Images and Ideas from Rocky (1976)

After all these years and at least twenty plus viewings, I can still say that Rocky (1976) tops my list as my favorite movie of all time.The raw emotional power of the character's story and his desire to be able "to just go the distance" with Apollo Creed never fails to leave me emotionally uplifted or with dry eyes at movie's end. Anyone with blue collar roots, hell, any kind of roots, can relate to this story about a nobody who just wants to feel like a somebody for the first time in his life. Forget about the sequels (and they are by and large forgettable), this is the only essential "Rocky" movie. Criticize it, if you will, for its relatively simple story line but be mindful that this movie represents everything that Hollywood and American cinema was built upon - that in America there is a magic in the air that constantly whispers to you that you can always be something better than what you are...GO FOR IT ROCK!!!!!!