All Rocky Movies Ranked

Now, let’s be honest; Who doesn’t love the Rocky franchise? In the entire history of cinema, few characters have left as indelible a mark as the underdog boxer from Philadelphia.

Still to this day, we see kids and teenagers aspiring to be like him, and making him their role model. This shows that The Rocky film series is way more than just a collection of boxing movies; It’s a story of resilience and an exploration of the much desired American Dream.

Everyone loves the Rocky franchise so much that most people can’t pick which movie they think is the best, who blames them? No one can rank the Rocky movies. But today I’m running a special!

In this article, we’ll determine which Rocky movie rightfully claims the championship belt in this ultimate showdown.

So, without further to say, let’s get ready to “rumble”. Join in and follow along as we count down from the first bell to the final knockout. Grab a beer (Or an orange juice, for our teetotal friends out there) and let the adventure begin!

6. Rocky V (1990)

In the sixth position we have the fifth movie of the series. This movie came out 5 years later the fourth one, and it shows Rocky Balboa returning to the United States as a winner after the match against Ivan Drago in Moscow which he refers as “The best fight in my life”

Rocky during a conference, announces his retirement, but a rich manager named Washington Duke offers him to fight his champion Union Cane, Rocky initially declines his offer.

Later in the movie, Rocky finds out that he lost all of his capital due to bad investments made by his brother in law Paulie. To recover from that financial strike, Rocky decides that he wants to fight Cane, but his doctors tell him that he has received brain damage from the fight with Drago and that fighting in another match might be fatal for him.

So Rocky decides to start coaching a young boxer named Tommy Gun who immediately turns out to be very good. Balboa regains confidence in himself, but unfortunately his work success goes hand in hand with difficulties with his son.

Tommy’s success does not go unnoticed and attracts the attention of Washington Duke, who convinces him to fight Cane: Gun accepts the fight, although Rocky is against it.

On the evening of the match, when Tommy thanks the people who helped him get where he is, he doesn’t mention Rocky who relentlessly trained him, provoking a huge disappointment in the public and the press, who mistreat the young man and don’t consider him a true champion.

All of this angers Tommy and he challenges Rocky, who however refuses. However, when the boy hits Paulie in the face, he changes the former boxer’s mind, determined to reclaim his honor.

This movie is considered different from the other Rocky movies by most of the Franchise’s fans and by the press. This movie is more emotional than the other ones and it has less of those cinematic motivational training scenes that the Rocky Series is famous for

Sylvester Stallone (The actor who plays Rocky) was disappointed by the outcome of the movie as he believed it should have ended with a fight in the ring. The actor also believed that the fifth movie was a departure from the quality of the other Rocky movies.

While Rocky V surely doesn’t have the same spirit as its predecessors, it has certainly given space to other characters like Rocky’s son, Robert.
The movie shows how the transition from a well off life with a big house in a good area to living in Rocky’s old bad neighborhood changed him.

In the movie we see that Robert starts getting bullied by some kids at his school, these bullies would take his money and his jacket.
Robert then decides to stand up for himself, after training to fight with his uncle Paulie in Mickey’s gym, he beats up his bully and puts an end to the bullying.

Overall, the Movie faced criticism for being too different, but it’s still a masterpiece in its own way.

Fun fact: Rocky V was supposed to end with Rocky dying in the street fight with Tommy Gun. Stallone thought that killing him in a street fight would have been counter-intuitive as the character was meant to be about persistence and redemption.

5. Rocky Balboa (2006)

In the fifth position, we have the sixth movie of the Franchise. In this movie we see that Adrian has died, and for some time Rocky has been running a restaurant named Adrian’s with moderate success .

He has a quiet life, made of work and values, from the relationship with his son Robert to the friendship with his brother in law Paulie. Rocky, however, lacks something to return to believing, after the loss he suffered. Boxing.

While working at his restaurants, Rocky watches a Computer simulation between him in his prime and the current world champion,Mason Dixon on TV.The simulation had Rocky winning. This inspires Rocky to make a boxing comeback and challenge Dixon to a fight.

Dixon surprisingly accepts, and Rocky starts training with Apollo’s old coach Tony Evers. Before the Match Dixon warns Rocky, he tells him that he will go easy, unless he tries to play some “stupid games”.

