1976’s Rocky may be 50 years old now, but the franchise, powered by Sylvester Stallone’s iconic character, has proven to be as durable as the fighter himself. In total, there have been nine entries so far in the Rocky franchise (six Rocky movies and three Creed movies), and that doesn’t include I Am Rocky, the biopic about Stallone making first movie made, which hits the 2026 movie schedule this month.
In a recent interview with Andy Cohen on Cohen’s SiriusXM channel, the host asked Stallone which of the five sequels (not including the original movie) was his favorite, and I have to admit I didn’t expect one of them. Here’s how Stallone answered the original question:
It's II and VI for me. II because that's when he gets married. That's when he really, like, wins. It's very, very potent.
That he loves Rocky II isn’t really a surprise. Though I don’t think it’s quite as good as the original, I do think it’s a really great follow-up. Stallone obviously hones in on how personal it is for the character, a character he certainly feels a kinship with. Getting married to Adrian (Talia Shire) is a big moment in the franchise. Yes, the Rocky movies are boxing movies, but they are just as much about Rocky and Adrian’s relationship from their courtship in the original, through her tragic death before the events of Rocky Balboa (VI).
That makes Stallone’s second choice for a favorite a clear choice. It is the one that surprised me, but it makes perfect sense. The sixth movie in the franchise (and the first not to have an actual number attached) is a movie about aging, loss, and death. It picks up many years after the events of Rocky V. Rocky is retired from boxing and now owns a restaurant in his hometown of Philadelphia. Here’s what makes it special, according to Stallone:
And then Rocky VI, it deals with something that everyone deals with, which is grief and the loss and how he's talking to his child about, 'I held you here, you were the greatest thing, and now.' It's not how hard you hit, you know, it's about life. So, it was very poignant that – I love that movie. That was some of my best writing by far.
I agree with Stallone that Rocky Balboa is some of his best writing (outside of the original). It was such an interesting way to bring the character full circle. It starts with his love for Adrian and ends with him dealing with the loss of his beloved wife. It’s also about family relationships, specifically with their son, Robert Jr. (Milo Ventimiglia), and how they shift and ebb and flow over the years. Rocky Balboa gets the series back to its roots after, let's be honest, so many more cartoonish entries. I LOVE Rocky IV, but it doesn’t have the emotional depth of I, II, or VI, and let’s not even talk about Rocky V.
You can celebrate all the Rocky movies this month, either for the release of I Am Rocky, or for Rocky’s 50th anniversary with a Prime subscription, where they are all available.
