Rocky, My Man
by Kathryn Jean Lopez
As you’ve heard, over at National Review Online, we’re going through a list of the best 25 conservative movies of the last 25 years. If you’re a reader of our print edition, you might have seen the full list by now, which includes a list of movies that almost but quite didn’t make it. And here’s my problem.
Well – first – here’s the “Also Rans” list:
Air Force One, Amazing Grace, An American Carol, Barcelona, Bella, Cinderella Man, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Hamburger Hill, The Hanoi Hilton, The Hunt for Red October, The Island, Knocked Up, The Last Days of Disco, The Lost City, Miracle, The Patriot, Rocky Balboa, Serenity, Stand and Deliver, Tears of the Sun, Thank You for Smoking, Three Kings, Tin Men, The Truman Show, Witness.
There are a lot of complaints one can issue but ROCKY BALBOA? Here I know everyone who hasn’t seen the full list has been watching and waiting for the Sly one to appear. Maybe #1? No, try Not At All. Rocky, of course, is a man. And if you watch him from Rocky to Rocky B — you see the ups and downs and hits and misses and the heartaches. And where pop culture so often trivializes men – by making them buffoonish (the doofus dad, the over-testosteroned action hero, or feminized dude) – to have a guy who faces his responsibilities, insecurities, and trials … like a man … is something to celebrate.
And what twenty-something boy doesn’t need to hear this from his father?
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!
Actually, there is no reason to pick on twenty-something guys. Someone could tell that to everyone wanting to be bailed out right about now.
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76 Comments
I totally agree.
My then 13-year-old daughter never expressed any interest in the Rocky movies until she saw "Rocky Balboa". The speech Rocky delivers to his son about being a man reduced my daughter to tears. I'll never forget her heartfelt response to that scene: "Where are the men like him? Except for Dad and Grandpa, I don't know any!"
So, you are saying that Rocky wasn't even considered, but you think it should have been?
Also, what is the "Also Rans" list? Does this mean movies that were "nominated" but didn't make the top 25?
"Rocky" was made more than 25 years ago – 1976.
One of only two movies I've paid to see twice in a theater. Yeah, it's that good.
"Where are the men like him? Except for Dad and Grandpa, I don't know any!"
Sad isn't it? The military has them, watch a pro football fame when the hero is named Kurt Warner, Brett Favre or Troy Aikman or John Elway. But in general? Part of it is the female half of the populations fault. We let ourselves emasculate men, and then we let them stay these little boys. Its true. I as a female take full responsibility on behalf of my less apologetic "sisters". Sorry guys.
Lola-
All is forgiven. Give me a kiss! : )
Happy Valentine's Day
"Rudy" came to mind when reading this. Would that fit in the "honorable mentions"? From what I can remember, it was a great movie about working hard to get what you want instead of looking for handouts.
Honestly, I was just as skeptical as everyone else when I sat down to watch the new Rocky. I mean how good could it be? Sly is like a hundred years old.
Well, he certainly eliminated the concerns I had about his body being up to par by doing all the steroids Mexico had to offer, and he completely shocked me with some unbelievable writing, a great example being the passage above. He also has another great speech in the "License Hearing" scene where he talks about not letting anyone hold you down and tell you what you can and can't do.
Not pointing fingers and blaming others for your problems. Always fighting and moving forward even when the times are tough. Not being a coward and actually taking action to make things better rather than just sitting back and complaining.
Sounds like the right message to me, which ironically is the opposite of the message Hollywood sent during the last 8 years when they were unhappy with the president.
Rocky Balboa is definitely worth a watch, if not for its great life lessons and political undertones, than definitely for the bad ass fight at the end.
Haven't really been following this list, since they won't release the complete list free on the web, but has any thought of "The Rock" with Cage and Connery? Talk about growing a pair on the spot! "Losers always talk about doing their best, winners go home and f*** the prom queen." "Carla was the prom queen."
The omissions, in my book:
One Day in September
Grizzly Man
Barcelona
4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (arguably)
The most glaring miss to me is the Munich Olympic massacre documentary One Day in September. Itwon the Best Doc Oscar. It's like watching the modern liberal view of terrorism crystalized nearly forty years ago.
Another great speech in Rocky Balboa is the one he gives to the licensing commission when they turn him down. It's a very special film in a very special series.
To me, the top movie should be 'The Lives of Others' or 'The Inner Circle'. Nothing speaks better for conservatism than the alternative.
Um… "The Lives of Others" *is* the top movie. You should go read the list…
Stand And Deliver really should have been on the top 25. An American Carol should not have even made the Also Rans. That film was terrible.
Here's a link to that scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1tXhJniSEc&fe...
