For me, it would be:
1. Rocky- 10/10
2. Rocky Balboa- 9/10
3. Rocky III- 8/10
4. Rocky IV- 8/10
5. Rocky II- 7/10
6. Rocky V- 3/10
I thought this would be pretty cut and dry with 1 and 4 on top, but to each his own.
1. Rocky - 10/10
2. Rocky IV - 10/10
3. Rocky Balboa - 8.5/10
4. Rocky II -8/10
5. Rocky III - 6/10
6. Rocky V - 6/10
Not sure this would align too closely with people's perceptions of the 'best' Rocky films, this is the just a reflection of how much I enjoy watching each of them. It's tough, because they all have their moments. But I'll try.
1. Rocky
2. Rocky III
3. Rocky Balboa (such a classy way to end the story)
4. Rocky II
5. Rocky IV
6. Rocky V
And I enjoy watching Rocky V.
6. Rocky V- 3/10
Rocky - 9/10
Rocky Balboa - 8/10
Rocky II - 7/10
Rocky IV - 7/10
Rocky III - 6/10
Rocky V - 2/10
1 is the best by far, followed closely by 6. 2 and 4 are both a lot of fun. 3 is good. 5 is just god awful.
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1. Rocky - 9/10
2. Rocky II - 7.5/10
2. Rocky Balboa - 7.5/10
3. Rocky IV - 7/10
3. Rocky III - 7/10
5. Rocky V - 6.5/10
I hadn't seen any of these for probably 15 years . . since V came out. I'd never seen RB. So, I found the set of all six on sale for $20 and bought it, watching them over three days with my 12-year-old daughter (who loved them all, by the way).
My point is that, starting with more-or-less a blank slate, the quality of all the Rocky films is comparable. I had kind of bought into the "Rocky V is horrible!" line that seems to be generally accepted, but I didn't find that to be true at all. It's still the least of the six, but some people like to pretend it doesn't exist.
I was actually tempted to put IV at the bottom, because of the cheese factor, which is through the roof. But I just can't do it. I watched a VHS tape of IV probably a dozen times while in high school, and while it's not "good," it is very entertaining. What child of the 80's hasn't said "I must break you!" over a board game or something?
How Stallone managed to make a quality, plausible sixth film at age 87 or whatever is a minor miracle.
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I have meddled with the primal forces of nature and I will atone.
I am the FIRST on this list to rank Rocky 4 as top...
1. Rocky 4 (I was addicted to it as a teen, I kept rewinding, I was FASCINATED by Ivan Drago as I saw him as the ultimate enemy, I was amazed by how powerful he was and it had the coolest training montage, with the contrast of Drago's advanced technology and Rocky training in nature.
2. Rocky 5 (Most people like it the least but I really liked the drama of having to live with brain damage and I thought him becoming the trainer instead of the trainee showed a maturing of the character. Another reason I thought it was so cool was that even though he was not allowed to box anymore there was a street fight instead and it showed that boxing is a martial art and can be used on the street. I also REALLY wanted to root for him because Tommy Gunn was the MOST evil villain in my opinion, as he was the only one who betrayed someone who had been so good to him.
3. Rocky 2 (I really wanted to see him win and was so disappointed that he lost in the first one) And that fight was EPIC totally EPIC.
4. Rocky 1 (even though he lost by ONE FRIGGING POINT it really had an epic fight going the full fifteen rounds)
5. Rocky Balboa (I liked it a lot, part of it's charm is I was not expecting another Rocky movie)
6. I did enjoy Rocky 3 but I find it the LEAST epic of the movies. In his final match he knocked Lang out in round THREE of what was supposed to be a FIFTEEN round fight. That was just not long enough, too anticlimactic. Don't get me wrong I do agree that Lang should have been knocked out early because if Lang lasts too long against Rocky it makes it hard to believe Rocky could take on the much more powerful Drago but round 3 was too soon. I think 5 or 6 would have been better. Also, Lang was fun in his nastiness and his totally overbearing personality but he did not really feel like a major opponent. Drago was WAY tougher than Lang and Lang to me was just a punk who took advantage of the fact that Rocky was getting a tad soft, I also do not think he was as tough an opponent as Apollo was and I think even the past his prime Apollo could have beaten him. So of his 3 hardest opponents I rank him 3rd under Apollo and Drago. The movie was more about spectacle than epicness.
This all being said there is about to be ONE MORE Rocky movie. In it the metaphorical "torch" is being passed and it will be the only one where Rocky himself does not fight but he IS a character in the movie so sometime soon this list will have to be reevaluted.
For me, I seen the second film first when I was a kid, and it firmly stuck. So here's my ratings..
1 - Rocky 2 (9/10)
2 - Rocky (8/10)
3 - Rocky Balboa (7.5/10)
4 - Rocky 3 (7/10)
5 - Rocky 4 (7/10)
6 - Rocky 5 (5.5/10)