20 Most Inspiring Movies Of All-Time
15. Rocky Balboa
Maybe, just maybe, there could be an argument for putting the whole Rocky series down as one entry but two of the films have at their heart a more emotionally inspiring journey than films versus Mr T and the whole of the USSR. As the first film was Rocky (and Stallones) last shot at the big time, so this film was Rocky (and Stallones) last chance to show that age doesn't matter.
In the years since Rocky took down Tommy Morrison in the televised street fight, Rocky has built himself back up in the local neighbourhood and own the Italian restaurant Adrians, so named because his beloved wife has passed away because of ovarian cancer. Rocky, however, lives in the past as he visits her grave every day, takes an annual tour of the old places he used to go with Adrian and recounts former glories to customers in his restaurant.
Then one day, ESPN feature Rocky in a computer fight against the current champ, Mason The Line Dixon, a good boxer with no real challengers. When Rocky wins the fight, Dixons management dust Rocky off for a high profile exhibition bout. The media rip Rocky apart as too old and that his legacy is one built on poor opponents. Even his own son thinks he is an embarrassment. Rocky, however, wants to prove that the last thing to die in a boxer is his heart and so travels to Vegas for a final fight that might prove costly. This film is all about what age means, and how it can skew peoples perception of you.
Hollywood had given up on Stallone, but he knew he still had some gas left in the tank and when he delivers the now immortal it ain't how hard you hit speech one feels that this is as much Stallone as it is Rocky speaking. Of course, all the old traits are there from Gonna Fly Now to punching meat but this really is a film about how to move on when the love of your life has left you and when Rocky leans down and kisses Adrians grave before disappearing from shot, we know that Rocky and Stallone have inspired a generation.