The courtroom scene where he tells off the licensing commission by talking about the pursuit of happiness:
"If you're willing to go through all the battling you gotta go through to get where you want to get, who has the right to stop you? . . . It ain't nobody's right to say 'no' after you've earned the right to be where you want to be and do what you want to do. "
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfbCiNMY1Ak
'Barcelona' was both a better and more conservative movie than 'Metropolitan', though I liked 'Metropolitan' just fine.
Where is the greatest conservative movie of all time???? Team America…World Police.
WTF?????
[...] is besides the point. Its treatment of Christianity is also tasteful and respectful. A list of other movies that almost made the list includes: Air Force One (put me to sleep), Amazing Grace (great, book [...]
Friday the 13th. At its core, it's a movie about how horrible things happen to people with no morals. Moreover, it was conceived out of pure capitalism for the sake of capitalism.
It's on the list
[...] For a list of Also-Rans, see here. [...]
Rocky Balboa is an awesome movie and an awesome conservative movie. So is Stallone´s next one, Rambo (aka John Rambo) which was so unflinching in its description of the cruelty of the Burmese regime that action movie audiences probably choked on their popcorn. But looking closely at the horror was the right thing to do.
It is also remarkable that in terms of action Stallone at 60 piddles all over certain younger action directors (you know who I´m talking about). Unlike the MTV kids, Sly actually shoots and edits like he has a plan.
I think they had it at number 24 or 23. But it truly is without a doubt the number 1. Hilarious, no apologies, no pulled punches and entertaining.
I think they had it at number 24 or 23. But it truly is without a doubt the number 1. Hilarious, no apologies, no pulled punches and entertaining.
Stallone always has conservative messages. Getting hit is a part of life and always getting back up. And such.
EdSki – it is free – just click on "The Corner" in the top menu of the link and scroll down. The link is just one post.
I think 'To End All Wars' deserves a mention. It may not be conservative in the "kill the bad guys" way but it does show that authoritarianism cannot overcome love and forgiveness. Plus, it has a great performance by Jack Bau… er, Kiefer Sutherland!
We're still out here. My dad and granpda taught me and my brother how to be real men. Our Mom made sure we knew it was important to get back up when you're knocked down. They made sure we learned that emotions aren't to be feared, but we should rule our emotions, they shouldn't rule us. We learned to stand up for what we believe in, roll with the punches, and take responsibility for our actions.
For instance, I've been working a lot of overtime in the last year or so because of the large number of major storms that have hit the service area of my company. working ten hour days for six or seven days in a row isn't fun, but as my Dad and Grandpa remind me, they've been there, and you do what you have to do. I often quote Shakespere when I leave for work, "once more unto the breach!" Like Rocky says, "But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward."
How come "Red Dawn" didn't make the list!? It was a 1981(thereabouts) sleeper starring Patrick Swaze. The base story was about the communist military invasion/occupation of a militarily defeated United States. The opening scene has Cuban paratroops landing in a rugged, nondescript, small town in a mountain state. The Cuban troops begin by taking over, i.e., shooting schoolteachers, local police etc. A resistance group, made up mainly of tough local boys (and a few girls) form up and call themselves "The Wolverines". In the best spirit of gritty American resistance, they wreck havoc and kill scores of Cubans. In desperation the Cubans call for a Russian Spetznaz officer who begins to turn the tables on the Wolverines…but not quite. It was a fantastic movie but the liberal critics of the day- shocked and outraged at the idea that someone made a movie that portrayed American boys actually shooting communists-desperately attempted to pan Red Dawn as the worst movie ever made. Terrible acting they said, weak plot, lame script etc. etc., finishing up with "two thumbs down" and all that. It didn't work, and the movie was a box office smash, and much like Rocky 1, and the first Star Wars, it gained in the box office by word-of-mouth, by far the best movie promotion a producer could wish for even to this day. You can always tell a classic because it never ages. Red Dawn is one of those movies. When I saw it in the theater in 1981 people were cheering.
Grizzly Man? You mean the movie about the naturalist that got himself and his girlfriend eaten by a bear? How is that conservative? All it shows is that he was too stupid to comprehend the fact that a carnivore is a carnivore for a reason, and that humans without weapons are rather squishy. Unless you're using it as an object lesson on why conservativism trumps tree hugging.
Agree totally re "The Inner Circle" – and not just because Tom Hulce is my favorite underappreciate actor. I had sent it in but it didn't even make the also-rans…oh well, can't have everything.
Red Dawn was made in 1984 (the first film to receive the PG-13, BTW). It was also #15 on the list.
I've not seen the entire list, but I think 13th warrior deserves honorable mention because it takes the standard "White guy goes and learns great wisdom from dark skinned savages" hollywood plot and turns it on its ear. The dark skinned arab guy learns a lot from the white as white can be Vikings. And then there is one of my favorite lines from the movie,
"The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits man nothing."