Rocky then goes ahead to resist 15 rounds against the world champion, surprising the commentators, the public and Dixon himself. At the end of the match, the judges give the victory to Mason. But for the public the real winner is the former boxer from Philadelphia. Rocky leaves the ring followed by the crowd chanting his name

This movie was highly appreciated by the fans, mostly because of the fact that it has a very similar story to the first movie, with Rocky being alone, in the very same neighborhood, and with the very same hunger for success.Like in the first movie, Rocky stepped into the ring with all the odds against him, but despite that, he managed to go neck and neck with the world champion for 15 rounds to then lose by a few points.

The movie was also appreciated for Balboa’s incredible lines and speeches, one of them is the iconic speech about life he gives to his son.Another one is the speech about the pursuit of happiness he gives in court when trying to get his license for boxing back.

Overall, Stallone’s Rocky Balboa was a major success, no one wanted to see the Rocky series end with Rocky V, so Sly gave the fans the end they deserved, with Balboa in the ring going to the distance just like in the first movie.

4. Rocky II (1979)

In the Fourth position we have the second movie of the series. in This movie, we see that after the fame obtained thanks to the incredible match with Apollo Creed, Rocky Balboa gets married with his girlfriend, Adrian and then decides to move away from boxing to dedicate himself to her and his upcoming son. To spoil his family, however, the boxer ends up squandering his entire fortune.

While Rocky is forced to look for a job, Creed wants to win back his audience and asks Balboa for a rematch in the ring to prove he is the only true champion. Initially skeptical, Rocky accepts the challenge but faces firm opposition from his wife, Adrian.

A sudden emergency will force the boxer to suspend his training with his coach Mickey, and victory becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. It will once again be love and the desire for redemption that will push the Italian Stallion to demonstrate his worth in the ring.

He then steps on the ring and manages to resist 14 rounds against Creed, but this time, the world champion has got a big lead points-wise, so Balboa is forced to knock him down in order to win. He then proceeds to knock him down and become the world champion.

Rocky II was nominated for two different oscars, Including the Best Picture and the Best Original Song, which is understandable, since the song “Going To The Distance” is still considered one of the best movie soundtracks ever, with many people listening to it while exercising or when they need an adrenaline boost.

This movie is a true masterpiece, and it hurts to see it in the fourth place, Balboa’s determination to get a revenge and to go to the distance again, the training montage, the evolution of the relationship with his wife, the birth of his son, and the joy in Rocky’s face when he beats Apollo Creed all make this movie an utter artwork.

3. Rocky III (1982)

In the third position, we have the third Rocky movie (What a coincidence,right?). In this movie we see Rocky Balboa going on a long streak of wins after defeating Apollo Creed and becoming world champion, when confronting a wrestler for a charity match, his coach Mickey started showing heart problem signs as Balboa was getting beaten by the huge wrestler.

While The Italian Stallion is speaking at the inauguration of his statue, a boxer named Clubber Lang interrupts him and starts dissing him and his wife to get Rocky in the ring with him. Rocky accepts the challenge and proceeds to start training in his new gym.

Mickey is concerned that Rocky might have lost his hunger and became “Civilized” which he claims is the worst thing that can happen to a boxer. Rocky initially doesn’t take Mickey’s concern that seriously and continues to train for his fight.

Before stepping in the ring, Rocky and Clubber have a dispute in the locker room, which leads Clubber to try attacking Balboa and throwing Mickey against the wall, who then starts to feel bad. Although Mickey isn’t feeling good, he tells Rocky to go ahead and fight Clubber without him

Rocky gets in the ring, and loses to his opponent. Balboa then goes to the locker room where his coach is dying, and tells him that he won the fight. Then Mickey’s life ends.

After losing his coach, Former world champion Apollo Creed offers Rocky to train him, telling Balboa that he had lost the “Eye Of The Tiger” he had when fighting with him. This confirmed Mickey’s concern.

Apollo then has Rocky fly to California and start training in his old gym that was located in a bad neighborhood to give Balboa back the hunger he had lost.

Rocky then steps up in the ring, and knocks out Clubber Lang in the third round, re-obtaining his world champion title. In the end of the movie, Apollo asks Rocky to do him a favor: Sparring with him again.

This movie, just like Rocky II, is an utter masterpiece. The training scenes in particular were and are still today considered iconic. But there’s more to appreciate about this movie, like the evolution of the relationship between Rocky and Apollo, who started out as opponents but then became close friends or the importance of Adrian in getting Rocky motivated to train hard and go ahead to win against Clubber.

The movie was well-received by the public, and still to this day it remains very popular with both younger and older people. Let’s be honest, who hasn’t gotten motivated by watching Rocky and Apollo train together?

