Robert
2. Romulus
   Rudolf

Robert Jr. was played by Sage Stallone.

1. Chess
   Chinese checkers
2. Painting
   Herb gardening

Paulie is painting at the meat-packing plant when Rocky comes to visit, and carries a painting under his arm when he gets laid off.

1. Rocky's
   Adrian's
2. Balboa's
   The Tuscan Garden

Rocky serves as maitre'd there and tells patrons stories from his ring days.

1. Marky
   Lil'Mark
2. Steps
   Baby Shoes

Rocky befriends Steps, who becomes part of his corner crew at the climactic fight.

1. Rocky with his arms raised in triumph
   A long shot of Rocky walking out of the venue alone
2. Roses on Adrian's grave
   The famous "Rocky" statue in Philadelphia

Earlier, Rocky is seen to hide a chair at the cemetery so he can sit and visit her.

1. Rocky
   Paulie
2. Creed's former trainer Duke
   Creed's widow Mary Anne

Donnie's last name is Johnson; he unwillingly changes it to Creed later.

1. Paul Dano
   Sage Stallone
2. Milo Ventimiglia
   No one

Sage Stallone and Milo Ventimiglia played Robert Jr. in previous films.

1. Madison Square Garden, New York
   Philadelphia's Spectrum arena
2. Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
   A venue in Liverpool

Liverpool was the hometown of Donnie's opponent, "Pretty" Ricky Conlan.

1. Donnie wins by knockout
   Donnie wins by split decision
2. Conlan wins by split decision
   Conlan wins by knockout

The early and late films in the series rejected Cinderella endings for bittersweet realistic ones.

1. Rocky Balboa
   Creed
2. Rocky V
   None of them do

Rocky fights his former protege, Tommy Gunn, outside a bar.

1. John Avildsen
   Frank Capra
2. George Lucas
   Stallone insisted on directing himself.

He won Best Director for the 1976 film, and returned for the fifth film.

1. Philadelphia City Hall
   Philadelphia's federal courthouse
2. The Philadelphia Museum of Art
   The Philadelphia DMV

On about any good-weather day, you can see tourists jumping around in imitation of Rocky there.

1. His car
   His home
2. His grandfather's pocket watch
   His dog, that he couldn't afford to feed

The story has a happy ending: Butkus the dog appeared in the first movie, and afterward Stallone could certainly afford his food.

1. One, for Best Picture
   Two, for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay
2. Three, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing
   Three, for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor in a Lead Role

Stallone was nominated again, this time as Best Supporting Actor, for the much-later "Creed."