I can't think of anything more conservative then facing your trials and strugles head on, no matter how afraid you are.
It also featured an impeccable performance in a supporting role by Patrick Swayze's snot bubble.
It did. It's just not in the top ten.
I teach high school and try to sneak this movie in as a treat for the kids before a long weekend or after a big test. I make sure that I get to that very important part of the movie. That scene really moved me. I think of it often when things aint going so well. That class is mostly seniors and I tell them that life in college aint 'sunshine and roses' and then they need to remember this message. FWIW, I teach in a Catholic high school, I wonder what the unions would say if I worked in a public school?
Here's the full list BTW
"After the Truth" a 1999 movie written by two American writers but shot and produced in Germany. It deals with the secular humanist threats to the respect to human life. It is quite possibly the smartest pro sanctity of life movie ever made.
How did Friday Night Lights miss the cut? What a great movie, and one that speaks directly to youth, who most need to hear conservative messages in media. 'You can give everything you've got and still might lose; but playing with love in your heart is what matters.' What a movie, what an ending, what a message. The latest Rambo should be on that list as well. It's great for movies like Lord of the Rings to depict fictional, fantastic evil, and everybody knows Hitler is bad (he and the nazis are becoming almost fictional to contemporary generations). Rambo showed audiences a glimp of the Hell in Burma going on right now- it's barely fictional, and not in the distant past. The look at the nature of warriors is also interesting, the differences between the Burmese, the mercenaries, and Rambo.
Oops! Thanks Jared
I stand corrected on two counts. Color me embarrassed. I'm 55 and my reading skills are leaving me faster than my memory for dates.
Environmentalism is compatible with common sense, or can be made so — if you bother to try, which the subject of GRIZZLY MAN did not. This film is the story of what happens to someone who lets an emotional/spiritual response to nature overwhelm his rationality completely. You can enjoy nature without losing the awareness that it can be dangerous.
What?
Not one John Wayne Movie made the list?
Jared, actually I'm pretty darn sure Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was the first film to get the PG-13, due to the chap getting his heart torn out and other violence.
Strangely enough, Temple of Doom was the impetus for its creation, but Red Dawn was actually released before it (same summer – just earlier in the season). A crazly little bit of spectactularly unimportant trivia, there.
To be more accurate, I should have said that Red Dawn was the first film to be released with a PG-13, since The Flamingo Kid was given the rating first, but languished for a few months before its debut.
Jared's right, it was Temple of Doom and Gremlins that caused the uproar, but Red Dawn was first.
Jared–I stand corrected! I just remembered Indiana Jones getting all the credit…and dare I say it, i didn't even see Red Dawn in its initial release…caught it on video ages later.
Speaking of Stallone, where is Demolition Man? It was a great send-up of a liberal utopian nanny state.
Beautifully said, Jake.
I don't think you have to watch Grizzly Man as a cautiionary tale of wacko environmentalism. In fact, I usually don't. But I do think that angle is there.
Treadwell ignored the wisdom of the ages in favor of New Age commune-with-nature theory and lost the bet. That would seem to be the definition of a conservative cautionary tale. It's a little like a Grimm fairy tale, really.
I can live with Red Dawn being on the list for kitsch value. But in what world is Blast from the Past a better film that The Dark Knight?
The top 10 is generally a pretty good list.
I definitely agree with 13th Warrior. When I was a kid, that line helped me get rid of fear.
Also the line in the beginning, when the Viking tossed him a sword and Antonio said, "I can't lift this." The Viking grinned at him and said, "Grow stronger."
That movie taught me a lot about life.
Where is Brokeback Mountain? That's a movie emblematic of todays conservatives.
Serenity is the greatest movie ever and it's main theme is: "Government Bad," therefore it is the greatest conservative movie ever.
'nuff said.
http://www.hulu.com/firefly
Stand and Deliver is one of the greatest songs ever, but the movie…eh…It should have followed the song better.
If it was "emblematic" of anything it's what Obama's Package is going to do to our country.
So many of these reviews on Big Hollywood have motivated me to give a second look at movies I'd initially dismissed out of hand. Might have to see Rocky Balboa now.
So many of these reviews on Big Hollywood have motivated me to give a second look at movies I'd initially dismissed out of hand. Might have to see Rocky Balboa now.
I saw Temple of Doom when I was 13 and I'm still traumatized. I clearly remember that being the movie that brought us PG-13.
Okay, so everyone is going with the cautionary tale, I can accept that and concede the point. Treadwell was still an idiot. "oh, I'm going to go live with one of largest carnivores on the planet during the time period where they're most riled up. Sounds neat!"