2. Rocky IV (1985)

In the second position, we have the fourth movie of the franchise. In this Movie the Soviet Union launches the challenge to American boxing by presenting the imposing and scary Ivan Drago, holder of the Olympic gold medal. The intention of his managers is to organize a meeting with Rocky Balboa, the reigning world heavyweight champion, but it is the former title holder and his friend Apollo Creed who takes up the challenge, eager to return to fighting after a five-year retirement.

Realizing the danger of his opponent, Rocky tries to convince Apollo to give up but when his friend insists on fighting the Soviet Mountain, he agrees to assist him in the corner. The match is organized in great style and presented as a friendly exhibition: after a first minute in which Apollo seems to have the brilliance of the best times, however, the Soviet proves to have completely different intentions and thanks to his impressive power he puts the former champion in serious difficulty.

At the sound of the bell, Rocky tells his friend, who is visibly injured, that he would like to throw in the towel; Apollo makes him promise that regardless of what happens he won’t do it but tragically, a few minutes later, he falls under the devastating blows of his opponent and dies in Rocky’s arms.

“If he dies, he dies” These are the words that come out of Ivan Drago’s mouth while his opponent is layed down dead in the ring, words that remained stuck in Rocky’s head that decides to challenge the Soviet Beast.

Ivan Drago’s managers decided to hold the match in Russia, on the 25th of December, Christmas. Rocky reveals to the press that the prize for the match is 0$, when preparing to go to Russia, Rocky faces opposition from his wife, Adrian, who believes that the fight is a suicide.

Rocky then proceeds to get in the ring, with all odds against him and starts giving Drago a hard time. When the soviet shows vulnerability, the public of Moscow starts supporting The Italian Stallion and chanting his name. This is a humiliation for Ivan Drago who then loses to Rocky, breaking the narrative that he was some sort of invicible man.

What do we have to say about Rocky IV if not that it is an iconic masterpiece. Come one, if you think of the 80s, one of the things that comes to mind is this movie. Everything from Apollo Creed’s death to the training scenes, to the actual fight, to Balboa’s celebration after beating Drago will be remembered as utterly Iconic.

1. Rocky (1976)

Yes, in the first position, we have the very first Rocky movie, I think you all know the story that this marvelous masterpiece narrates, but in case you don’t, here’s the movie’s plot:

Rocky Balboa is a punk from a bad neighborhood in Philadelphia, almost thirty years old, with Italian blood in his veins. Rocky scrapes together some money as a loan shark’s debt collector for a local mafia boss, and by competing in some amateur boxing matches.

Boxing is his great passion, but he has never managed to break through, or at least try. In love with the very shy Adrian, Rocky tries to undermine the girl’s barriers with jokes, but the reputation of a failure haunts him.

Thanks to a stroke of luck, he finally has the chance to prove to Adrian, and above all to himself, that he is worthy. The world heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed, finds himself without a challenger, due to an injury, in a match organized to celebrate the bicentenary of the United States of America, in which the champion will put the world title up for grabs.

Hungry for popularity and money, Apollo Creed decides to give the opportunity of such a prestigious spotlight to an unknown boxer for the first time. The choice falls on Rocky because Apollo liked his nickname: “The Italian Stallion”.

Balboa rejects this opportunity at first, believing that it was impossible that he had a chance, but then, he was reminded that America is the land of opportunities, where everyone, regardless of where they come from, can succeed

Rocky then starts training alone until the owner of the gym where he trains, Mickey, offers to be his coach. Balboa accepts and he starts training hard with his coach’s instructions.

Once he steps on the ring. Apollo doesn’t take him seriously and starts dancing around the ring and dodging punches, until Rocky knocks Creed down for the first time in the world champion’s career, after that, Apollo starts taking him seriously.

Rocky surprisingly resists 15 rounds against Apollo Creed, getting him in terrible conditions, after the last bell rings, Rocky starts looking for Adrian in the public, ignoring everything going on around him, the judges ultimately give the win to Apollo Creed. Rocky is one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema, Every second of this movie is considered Iconic by the public, the training scenes, Rocky’s personality, his jokes, his humbleness,his willingness to go to the distance, him screaming “Adrian,Adrian,Adriaaaan”: All Iconic. Everyone loves this movie, from 9 year olds to people who watched the movie when it first came out.

This movie surely deserves to be number one on this list, there are very few movies that have been as impactful as this one. In 1976, cinema saw the release of an amazing masterpiece, which then gave birth to one of the most legendary Movie Series in the history of movies.