No matter the exact day, celebrating 40 years of this ’80s powerhouse is a knockout! Sylvester Stallone’s epic pits Rocky Balboa against the unstoppable Soviet machine Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren in his breakout role), after a heartbreaking tragedy with Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers). It’s pure Cold War adrenaline: that devastating Vegas exhibition, Rocky’s raw Russian training montage (“Hearts on Fire” still pumps!), and the crowd-chanting Moscow showdown where Rocky ends the war—one punch at a time.

The montages are legendary, the soundtrack slaps (Survivor, James Brown, Vince DiCola), and lines like “If he dies, he dies” and “I must break you” are etched in pop culture forever. Stallone wrote, directed, and starred—pouring his soul into the ultimate underdog revenge tale. The Ultimate Director’s Cut even got a theatrical re-release for the milestone!

Here’s to the Italian Stallion changing the world… again. Yo Adrian, we did it!