Movies That Make Us

Few movies have come out over the course of cinema history that have been able to inspire a generation the way that Rocky did when it hit theaters in 1976. Written by and starring Sylvester Stallone, the film tells the rags to riches story of Rocky Balboa, an uneducated but kind-hearted working-class boxer from the slums of Philadelphia who gets a shot at the world heavyweight championship. The film was made for just over $1 million, but it went on to earn $225 million globally. It was critically acclaimed and received ten Academy Award nominations, winning three, including Best Picture and in 2006, Rocky was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Why is Rocky so "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant?" And how is it that a movie that had no business being as successful as it was,