The movie is great for quotable lines like that. Me and my brother can go back in forth in perfect time the argument between Herger the Joyous and Angus. Its the typical Hero's Journey, he starts out from Home on his quest, in the process learns to be the man he was meant to be, and at the end returns home better for the journey. Of course, Crichton based the work off of Beowulf and the actual documents of Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan, which lends story even more depth. And of course the story involves confronting an evil that is clearly evil, unlike those movies where you're not quite sure who the good guy or bad guy is.
I totally agree that this film as well as "Rambo" and most of the other "also rans". Both the speeches to his son and the boxing commission were fantastic and Stallone was brilliant.
I have to admit that I was not to interested in seeing either "Rocky" or "Rambo" until I heard Stallone talk about his reasons for making them – both characters had been so good to him and he did not want either franchise to go out with the last films he had done in each series.
Also, he talked about the resitance he received from the studio over the villains in Rambo not being Norweigen Neo-Nazis, as well as him helping Christian missionaries. If I recall correctly, he also said the studio executives were wusses for this.
It was a great film, with a few touching moments.
Patton!!!!!!!!!!
Maybe I'm blind but I haven't seen anyone mention Demolition Man. Sly plays an old school, real man, fighting crime his own way and ignoring the taboos of a very PC society that bans unpleasant speech, tobacco, guns, sex and even meat…basically a utopia for progressives.
barcelona and last days of disco should both be on this the list. Loooks like metropolitan was on their at number 3 which is ironic since I think is it stillman's weakest film
I'm actually curious as to why stillman's films come off as being so conservative when he purports to be a socialist. (if I recall correctlyy)
at any rate Stillman is a great director (and stallone is an underrated genius)
I recently watched the Fire Fly series and the accompanying movie, Serenity. I thought there were several conservative principles on display and/or the results of big government. Great Stuff. I hadn't heard of the Fire Fly or Serenity. Any one else appreciate the show and movie?
How did SAVING PRIVATE RYAN not make the list? It has to be the best war movie of all time, and it's unapologetically patriotic and pro-military. I see criticisms of it on IMDb and other places all the time, and their reasons are always that it's too patriotic and pro-war, so they prefer Apocalypse Now or something. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN deserves to be on there.
I could see Die Hard or Die Hard With a Vengeance on there as well. In Vengeance, Samuel L. Jackson plays a racist black storeowner who comes to appreciate Bruce Wilis's cop as a friend, and then they kick Jeremy Irons' Euro-trash ass.
Serenity is probably one of the best conservative (Libertarian is probably more accurate) films of all time. Captain Mal simply wants to live his life doing business how he wishes, without government interference. It also deals with the consequences of a government that is trying to make a perfect society and the evils that come from it. It’s great.
“Y’all got on this boat for different reasons, but y’all come to the same place. So now I’m asking more of you than I have before. Maybe all. Sure as I know anything, I know this – they will try again. Maybe on another world, maybe on this very ground swept clean. A year from now, ten? They’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people… better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin’. I aim to misbehave. “
The conservatvie attitude to "bailouts" appears contradictory. On the one hand, conservatives rightly protest excessive taxation and pork-barrel projects, but, on the other hand, after you have had to endure this confiscation, you are still expected to endure an economic downturn without asking for your stolen taxes back.
Besides, who decides what constitutes a "bailout"? Is the defense budget an entitlement program? (The British defense budget gave us the modern computer.) What about NASA?
Because we object to leeching off the government, be it multinational corporations or octuplet mothers.
The twenty five year thing seems capricious and arbitrary. I think an all time list would be far more compelling. Plus its fun to imagine Liberals comming unglued when you explain to them that On the Waterfront is anti-communist.
You left out Rocky 4 where rocky and Apollo Creed stand toe to toe against the Soviet Unions Ivan Drago in a battle of Athleticism, and patriotism.
Kathryn — THANK YOU for pointing out the great movie that ROCKY is…and the fantastic contribution to society and the spirit of freedom these films represent. Stallone has taken a lot of abuse in the press and in the Hollywood community for both the ROCKY and the RAMBO series and it's undeserved. Stallone, for his great success in TWO hit movie series, deserves megatons of credit, not only for the commercial succes, but for reaffirming American values of resiliency, individual responsibility, and guts.
I loved Lopez in the movie She-Devil. Finally, Big Hollywood gets a name actor to post!
Dad and Gramps are mentally retarded too? Don't worry, Mom, I'm sure your kid has already found hundreds of men she worships like she used to worship the old farts.
Don't tell anyone, but Lopez can't count to twenty-five, even though she's got the fingers and toes to do it.
Stallone's top two conservative messages: Avoid the Vietnam War and don't bring steroids to Australia. Yo, Adrian!
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