The Real-Life Steps Where The Training Scene Was Filmed In Rocky
Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" series has some of the most iconic lines and scenes of any film franchise in the Hollywood annals. Whether you witnessed the first "Rocky" film's 1976 premiere in theaters, grew up watching the Italian Stallion slug it out on home video, heard about his underdog tale from older friends and family, or maybe just absorbed it all through pop culture osmosis, chances are you know the big moments.
From "Adrian!" to "I must break you," from Apollo Creed's red, white and blue ring trunks to Rocky and Adrian's first date at the ice rink, the moments and imagery of the franchise are ubiquitous. Of all the things that "Rocky" put out into the world, though, the series' terrific training montages may top the list in terms of having a long-lasting impact. Few cinematic sequences are as effective in motivating viewers to be just a little bit better as those showing Rocky preparing for his next bout with Creed, Ivan Drago, and other opponents.
As good as they are throughout the series, though, the best montage may have been the very first one, which culminates in Rocky climbing a long series of steps and then leaping around victoriously upon reaching the top while Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" blares out. Fans looking to reenact the scene need only to travel to Philly to do so.
The scene was filmed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Rocky's first "taking flight" moment and its myriad recreations were filmed just outside of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which overlooks Eakins Oval, the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, as well as City Hall in downtown Philly. As noted by Visit Philadelphia, "a near-constant flow of people arrive daily at the bottom of the stairs" to get their picture taken next to the Rocky statue, which appeared at the top of the steps in "Rocky III." Afterward, they make the trek up the 72 stone steps leading to the museum building where they, too, can triumphantly raise their fists to the sky.
Of course, that's not all there is to see and do there. Near the end of "Rocky V," the titular brawler and his son are seen walking up the steps to go experience the museum's incredible art, which prompts Rocky to declare, "I been runnin' up and down these steps for years and I never knew there was valuable pictures in this building." Among other things, today's patrons can see "world-famous Impressionist and Post-Impressionist works by Renoir, Monet, Manet, Degas, and Cézanne" and a collection of sculptures by Rodin, per the museum's official website.
However, the museum will probably always be best-known to film lovers as the place where Rocky finally realizes his true strength.