Matt Heath: The Rocky movies are packed with life lessons for kids

Sylvester Stallone stars as boxing hero Rocky Balboa in the legendary Rocky IV (1985). Photo / Supplied

OPINION:

Do yourself a favour and rewatch the Rocky movies. I’ve just been through all of them with my two sons. They’re not just entertaining, emotional rollercoaster rides to glory; they’re packed with life lessons for kids. Like prove yourself with hard work, winning isn’t everything, and your enemies can become your friends. There are great messages right through to the 6th one, ‘The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are 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.”.

When we think of Sly, it’s the slurred speech and sweaty jacked physique that springs to mind. We tend to forget he came up as a smart, critically acclaimed, Oscar Nominated writer. In 1976, he created, scripted and starred in Rocky, a low-budget, gritty, film set in working-class Philadelphia. A little movie shot over 28 days, that was so good it would become the highest-grosser of the year and go on to win best picture at the academy awards. Stallone went from parking cars to superstar in ten months.

The first movie isn’t what you expect. It’s not an action sports flick. It’s a character study of a learning-impaired fighter, who lives in a hovel and falls in love with a social misfit from a nearby pet shop. Most of the movie revolves around the drama of their depressing lives and that of her alcoholic brother. Then out of nowhere, the ‘Italian Stallion’, gets arbitrarily chosen to fight the champ. Eventually, it kicks into the most famous training montage of all time, featuring one of the best movie themes ever, and before you know it you’re standing in your lounge pumping your fists as Rocky proves he can go the distance. He shows the woman he loves that he, ‘weren’t just another bum from the neighbourhood’, and there’s not a dry eye on in the place. ‘Adrian, Adrian, Aaadriaan!’.

Rocky is a very good movie, but it’s not even the best of the series. That honour goes to Rocky III. A fast-paced flick featuring a terrifying opponent in Clubber Lang, played excellently by Mr T, ‘I ain’t scared of Balboa. I pity the fool’. It’s a tragic, funny, violent movie that wrestles with what success and comfort does to people. How we can fall in love with our possessions and status and lose sight of what is really important. As Rocky tells Adrian, ‘You wanna know the truth? The truth is I don’t want to lose what I’ve got’.

‘If you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits' - Rocky Balboa. Photo / Supplied

Rocky IV kicks ass cold war styles. Once again, Rocky has to deal with a personal tragedy and fight an unbeatable opponent. This time it’s the giant hi-tech Soviet boxer Ivan Drago. It’s an epic snowy movie summed up at the end with the speech. “During this fight, I’ve seen a lot of changing, in the way you feel about me, and in the way I feel about you. In here, there were two guys killing each other, but I guess that’s better than twenty million. I guess what I’m trying to say, is that if I can change, and you can change, everybody can change!”

The Rocky franchise made a stunning comeback in 2006 with Rocky Balboa, in which he delivers yet another fantastic inspirational life lesson. ‘”It ain’t about 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.

So to recap, in order of greatest, the Rocky movies go 3,1,4, 6, 2,5. Then there are the three excellent Rocky spin-off Creed flicks (which go 3,1,2 in quality).

Watching all the Rocky movies with my boys changed us. They have inspired all of us to work harder towards our different goals. The key lesson from Rocky movies is one he tells his son, ‘If you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that, and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!”. Hell Yeah!