Funny you should choose the scene on the bed as your favorite dialogue, for Stallone, who wrote the movie, practically "stole" the scene from the claws of the producers! If I remember the anecdote well (tell me if I'm wrong), one of the executive producers had just come on set and vehemently orderes to shut all cameras and lights to cut off the budget diarrhea. Stallone asked a cameraman for a quicky and they shot this brilliant scene in one desperate shot... (And I believe a lot of screenwriters would love to be able to actually rebel against the guillotine in such panache ! )

What I read was that Stallone had to fight hard (figuratively speaking) to star in his own movie. The studio wanted to cast an established actor. Stallone was an unknown at the time -- "didn't get no respect from nobody" at the studio. An excellent and perceptive review. It is indeed one of the best underdog movies ever made and it's all about respect, an authentic need that everyone has and can identify with.

I second pgronk's sentiments on the perceptive nature of this review. This review summoned back the emotional reactions I had back in 1976. The universal need for a person to feel he or she has carved out a little territory of their own that others respect really hit the spot with this movie. Well done, Daryl.